HEIR CARE
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Introduction
In
the following we’re looking at some of the benefits we have by being in Christ,
i.e., by being Christians. Before Jesus was lifted up and transported into
heaven, He told His disciples “that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are My
witnesses” (Luke 24:47-48). Then the LORD said to His disciples, “Behold, I
send the Promise of My Father upon you; but
tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power on high” (Luke
24:49).
And
the story continues in Acts 1:4-5, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded
them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father,
‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but
you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts
1:4-5).
The reason I mention these passages should be obvious from our text which is Galatians 3:26-29). The baptism in verse 27 is the baptism of the Holy Spirit of which only Covenant Baptism is the picture. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27). To have “put on” or to have been endued with Christ is to have the Holy Spirit come upon you. To have the Holy Spirit come upon you is to receive the Promise of the Father. And to receive the Promise of the Father is to be an heir according to the promise.
The
Heir
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| The Return of the Prodigal Son after wasting his inheritance. |
Paul
has been going to great lengths to remind the Galatians that they are heirs
according to the Promise. Back in Galatians 3:2 he asks the Galatians, “Did you
receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” And,
of course, they received the gift of the Spirit by faith alone and not
because of their own works.
Up
till now Paul has been proving to the Galatians that it was the same for
Abraham. Abraham was saved by grace alone through faith alone. Abraham was
promised an Heir who would come from his own loins. “In you [Abraham] all the
nations shall be blessed.” Abraham (in Genesis 15) was concerned about an heir.
He told the LORD that since he was childless one of his servants was his heir. His
servant was his slave and this servant was to inherit all that Abraham had. So
the LORD said to Abraham, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come
from your own body will be your heir” (Gen. 15:4). Genesis 15:6 says, “And he
believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6).
Now,
don’t think for a moment think that all Abraham believed was that he was
somehow going to produce a son from his own loins. Of course, he didn’t
understand the full implications of this all at once. But there are too many
Scriptures that tell us Abraham had his eye on the Promised Seed, i.e., Christ.
Eg, Jesus says, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John
8:56).
Abraham
then saw the Christ to come even when God blessed him with a son, Isaac. Abraham
knew that the Saviour was on His way to crush the serpent’s head. Indeed,
Abraham believed in the Promise of God, and he is called the father of all
believers! “Only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). And in
Galatians 3:26 of our text we read, “For you are all SONS of God through faith
in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26).
I
don’t have to tell you that we live in an age when some women read that and
immediately label the Apostle Paul as sexist. To jump to that conclusion the
feminist misses, along with the immersionist, the beauty of God’s Covenant of
Grace. The Galatians were having problems with circumcision. It was only male believers
and their children who put on or were clothed or endued with the sign and
seal of the Covenant of Grace in the Old Testament. Only the son
received the promise of the father, i.e., the promise of his inheritance. Read
the parable of the Prodigal Son who squandered his inheritance. But it was only
the male child who was promised the inheritance.
Male
circumcision was the sign and seal of the inheritance God
promised to Abram and to the sons of Abraham. “He who is born in your [i.e.,
Abraham’s] house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and
My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the
uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant”
(Gen. 17:13-14). “And he [i.e., Abraham] received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had
while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all
those who believe… For the promise that he would be the heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but
through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:11a, 13).
In
this we see then that male circumcision is the sign and seal of God’s
covenant. It is God’s promise to who qualify to receive and therefore receive
the sign and seal of the covenant that they are adopted sons of
God, and as such, are heirs along with father Abraham. What was Abraham’s promised
in heritance? That he would be the father of all who believe AND that he was
heir to the world!
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Circumcision
of course symbolized the removal of the sinful flesh. But it was also a
reminder of the Promised Seed who was in the loins of Abraham, then Isaac then
Jacob all the way down to... all the way down to whom? Who is the Father of
Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the Son of God, isn’t He? God is His Father but
Mary is His mother. And isn’t Jesus the Seed of the woman even in the Gospel
promise of Genesis 3:15?
Now
then, we know that in the Old Testament the son was promised the inheritance and
not the daughter. And we know that circumcision was a picture of the promised
inheritance. If baptism replaces circumcision, then why are women receiving the
sign and seal of the Covenant? There’s no command in the New Testament to
baptize women. Then why are we baptizing females? Well, I’ll tell you! It’s
because all of us are heirs according to the promise – not just the blokes! That’s
what Paul is on about where he says, “There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). All who are in Christ the
only begotten Son of God are heirs with Him.
So,
what is the Promise of God the Father? It is the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? And
upon whom is the Holy Spirit poured? All flesh, which includes females. “For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). As
many of you upon whom Christ has poured out His Spirit (as pictured in Covenant
Baptism) are clothed in Christ. If you are in Christ, then you are an heir of
the Covenant Promise. And according to 2 Corinthians 1:20 all the promises of
God begin and end with Jesus Christ. “For all the promises of God in Him are
Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20).
So
then, is Paul sexist when he says, “You are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26)? Of course not! He is calling both males and females
“sons” because we have had Jesus Christ put on us.
When
God looks at you and me He sees His Heir, i.e., His only begotten Son. He
doesn’t see a Scotsman or an Aussie, or a man or a woman! Again, “There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither
male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). When
God looks upon you who are baptized by His Spirit (as illustrated by Covenant Baptism) He sees His Son.
In
Covenant Baptism, the sprinkled or poured out water on the recipient’s head is the
sign and seal of the covenant. The picture is that the poured out Spirit has
taken the poured out blood of Christ and has affixed and applied the promise of
its benefits and blessings to the recipient. In the Old Testament God treated
as sons those who had the sign and seal of the Covenant on them. And in the New
Testament He treats as sons those who have the sign and seal of the Covenant on
them. The blood-sprinkled doorposts and lintels of the households at the first
Passover pictures the same thing, which is the protection of the firstborn, i.e.,
the heirs. Thus, baptism, like circumcision before it, is a sign and seal of
God’s covenant promise.
As
it was in the Old Testament, so it is in the New, the outward sign of the
Covenant, is simply an outward sign of what needs to take place inwardly. In
the Old Testament, the LORD told them to “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and
take away the foreskins of your hearts” (Jer. 4:4a). And Moses told the people
of God, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked
no longer” (Deut. 10:16). Therefore, if you fail to see the continuity from
circumcision to baptism, you will, with the feminist and with the immersionist
miss the beauty of the Covenant.
We
are Abraham’s seed only because Christ came through the loins of Abraham. Christ
is the Seed (Gal. 3:16), and it was Christ who received the Promise of the
Father. The Father poured the Spirit upon Christ from heaven after John the
Baptizer anointed Christ’s head by water baptism. And every time you see a
Covenant Baptism performed, you are seeing a picture of someone, male or female
becoming an heir!
Indeed
that’s what the name Christ means “anointed,” i.e., Messiah. John anointed Jesus
with water while the Father anointed Him with the Spirit. In Luke’s gospel Jesus
says, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach
the gospel to the poor” (Luke i4:18a). And come the Day of Pentecost Christ
baptized or anointed His Apostles with the Spirit and fire. They were anointed
to preach the gospel to all the ends of the earth. They were to go into all the
world making disciples of all nations. The Spirit was doing invisibly what the
Apostles were to do visibly. They were to baptize the nations because the
promise was for all.
Acts 2:38-39 records these words, “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord will call” (Acts 2:38-39). Yes, the promise is to you AND to your children! For through water baptism people are received as members of the visible church. But only through Spirit baptism are they received as members of the invisible church. Therefore, all we’re doing in water baptism is showing the promise of the Spirit in physical terms. We’re just illustrating what Christ does invisibly, i.e., even baptizing whole nations into His Church according to promise. Therefore, we who have been baptized by Christ who poured His Spirit upon us, are sons and heirs according to the promise.
The
Care
The LORD looks after His Seed. We’re told in Galatians 3:29 that we are Abraham’s seed. God made the promise to Abraham and his seed, yes, "the promise is to you and to your children" (Acts 2:39). The Promise was made to Abraham and to Christ and to those who by faith are in Christ.
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The
LORD has made the promise to care for him and his children. In short, the LORD
has covenanted with Abraham and his descendants, yes, even you me. For we’re
told in Galatians 3:29 that, if we are in Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed. Therefore,
we need to have “put on” Christ in order to be identified with Him. And this of
course is referring to Spirit baptism. And since the Father has Promised the
Spirit to believers and their children (Acts 2:39), we of the Reformed Faith
baptize with water believers AND their children. In other words, it is through
baptism that ALL who are in the church on earth are to identify themselves with
Christ.
Water
baptism as was circumcision is the sign and seal of the Covenant of Grace. All
who are truly in this covenant are heirs of the Promise of this Covenant. The
Promise in brief is everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ alone. These
merits, or, if you will, this righteousness, are accredited to us by the
Father. The Holy Spirit is the One sent by the Father and the Son to apply, i.e.,
SEAL the blessings of the Covenant to the believers and their children. Just as
the Israelites were Passed Over by the destroying angel in Egypt because they
had the blood on their doorposts, so are we shielded by the blood of the Lamb.
Christ,
our High Priest, sprinkles His blood upon us just as Moses sprinkled the blood
of the Covenant upon the people of Israel. “Then he [Moses] took the Book of
the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.
And they said, ‘All that the Lord has said, we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses
took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold, the blood of the
covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words’” (Exo.
24:7-8).
It
shouldn’t take an Einstein to figure out that what Moses performed here is
virtually the same as that which takes place in Covenant Baptism. God has made
Promises to us. His promises are in the Bible, i.e., the Book of the Covenant. The
Word of the LORD has come to us, not in a vision as with Abraham, but by His
Spirit speaking in the Scriptures. He promises to look after us. He is our
SHIELD. And we in turn, promise to love and to obey Him. Sounds just like a
marriage, doesn’t it? Christ is the husband and His Church is the bride.
So
then, Christ takes care of His bride. His bride is most precious to Him. He
purchased His bride with His own blood. It is with this blood, His blood, the
blood of His marriage, His covenant with us, that cleanses us of all our sins. As
in a marriage, the two become one, we in Christ and Christ in us. To be in
Christ is to be justified. To have Christ in you is to be sanctified. Therefore,
to have Christ at work in us and in our midst means He is looking after us.
Now
then, since we are in Christ, this means that whatever belongs to Christ
belongs also to us. Jesus was baptized by John, and then He was baptized by the
Father. And please, get this dunking business out of your head or you’ll miss
the beauty of the Covenant!
So,
the picture then, is one of John anointing the Anointed. Or, if you will, John
christed the Christ. And of course, Jesus had John baptize Him to fulfill all
righteousness (Matt. 3:15). In other words, it was done out of obedience to the
covenant. But just after John had anointed Jesus with water, the Father
anointed Him with the Spirit. Then, as I mentioned earlier, Jesus began His
ministry saying, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18).
Jesus’s
anointing took place at His baptism. John baptized with water but He will
baptize with the Spirit (Matt. 3:11; John 1:33).
Now
then, it was the Father who gave the Son the gift of the Spirit at His baptism,
and since we His Church are in Christ, then we have received the gift of the
Spirit also. At His baptism with water and the Spirit the Father spoke from
heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in who I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:18).
The Father identified with the Son and the Son with the Father through baptism and
the Holy Spirit witnessed this Covenant.
When
we “put on” Christ, as is pictured in Covenant Baptism, we are putting on His
Covenant every bit as much as Abraham “put on” His Covenant through
circumcision. In baptism the LORD identifies Himself with us and we with Him. And
because we are in Christ the Father sees us as His Son. Therefore, when we are
being baptized the Father is saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal.
3:26).
We
are “sons” because God doesn’t see us as male or female, Jew or gentile etc. But
He sees us as His Son. And does the Father care about His Son?
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And
the thing that is even sadder is that fewer and fewer in the Reformed Faith are
showing an interest in the LORD’s Covenant. All the confessions of the
Reformers that came out of the Reformation were all written in light of God’s
Covenant of Grace. The Westminster Standards, i.e., the Westminster Confession
of Faith, the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms etc., The Canons of
Dordt, The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, The Second Helvetic
Confession, The Thirty-Nine-Articles etc. But all of these Confessions have
been put on the backburner it seems to me. Instead we read books on secular
psychology, stress in management.“How to Love the Job you Hate”, “Developing
Your Prophetic Gifting”, “Breaking Intimidation”, “Developing the Leader within
You”, “The Winning Attitude” – these are just a sample of what Christians are
reading! Wouldn’t it be nice to see a renewed interest in the LORD?
At the moment the Church is consumed with its own self. But as Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing!” He cares for the heirs but do the heirs care enough about Him? I’d like to see the Christian book shops inundated with books showing the beauty of God’s Covenant. For God has cared enough about us to have perfectly preserved the Book of the Covenant. We need help to understand the beauty of the Covenant. It’s my belief that if you catch even so much as a glimpse of the beauty of the Covenant of Grace, then you’ll begin to hunger and thirst after the righteousness that is revealed therein.
Conclusion
Let’s
finish with a couple of verses from Psalm 25, “Who is the man that fears the
LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in
prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD
is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Psa.
25:12-14).
[1] Buried here
does not mean being lowered into a six-foot hole in the ground as we do in the
West. This is alien to the text! Rather it is speaking of being entombed with
Christ. “When Joseph
had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in
his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone
against the door of the tomb, and departed” (Matt. 27:59-60).
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