GIFTS – PART SIX
Sunday – November 24, 2019, Cheshvan 26, 5780
Greetings precious friends and partners of this Ministry and welcome back to a wonderfully powerful teaching on the gifts offered by God to each one of us. The foundational gift of course is salvation, for without it none of the others can have any place in our lives. This gift is freely offered with the only qualifier being that we are a living person upon the earth. It is not contingent upon our thoughts, our speech, or our behavior. Of course, for those outside of the Kingdom of God undeserved mercy and love is extended without reservation to all. I sure needed that mercy and love before salvation. I didn’t understand that or appreciate it fully and just trampled over it so recklessly, thank you Lord for forgiveness. I now know how essential His mercy and love are every day of my life. Now, I am fully aware of my need for not just His mercy and love, but all of Him. I am so very thankful to my, our God. If you are reading this on Facebook please take a moment to hit the “love” and “share” buttons to encourage us and expand the reach of these marvelous eternity changing Truths. Yes, dear saints of God, these Truths will change your eternity also not just that of the lost stepping into salvation.
As you know I am tracing the trail of most precious blood from the Garden of Eden on the Day of Sin and Death to the day Christ Jesus applied His most precious Blood to the Mercy Seat of Heaven. God is so good, thank you Lord for eternal redemption. Last Sunday we left off discussing this trail of blood with the initiation of a Blood Covenant with Abram and with the Word (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit in Genesis chapter fifteen. We will now move the story forward into Genesis chapter seventeen for it is a critical chapter in the Bible to the redemption account. It is in this chapter that God introduces the circumcision which was the required shedding of blood by mankind to seal the Covenant now well into the making. The circumcision is also a visible mark of the covenant and prophetic of the coming circumcision of the heart made possible by Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit at and after salvation.
Romans 2:28-29 (TLB)
28 For you are not real Jews just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish initiation ceremony of circumcision.
29 No, a real Jew is anyone whose heart is right with God. For God is not looking for those who cut their bodies in actual body circumcision, but he is looking for those with changed hearts and minds. Whoever has that kind of change in his life will get his praise from God, even if not from you.
Surrogate blood for God was shed in chapter fifteen and now to seal the initiation of this Covenant the blood of mankind was shed for all mankind. Of course, when we come to the Cross Jesus sheds His precious blood for man and for God. Oh, what a deal dear saints! Here we find God reiterating the essential elements of this Covenant that He uttered in the Garden when He told the Serpent a Messiah was coming to crush his head and the promise to Abram in Genesis twelve that through him, Abram, all peoples would be blessed.
Genesis 12:1-3 (KJV)
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
The families of the earth are the nations, the various ethnic groups. Now, let’s get our attention back to chapter seventeen. The seed is coming, that is Christ Jesus. Finally, in this chapter we find Abram getting a name change in addition to the circumcision and he makes the essential faith statement or decree. Without this faith statement the coming of Messiah would still have been certain but perhaps delayed even further. Read the following passage very carefully.
Genesis 17:5-7 (KJV)
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Here we see God calling things that be not as thought it were already. Abram, Abraham, was not the father of many nations yet but soon would be. Notice kings are to be coming from Abraham. Dear ones, we are those kings! Notice in verse seven the number of spiritual completion the word “seed”. This is masculine and singular speaking of Jesus (the Word) and not the children to follow from his loins. Notice this Covenant is not only with Abraham and the Hebrew people but with the Seed which is Jesus. Now, we come to the circumcision.
Genesis 17:10 (KJV)
10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
The sealing of the Covenant is well on its way. The circumcision illustrates the circumcision of the heart to come with the final redemption and the Holy Spirit within to guide us in making our mind entirely like His. Now we come to Abrahams faith statement which immediately follows the name change.
Genesis 17:16-17 (KJV)
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Verse seventeen, the number of victory, is translated as a question when in fact it is a statement. The words in italics were not in the original manuscript but added by the translators for flow and clarity. He does not question God but declares with a laugh (happiness and faith) that a child shall be born to him that is a hundred years old and to Sarah that is ninety years old. Do I, do you, have the boldness of faith to declare the promises of God in our lives led of the Holy Spirit?
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it, believe it, and speak over yourself and your family by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
PRAYERS AND QUESTIONS – please, anytime you have an issue that you want me, this ministry to pray for you, a person you love or a situation contact me. Accordingly, if you should have a question about the Bible, please do not hesitate to ask it.
PARTNERSHIP AND GIVING – Those of you who are not Partners of this Ministry and you find this ministry to be of value to you and perhaps others with whom you share it, we ask you to consider becoming Partners. A Partner is one who prays for the Ministry on a regular basis and contributes to the Ministry on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly, annually). Thank you and may the Lord be pleased with your decision.
CONTACT E-MAIL: pastordavidwood@gmail.com
BLOG: https://awakeariseandtriumphministries.org
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/awakearisetriumphministries
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/PastorDavidWood
MAILING ADDRESS: 10 Village Green Circle, Oakland, Maine 04963
MY BOOKS: https://awakeariseandtriumphministries.org/shop/
