Title: Grace through Promise/Galatians 3:15-22
Grace through the promise
Dear brothers and sisters, let's review what we learned in the sermon last week. We learned that “whoever has faith in Jesus Christ receives the gift of God, that is, a blessing.” It is God's grace to receive God's gift or blessing, but what kind of grace do those who believe in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again on the third day as God, receive the gift of God's grace?
Because it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (verse 11), so if you have faith, you will surely have life. When all people are subject to curses and eternal destruction due to the judgment they have already received, those who have faith receive the wonderful blessing of life. Is there anything in the world more important than life? There is no greater blessing than to receive life, that is, eternal life.
God gives the Holy Spirit as a gift to believers who have faith. The Holy Spirit leads me to the truth (verse 2), the Holy Spirit who shows the glory of Jesus, the Holy Spirit who does not despise my weakness and prays with groaning; Like the Holy Spirit who resurrects me, the Holy Spirit who transforms me, who is wicked, ignorant, and lazy, into a holy man of God, He is sending me as a gift.
God sometimes gives power and miracles to those who have faith when they need it (verse 5). He heals diseases with his great power. It makes you miserable. He provides a way of escape in the midst of suffering. He is near you when you pray. Do you not remember the saying that nothing is impossible for those who believe?
Even though there are terrible and dirty sins and sins that destroy me into hell, those who have faith are justified like Abraham (verse 6). you become Forever our father. As the son of God, we are blessed together with Abraham, the father of faith (verse 8). “Do not be afraid, Abraham. I am your shield This is your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1).
Dear brothers and sisters, if I could list all the blessings God gives to those who believe in Jesus, who gave His body even to death for me, would this be enough? It will be uncountable. Isn't everything we live by God's grace and blessing? Dear brothers and sisters, the text we read today assures us that God's promises and promised blessings are surely given by grace to those who believe. God didn't just list us that God's blessings have these things. We testify to Abraham that our living Heavenly Father surely gives that blessing to those who believe in Jesus by the Father's grace. Looking at the contents of the text, I pray that you will become a believer who is sure that God's gift, blessing, and the grace of God will come to me who have faith, and to be joyful in hope.
After making a promise or covenant, no one can recklessly break it or add to it (verse 15). For example, let's say you signed a three-room rental contract and paid the balance. On the day of moving, if the owner says, ‘This is my house, I can do whatever I want,’ and gave away two of the three to someone else, or on the day of moving, suddenly blocks the moving items because they can’t come in before paying an additional 50 million won. What kind of person do you think the owner is? How much more will we renounce what God has promised us? Or would you ask for more than what you promised? no. In other words, he doesn't do anything without a case like that. What you promise, you do as you promise. Believe it.
What promise did God make to Abraham? “The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country and your relatives and your father’s house, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3). (Genesis 15:18) Second, he promised descendants. (Genesis 15:5) Third, he promised that all peoples on the earth would be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3) What would this covenant be like?
God did not require the law from Abraham. I am not giving you land if you do this. When I was living with my father in Ur of the Chaldeans, one day God suddenly called Abraham and promised him land, descendants, and blessings. It was not that Abraham knew in advance the God of blessing and asked God to do it. When Abraham knew nothing, he called Abraham and promised him land, descendants, and blessings. What did you do with this promise?
We are like this. Our Heavenly Father chose us before the foundation of the world and foreordained us according to His pleasure. This was to establish him without blemish and holy before God. (Ephesians 1:4-5) We did not come to Jesus after knowing Jesus first. It was a time when I could not understand this will of God at all. Suddenly, he called us through the gospel. He was called to come back to Jesus and believe. He promised that if you believe in Jesus, He will give you a gift, that is, a blessing. Those who believe in the one who called, those who believe in Jesus, and those who believe in Him, are blessed because of the promise. Do you receive a gift by doing the law? only faith. He will surely glorify each and every one of us in due time (Romans 8:29).
All we need now is faith. God made Jesus Christ the Lamb who took away all our sins and condemned Him to be the greatest sinner by being crucified on the cross, and cursed on our behalf. And he promised us that if we believe in this very Jesus, we are the Son of God and will give us all blessings as sons. Those who believe and obey the promise will surely receive the gift of God, the blessing of grace.
What kind of faith do you need? When Abraham said, “Leave your country and your relatives, your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you,” Abraham did not know Galba at all. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . However, they obeyed in faith and went to the land they would receive as an inheritance in the future. You must have faith until you obey.
Moreover, God said, “I will bless Sarah, that she will bear you a son, and I will bless her and make her the mother of nations, and from her shall come kings of nations.” That's a really funny thing to say. “How can a 100-year-old person have children? Sarah is 90 years old, how can she produce?” However, since God who promised once is faithful, how can we doubt the promise of God who even gave us a name? I never doubted and believed until the end. Even when he told them to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, he believed that God would multiply his descendants like stars and sand through him. Even when trials or tribulations come, we need to have faith to keep the faith until the end without doubting it.
In particular, he believed that the nations would be blessed through the offspring born of his own body. He was convinced that Christ and the nations would be blessed through him. They were happy to see Jesus in advance. It takes faith to rejoice in hope in unseen promises.
Abraham received the land, the number of his descendants, and the blessings of the nations through faith. Since there was no law, it cannot be said that we received the law by doing it. Saints, we too receive the gift of God only through faith in the promise of the one who has promised.