God’s Covenant with Abraham: Receiving the Life-Giving Spirit as the God’s Blessing

Our God is a covenanting God, and we are His covenanted people.

Even though man fell, God came in to preach the gospel and promised that the seed of the woman will destroy the serpent; this seed of the woman is Christ and also the man-child, the overcomers. This covenant God made with Adam was not only for Adam to benefit of but it was for the whole mankind, and even more, in Christ this covenant was made real to us and we as believers can become part of the overcoming seed!

Later in Genesis we see that God made a covenant with Noah, promising that He will not destroy the earth by water – and as a sign of the covenant, He set the rainbow in the heavens. This covenant is not only for Noah and his family to benefit of but for us all to enjoy: we today can enjoy God’s faithfulness and stand on His promises in His word. Hallelujah!

The third major covenant God made with man was His covenant with Abraham; while he was in Shinar worshipping idols, God appeared to Abraham and called him out to come to the land of Canaan (Acts 7:2-3).

When Abraham arrived in the land of Canaan, God appeared to him again and promised him that He will give the whole land to him and to his seed, and God promised Abraham that he will have a seed in whom all the nations will be blessed (see Gen. 17:8; Gal. 3:16; Matt. 1:1-2). Even though God made this promise to Abraham, we all can benefit of this covenant since the seed of Abraham is Christ Himself, and in Christ all the nations are blessed.

Christ came as the seed of Abraham, a descendent of Abraham, and in His resurrection He was transfigured to be the life-giving Spirit, the transfigured seed of Abraham; as such a One, we can receive Him and enjoy the reality of the seed of Abraham (the blessing) and the reality of the good land (the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit).

Hallelujah, today we can benefit of and enjoy Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the reality of the covenant God made with Abraham!

God’s Covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Christ as the Life-giving Spirit

God made a covenant with Abraham, promising him two things: a seed in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed, and the good land of Canaan (Gen. 12:3; 17:7). The seed God promised Abraham was, physically and literally, Isaac, his son; but the real seed of Abraham was Christ, a descendant of Abraham, and in Christ and through Christ all the nations of the earth are blessed.

The blessing of Abraham is not only for the Jews but it has come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of Abraham, the seed of Abraham, dispensed into us to make us the sons of Abraham, the corporate seed of Abraham.

First, Christ is the seed of Abraham, the promised seed in whom all will be blessed; then this Christ has passed through death and resurrection and has become the life-giving Spirit, the transfigured descendant of Abraham to be dispensed into those who believe into Him and make them the corporate seed of Abraham.

Now everyone who believes into the Lord Jesus receives and inherits the consummated Spirit as the blessing of Abraham (Gal. 3:7, 14; 4:28). And if we are of Christ by receiving Him as our life and Savior, we are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29).

The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land of Canaan (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8), which was a type of the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (see 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17).

Today we as believers in Christ and sons of Abraham according to the spirit need to see Christ, enjoy Christ, walk in Christ, take possession of Christ, and enter into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the reality of the good land, which is now in our spirit.

The blessing that God promised Abraham was not merely physical – Isaac and the good land, but something spiritual and eternal – God Himself in Christ as the Spirit! Our blessing today as Abraham’s seed is God Himself who is embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit to be dispensed into us for our enjoyment.

Our inheritance today is Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the reality of the good land of Canaan; what we inherit is not merely something physical but something divine and spiritual, an eternal inheritance as our spiritual blessing for eternity (see Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:14; Gal. 3:14).

Today Christ is our enjoyment as the Spirit with our spirit, and in the new heaven and new earth in the New Jerusalem, we will continually enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God who is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as our living water, tree of life, light, life, and everything! Hallelujah! How wonderful it is to enjoy the indwelling Spirit with our spirit, the reality of the blessing God promised to Abraham!

Thank You Lord for making us Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise, through our regeneration. Lord, thank You for bringing the blessing of Abraham to us that we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Lord, we are such a blessed people having the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the reality of God in Christ as our blessing! Keep us enjoying You as the wonderful indwelling Spirit who energizes us, fills us with life and peace, gives us joy, supplies us, and constantly imparts God into us! Hallelujah for the Spirit with our spirit!

Having the Hearing of Faith to Receive Christ as the Spirit for His Growth in us

Now that we know that we’re inheritors of this all-inclusive life-giving bountiful Spirit as the reality of the good land and the blessing promised to Abraham, what should we do? We need to have the hearing of faith so that we can continually receive Christ as the Spirit for His growth in us as the seed of Abraham and for our enjoyment of Him as the land promised to Abraham (Gal. 3:2, 5; 2 Cor. 4:13).

In order to have the hearing of faith, we need to have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev. 2:7, cf. Heb. 5:11-14). We need to take heed what we hear and how we heart (Luke 10:38-42), because the measure of the Spirit that can be dispensed into our inward parts depends on the measure of our hearing (Mark. 4:23-25; Matt. 13:14-16; 5:3, 8).

Our ear needs to be open to the Lord, and our ear needs to be circumcised, that is, our flesh needs to be cut off so that we may hear the Lord’s speaking. Our ear needs to be cleansed by the blood of Christ and anointed by the Spirit (Lev. 14) so that we may hear the Lord’s words.

In Luke 10:38-42 Martha was distracted with much service, by Mary chose the better part by sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to His words. In order for us to hear the Lord’s words we need to have a proper attitude, and this involves at least four aspects:

1. We need to sit at the Lord’s feet and not at anyone else’s feet. Drawing near to the Lord is the shortest and best way for us to grow in life. No method is better than coming to the Lord moment-by-moment, loving Him, worshipping Him, and unceasingly fellowshipping with Him and remaining in His presence.
2. Sit at the Lord’s feet, in a humble condition. Humility is the requirement to receiving God’s blessing. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humility is not belittling ourselves but ignoring ourselves, negating ourselves, and considering ourselves as nothing. If we draw near to God with deep humility, He will give us grace.
3. We need to sit down, quietly, and stop our busyness. Martha was busy with many things, but Mary sat down at the Lord’s feet. Quietness is often the source of strength; the greatest challenge we face today is being quiet before the Lord. Our eyes are wandering and our thoughts are distracted by the things in the world. Those who are busy cannot receive revelation from God easily. If we want to have the Lord’s image imprinted on us, quietness before Him is a requirement.
4. We need to listen to the Lord’s words, which are Spirit and are life (John 6:63). Through His words, the Lord dispenses Himself into us, and this affords Him the opportunity to gain us and make us like Him, infusing His intention in us. We shouldn’t just hear “words from God” but meet the Lord Himself, the One behind the words who has an intention and a heart’s desire.

We need to be those who are one with Christ as the Slave-Savior by loving Him to the uttermost and taking Him as our absolute consecration, giving Him the way to open our ear to hear His divine instructions, His fresh messages, which dispense the divine Spirit into us for our service to God in our spirit in the gospel of His Son (see Exo. 21:1-6; Isa. 50:4-5; Phil. 3:3; John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 1:9).

When our ear is open to the Lord, we are humble before Him, we listen to Him, and we hear His Words, we will be one with Him by loving Him and we receive a fresh dispensing of the Spirit into us for our service to God in spirit. May the Lord make us such ones!

Lord Jesus, we want to sit at Your feet and listen to Your words to be infused with Your intentions and be one with You for the carrying out of Your heart’s desire. Lord, we stop our busyness, quiet down our being, and turn our heart to You; we want to listen to You and receive Your fresh speaking, Your divine instructions in Your word. Lord Jesus, we love You and we take You as our absolute consecration, giving You the way to open our ear to hear Your fresh message which dispenses the divine Spirit into us for our service to God in our Spirit in the gospel of Your Son!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, pp. 86-89 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (2), week 6 / msg 6, The Covenanting God and His Covenants (1) – Major Covenants That God Made with Man.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # “Seed of Abraham,” Thou art, Lord, / By God’s promise Thou hast come, / That the blessing He hath promised / On all people thus might come. / Abraham Thou hast preceded, / For Thou art the great “I AM,” / Yet Thou cam’st to be his offspring / And become God’s promised “Lamb.” (Hymns #403)
  # Lord, in Thy presence silent I would be, / That in the inmost I to Thee may come; / I would not in my own way pray to Thee, / But let Thy prayer in me my prayer become. (Hymns #191)
  # Ever tender, quiet, restful, / Inclinations put away, / That Thou may for me choose freely / As Thy finger points the way. / Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / For my very life art Thou; / Thee I take to all my problems / As the full solution now. (Hymns #764)