Wednesday, June 30, PM

The Promise to Abraham and the Seed Who Is Christ

And he says in verse 16, "...now to Abraham and his seed...". Notice the capital S and the lack of an S at the end of the word. "...now to Abraham and to his seed were the promises made.". He does not say, "...and to seeds, as of many, but as of one.

And to your seed, who is Christ?". Alright, everyone's ready to hear Isaac, maybe even Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and then all those who are in Israel. The seed is Israel. He says, "...the seed is Christ.".

And I say, and this I say, that the law, which is 430 years later, the law given to Moses 430 years later, past Genesis chapter 15, "...cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.".

Now notice verse 18, "...if the inheritance is of the law...". Oh, inheritance. What must I do? What must I do to inherit eternal life? "...if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise.".

But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Imagine this, the lawyer comes to, he's standing, and he's looking at the seed of Abraham. He's asking the seed of Abraham, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus throws the law at him. Because, precisely because, the inheritance does not come by the law. It does not come by the doing of the law. The inheritance comes by, not by a seed in Abraham, who makes themselves worthy by keeping the law, but by the seed of Abraham that was promised prior to the law.

It was by promise. And so, the lawyer is looking at his hope of eternal life, and asking what he must do. And so Jesus throws the law at him, because then the law becomes the schoolmaster, which leads him to Christ, and shows him his inability to do anything.

It's like Donald Gray Barnhouse said, the law is a mirror, which shows you your face is filthy. You do not then wrench the mirror off the wall, and begin to scrub your face with it. So, this is the reason why, at the end of the story about the Good Samaritan, and Jesus' interaction with the lawyer, we have the story about Mary and Martha.

Mary and Martha: Resting Before Working

Very often, we get lost in the Good Samaritan, and we say, the Good Samaritan is about how we are to be good neighbors. Well, we certainly learn what it means to be a neighbor. We certainly see what neighborliness looks like.

But, it matters where we begin thinking about that, and so we come to the story of Mary and Martha, for clarity. What happens in the story of Mary and Martha? Martha, Martha. We have that tagline in Christian parlance.

Martha is busy doing a lot of serving, and taking care of everybody who has come to her home. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Mary is resting, and Martha is working. You see the contrast? And, it's not right for you to rest when guests are in your home.

It's not done. Martha is busy working. Mary is resting. And, when Martha complains about this, Jesus says, one thing is needed. One thing is needed. He said the same thing to the rich ruler. One thing you lack.

Your hands are full, empty them and grab hold of me. One thing is needed, and Mary's found it. She's sitting at my feet. She's resting. And, he says that's not going to be taken away from her. That's not going to be taken away from her.

Eternal Life First, Then Life Lived Out

So, I think here is,.

Here is the point.

That.

Eternal life is first found in Christ and then.

Lived out.

To put it a different way, our kind of work proceeds from our kind of rest. Martha's work, the kind of work she was doing, was frustrating and burning her out and making her jealous of others and accusing others and so on.

The work that the lawyer was proposing was futile in vain. He would never be able to achieve eternal life through this back-breaking adherence to the law. But, what if the lawyer had repented and come to Christ as his eternal life first and rested at the feet of Jesus.

Then, when he had a question,.

Jesus,.

Who is my neighbor? And Jesus tells the story. Then his work would proceed out of his rest. His kind of work would proceed out of his kind of rest. And then this work would not be about inheriting eternal life.

It would be about living it out. Living out life eternal. Expressing it. Martha was harem scarum. But, if she had rested in Christ, if her work was proceeding out of her rest and her rest was in Christ,.

Well then it.

Would have been a different type of work. It wouldn't have been. Look what I'm doing and nobody else is. Our kind of work proceeds from our kind of rest. The lawyer was not resting in the righteousness of Christ.

That no flesh is justified by the works of the law is evident. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3 tells us. And all who are under the law are guilty. Their mouths are closed by the law. They stand without excuse.

But now the righteousness of God is manifested apart from the law. Being witnessed to by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference.

So, our.

Kind of work proceeds from our kind of rest. Resting in Christ. Resting in the righteousness of Christ. Resting in the worthiness of Christ. Resting in all of the blessings that Christ has won for us.

And has manifested toward us through his Holy Spirit in the new covenant. This rest.

Then.

Out of this rest then we labor and we work. And when Jesus says oh your neighbor is so and so and this kind of person and this is how you love others. Then it's like, oh wow!

And I.

Follow Jesus and do those things. But if I'm not resting in Christ then it's, here's all the things you must do before you are approved. And welcome to misery.

So.

This combination of the two stories I think shows us that principle. And we rejoice as we look at Christ who is this master teacher. He sees into our motives. He undoes our assumptions. But he is the true son who inherits eternal life.

And when we choose him, the good that we choose will never be taken away. He is our life.

Alright, well.

Let's.

Turn our attention now to some prayer requests.