Genesis Chapter 15 - Schoolmaster to Christ

Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 15

Scripture Reading: Genesis 15 (KJV)

"After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." The Lord would not suffer His servant to be a loser by rejecting the world’s offers. It was infinitely better for Abraham to hide behind Jehovah's shield, than to take refuge beneath the king of Sodom’s patronage; and to be anticipating his "exceeding great reward," than to accept "the goods" of Sodom. In the opening verse of our chapter, Abraham is put in a position that beautifully expresses of the position into which every soul is introduced by the faith of Christ.¹ Jehovah was his "shield," that he might rest in Him; Jehovah was his "reward," that he might wait for Him. So it is with the true believer now: in Christ he finds his present rest, his present peace, his present security. No arrow from the enemy can penetrate the shield that covers the weakest believer in Jesus.

However, if the believer is pursuing a worldly career, or indulging in worldly or carnal desires, he cannot enjoy either the "shield" or the ‘reward.’ If the Holy Spirit is grieved, He will not minister the enjoyment of that which is our proper portion – our proper hope. Hence, in the section of Abraham's history now before us, we see that when he had returned from the slaughter of the kings, and rejected the offer of the king of Sodom, Jehovah rose before his soul in the double character, as his ‘shield’ and his ‘exceeding great reward.’ We should ponder this, for it contains a volume of practical truth. Let us now examine the remainder of the chapter, which reveals two great principles of sonship and heirship.

‘And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir.’

Abraham desired a son, and he knew from Divine authority that his "seed" would inherit the land (Gen. 13:15). Sonship and heirship are inseparably connected in the thoughts of God. "He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." Sonship is the proper basis of everything; and, it is the result of God's sovereign counsel and operation, as we read in James, "of his own will begat he us." Finally, it is founded on God's eternal principle of resurrection. How else could it be? Abraham's body was "dead;" therefore, sonship must be in the power of resurrection. Nature is dead, and can neither beget or conceive anything for God. The inheritance stretched out before the patriarch's eye, in all its magnificent dimensions; but where was the heir? Abraham's body and Sarah's womb both answered "death." But Jehovah is the God of resurrection, and, therefore, a "dead body" was the very thing for Him to act on. The most suitable theatre for the living God is that from which nature, with all its boasted powers and empty pretensions, has been totally expelled by the sentence of death. Wherefore, God's Word to Abraham was, "look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be." When the God of resurrection fills the vision there is no limit to the soul's blessing, for He who can quicken the dead, can do anything.

"And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it unto him for righteousness." Here the imputation of righteousness to Abraham is founded on believing in God as Quickener of the dead. It is in this character that the Lord reveals Himself in a world where death reigns. In His sight, a soul that believes in Him is counted righteous. This shuts out man’s co-operation, for what can man do in the midst of death? Can he raise the dead? Can he open the gates of the grave? Can he deliver himself from the power of death, and walk out in life and liberty, beyond the limits of its dreary domain? Assuredly not. So, if he cannot do that, then he cannot work out righteousness or establish himself in the relation of sonship. "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living," and, therefore, as long as a man is under the power of death and the dominion of sin, he can not know either the position of a son or the condition of righteousness. God alone can bestow the adoption of sons, and He alone can impute righteousness. Both are connected with faith in Him as the One who raised up Christ from the dead.

In Romans 4, the apostle handles the question of Abraham's faith in this way: "It was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed unto him; but for us also to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." The God of resurrection is here presented as the object of faith "to us also," and our faith in Him is presented as the ground of our righteousness. Looking up into heaven's vault, spangled with innumerable stars, and then looking at "his own body now dead," how could Abraham grasp the idea of a seed as numerous as those stars? But he did not look at his own body, but at the resurrection power of God. Because it was God’s resurrection power was to produce the seed, we can easily see that the stars of heaven and the sand on the sea-shore are but feeble figures indeed. What other natural object could possibly illustrate the effect of God’s power to raise the dead?

So, when we look up to the unsullied light of Divine presence, and then look down into the unexplored depths of our evil nature, we might well exclaim, ‘How can I ever get there? How can I ever be fit to dwell in that light?’ What is the answer? In myself? No; only in that blessed One, Who traveled from the bosom of God to the cross and the grave and from there to the throne. In His Person and work, Jesus Christ filled up all the space between those extreme points. There is nothing higher than the bosom of God – the eternal dwelling-place of the Son; and there is nothing lower than the cross and the grave; and we find Christ in both – in the bosom of God, and in the grave. He went down into death so that He might leave behind the full weight of His people's sins and iniquities. In the grave, Christ exhibits the end of everything human; the end of sin; the full limit of Satan's power. The grave of Jesus forms the grand terminus of death. But resurrection takes us beyond this terminus, and constitutes the imperishable basis on which God's glory and man's blessing repose forever. There is triumphant answer to every question regarding sin, judgment, death, and the grave, when the eye of faith rests on a risen Christ and accepts the Gospel.² The One who divinely met all these is alive from the dead. He has taken His seat at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens; and, in the true believer, the Spirit of that risen and glorified One constitutes him a son. We are quickened out of the grave of Christ: as we read, "and you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (Col. 2:13).

Therefore, being founded on resurrection, sonship stands connected with perfect justification; perfect righteousness; perfect freedom from everything that could be against us. God could not have us in His presence with sin on us. He could not allow a single speck or stain of sin on His sons and daughters. The father could not have the prodigal at His table with the rags of the far country on him. He could go out to meet him in those rags. He could fall upon his neck and kiss him, in those rags. It was worthy and beautifully characteristic of his grace to do so; but to seat him at his table in rags would never do. The grace that brought the father out to the prodigal, reigns through the righteousness that brought the prodigal in to the father. It would not have been grace if the father had waited for the son to deck himself in robes of his own providing; and it would not have been righteous to bring him in, in rags. When the father went out and fell on the prodigal's neck, both grace and righteousness were demonstrated; yet, the father did not give him a seat at the table until he was clad and decked in a manner suited to that elevated and happy position. In Christ, God has stooped to the lowest point of man's moral condition; so that He might raise him to the highest point of blessedness – fellowship with Him. It follows from all this that our sonship, with its consequent dignities and privileges, is entirely independent of us. We have as little to do with it as Abraham's dead body and Sarah's dead womb had to do with a seed as numerous as the stars in the heavens or sand on the seashore. It is all of God. God the Father³ drew the plan, God the Son⁴ laid the foundation, and God the Spirit⁵ raises the superstructure; and on this superstructure, appears the inscription, ‘Through grace, by faith, without works of law.’

Our chapter opens another important subject: heirship. The question of sonship and righteousness being settled, the Lord said to Abraham, "I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." Here is the great question of heirship, and the peculiar path along which the chosen heirs are to travel before reaching the promised inheritance. "If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Our way to the kingdom lies through suffering, affliction, and tribulation; but, by faith we can say that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. We know that "our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" and "we glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope." It is a high honor and privilege to be allowed to drink of the Master's cup, and be baptized with His baptism; to travel in companionship with Him along the road leading directly to the glorious inheritance. The Heir and joint-heirs reach that inheritance by the pathway of suffering.

But let us remember that as joint-heirs, the suffering in which we participate has no penal element in it. It is not suffering from the hand of infinite justice because of sin; all that was fully met on the cross, when Jesus Christ bowed His sacred head beneath the stroke. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins" – once on the tree and nowhere else. He never suffered for sins before and He never can suffer for sins again. "Christ was once offered."

There are two ways to view a suffering Christ: first, as bruised by Jehovah; second, as rejected by men. In the former, He stood alone; in the latter, we have the honor of being associated with Him. We say that He stood alone in the former, because who could have stood with Him? He bore the wrath of God alone; He traveled in solitude down into "the rough valley that had neither been eared nor sown," and there He settled forever the question of our sins. We had nothing to do with this, though we are eternally indebted for what He did. Alone He fought the fight and gained the victory; but He divides the spoils with us. He journed into solitude in the horrible pit; but as soon as He planted His foot on the everlasting ‘rock of resurrection,’ He associated us with Him. Alone He uttered the cry, ‘It is finished’; but He sings the "new song" in company (Ps. 40:2, 3).

Let us now briefly consider the deeply significant vision of Abraham, set forth in the closing verses of our chapter.

‘And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years: and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance . . . And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.’

Israel's history is summed up in those two figures, the "furnace" and the "lamp." The former presents to us those periods of their history in which they were brought into suffering and trial; such as the long period of Egyptian bondage, their subjection to the kings of Canaan, the Babylonish captivity. During these periods they may be considered as passing through the smoking furnace.⁶

In the burning lamp we have those points in Israel's eventful history in which Jehovah graciously appeared for their relief, such as their deliverance from Egypt, by the hand of Moses; their deliverance from under the power of the kings of Canaan, by the ministry of the various judges; their return from Babylon, by the decree of Cyrus; and their final deliverance, through Jesus Christ. The inheritance must be reached through the furnace; and the darker the smoke of the furnace, the brighter the lamp of God's salvation. "An horror of great darkness" passed across the spirit of Abraham. Jacob had to endure twenty-one years of sore hardship, in the house of Laban. Joseph found his furnace of affliction in the dungeons of Egypt. Moses spent forty years in the desert. Thus it must be with God's servants. They must first be "tried," so that being found "faithful," they may be "put into the ministry." Regarding those who serve Him, God’s principle is expressed in those words of Paul, "not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Tim. 3:6).

It is one thing to be a child of God; it is quite another to be a servant of Christ. We may love our children, but if we set them to work in the garden, they may do more harm than good. Why? Is it because they are not dear children? No; but because they are not practiced servants. This makes all the difference. Relationship and office are distinct things. This does not mean that all of God's children do not have something to do, something to suffer, something to learn. Undoubtedly they do; but, public service and private discipline are intimately connected in the ways of God. One who serves in a public way will need a chastened spirit, matured judgment, a subdued and mortified mind, a broken will, and a mellow tone. These are the results of God's secret discipline; and, generally speaking, those who take a prominent place without the above moral qualifications will sooner or later break down.

Footnotes:
¹ By understanding Paul's long sentence in Romans 3:21-26, we understand the Gospel, all of Romans and the Bible. The 1885 English Revised Version changed "the faith of Christ" to "faith in Christ" in Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 2:20, 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; and Philippians 3:9. In his book, "Commentaries on the Old and New Testament," James Burton Coffman concludes that the KJV is a correct translation of all these verses, a fact confirmed by the total agreement of the Emphatic Diaglott in each case. James Macknight, Adam Clarke, as well as other older commentators, also agree with the KJV translation of these verses - "the faith of Christ," like the "faith of Abraham" in Romans 4:16. We asked a full-time minister serving a large church, about whether he believed that to be saved one had to believe in the "faith of Jesus Christ" to which he wrote: "God provides righteousness to those who believe. If through the faith of Jesus - everybody would be saved." We asked the same question to a university Bible professor, who expressed a view of modern translations held by many today. He wrote: "Both ideas . . . are biblical . . ." However, we also presented the question to an elder of the church, who wrote: "The believer's faith causes him to respond to that perfect justification which is and was brought by Christ in His obedience to God's will of offering His son as the perfect atonement for all mankind (sins)." We concur with the elder and older commentators, as well as Coffman, whose commentary on this verse is a scathing rebuke of many modern-day professors and preachers. Coffman points out that we should stay with the KJV in this verse, because changing it represents the same tampering with the Word of God which resulted in the monstrosity of changing "the righteousness of God" to "a righteousness" (Rom. 3:21; 1:17). He writes: "the true Scriptural justification by faith has absolutely no reference to the faith of stinking sinners, but to the faith of the Son of God. The only end served by this change was to bolster the faith only theory of justification." He further writes: "the true grounds of justification cannot ever be in a million years the faith of fallible, sinful people, would appear to be axiomatic. How could it be? The very notion that God could impute justification to an evil man, merely upon the basis of anything that such a foul soul might either believe or do, is a delusion. Justification in any true sense requires that the justified be accounted as righteous and undeserving of any penalty whatever; and no man's faith is sufficient grounds for such an imputation. On the other hand, the faith of Jesus Christ is a legitimate ground of justification, because Christ's faith was perfect." In the absolute sense, only Christ is faithful - "Faithful is he that calleth you" (1 Thess. 5:24). Only He is called "the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14). The faith of Christ was also obedient; a perfect and complete obedience, lacking nothing. Therefore, we conclude that the sinless, holy, obedient faith of the Son of God is the only ground of justification of a human being - Christ only is righteously justified in God's sight. How then are we saved? We are saved "in Christ," having been incorporated into Him - justified as a part of Him. Our study prompts agreement with Coffman's conclusion that faith is not the ground of our justification; it is not the righteousness which makes us righteous before God. The "faith of the Son of God" is the only basis for our justification, and that faith is definitely included in the "righteousness of God" mentioned in this verse. Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ shows the principal constituent of God's righteousness. In conclusion, God's righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ - His absolute, intrinsic, unalloyed righteousness - implicit in His perfect faith (mentioned here) and His perfect obedience (implied). The contrary notion that God's righteousness is some imputation accomplished by the sinner's faith is unfounded. Any righteousness that could commend itself to the Father and become the ground of anything truly worthwhile would, by definition, have to be a true and genuine righteousness. That righteousness was provided by the sinless life of the Christ, summarized in this verse as "through faith of Jesus Christ," the idea being much clearer in the KJV, "The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ." We concur with Coffman on this subject, including his final conclusion, ". . . the word believe in this verse refers to sinners" faith (believer's faith) which is no part of God's righteousness at all, but, like baptism, is but a mere condition of salvation - being neither more nor less important than baptism."
² For more information see "God's Salvation" in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
³ For more information see "God the Father" in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
⁴ For more information see "God the Son" in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
⁵ For more information see "God the Spirit" in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
⁶ See Deuteronomy 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Isaiah 48:10.