Abraham's Seed

[dave c]

simpletruth #138t Revisited 23JUN10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Twenty: Abraham's Seed

by rev. dave c

Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).

In Part Nineteen of this series we saw that Ephesians 1:3-14 establishes three distinct groups of people in regard to the receiving of God’s mercy. Firstly, “Us” (whom God predestined/preordained/chose/elected to come to Him). Secondly, “You” (who having heard the Gospel of Truth, came to Christ—also ref. 2Th 1:10). Thirdly, “Them” (who are the unsaved children of the world). This pattern was begun in the Old Testament when God set aside the descendents of Abraham as His chosen people. His covenant was not a carte blanc guarantee that every individual Hebrew automatically went to heaven, nor that only Hebrews were eligible. Rather, the Jews as a collective nation were called by God to be the witness to the world of His very great love for humanity and to reveal His divine power and eternal nature as fully realized in the person of Jesus Christ.

In the same fashion, we are shown in the New Testament that God created a portion of mankind to be His instruments to spread the Good News of Christ’s resurrection, His forgiveness of sins, and the opportunity for salvation. Obviously, the original Apostles and/or early converts were not the only people who were brought into the Kingdom. They were the “first fruits” of the New Covenant of Believers as the Body and Bride of Christ. Likewise, during this, the Age of the Church, there are those whom God has specifically designed to occupy specific positions within the Kingdom of Heaven…that is, the Kingdom of God as manifested here on Earth through the Church (using here a distinction between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven—where the latter contains both “good” and “bad” as suggested by Matthew 13:24-30/47&48; 18:23-35; 25:1-13).

Paul, in First Corinthians 12:27&28, tells us, Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues (NIV). This is reiterated in Ephesians 4:11&12, It was he [God the Father] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (NIV). While not listed in the typically Pentecostal doctrine of the “five-fold ministry”, I include ‘workers of miracles’ from First Corinthians 12:27 in the outline of church offices because it follows linguistically with “first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then (implied ‘fourth’) workers of miracles” as descriptive titles of/for people. This series of offices is then followed by “also…” and a list of gifts that are given to people, which cannot be construed to be titles.

The word appointed in First Corinthians 12:27 is translated from the Greek tithemi (Strong's #5087), which carries the connotation of “set aside, reserved, or assigned.” Similarly, Ephesians 4:11’s Gave some is from didomi (Strong's #1325) and implies “commit, bring forth, or deliver.” In both cases we are being told that God gave to the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and workers of miracles. This is in contrast to those having gifts in First Corinthians 12:28, which is derived from charisma (Strong's #5486), and refers to gifts given by the Holy Spirit to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The New Testament collectively lists many gifts of the Spirit such as those mentioned here—healing, helps, administration, and speaking in tongues—that are distinct from the particular offices of the Church mentioned earlier.

Once again the Book of Ephesians suggests two types, or groups, of people within the structural parameters of the Church. 4:12 states that God brought forth leadership as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (or, pastor-teachers) to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Effectively, God designed, or created, certain people to be of service to those whom the Holy Spirit has equipped with special gifts (or, tools) to be of service within the Church and the world. The Biblical model, then, is God set aside leadership (the “us” of Ep 1:3-12) to lead/teach/prepare God's people (the “you” of Ep 1:13) for ministry in the world (the “them” of Ep, Chapter 2) so that the body of Christ (the “our” of Ep 1:14) may be built up.

Obviously, every member of the true Church of Jesus Christ must be born again, that is, he/she has answered personally the call to salvation and has received the Son of God into their lives. The grace and mercy of God knows no bounds... You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Ga 3:26-29, NIV). Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory (Ep 1:14, NIV).