Heirs of Father Abraham

Meditations on the Book of Galatians

April 24, 2020

Heirs of Father Abraham

But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:22

Galatians 3: 15-22

If we had been sitting in one of the Galatian churches when Paul’s letter was read, we, like our Galatian Gentile brothers and sisters, would probably be looking at one another and saying, “What in the world is Paul talking about?” Paul was using the heritage of Israel against the Judaizers, and we need to unpack that history a bit to catch Paul’s point. And what a point it is!

This episode in the life of the Galatian church is an example of how the Old Testament is only fully understood in the light of Jesus the Messiah. In Galatians 3:6-9, Paul interpreted Genesis 12 and 15 to reveal that from the very beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham, God intended to have one worldwide family, bound to Him eternally by faith. To be an heir of God’s covenant with Abraham, a person did not have to be born of particular parents, or in the nation of Israel; a person is reconciled to God by faith. Paul is saying that Abraham is the trunk of God’s family tree, and we who believe in Christ Jesus have been grafted into the family tree of God (Romans 11:17). Don’t pass over this too quickly. Take time to drink in what Paul is affirming here. Father Abraham is our father too. This means that King David was not just a Jewish King. He was our King. King David is in our family tree because we have been reconciled to God by faith, and we are a part of the people of God. Our family tree reaches all the way back to God making covenant with Abraham, “For Abraham is the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:16).

Paul also affirms that while the law of God cannot save us, its purpose is instrumental in our salvation. Sin matters and has huge consequences. Whenever we sin, we are investing our life, our time and our resources in something other than the Kingdom of God. The law reveals our sin so that we, the prisoners of sin, can receive God’s promise of freedom by believing in Jesus Christ.

My Takeaway: In a typical Sunday morning worship service, Christians affirm their faith in God by saying the Apostles’ Creed, which includes the affirmation that Jesus “will come to judge the living and the dead.” If you believe this, Paul’s affirmation about our being heirs of God’s covenant with Father Abraham is very Good News indeed!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.