I.　For the fulfillment of His purpose God must have the seed— Gen. 12:7; 13:15- 16; 15:3, 5:

A.　The seed is first the individual Christ and then the corporate Christ, composed of Christ as the Head and all the believers as the Body— Gal. 3:16, 29; 1 Cor. 12:12.

B.　As the seed of Abraham, Christ became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit so that the believers in Christ, who are Abraham's seed, may inherit the consummated Spirit, the consummation of the processed Triune God, as their divine inheritance—their divine blessing for eternity—15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 3:14, 29; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:14a.

C.　Christ is the unique seed of Abraham; in God's eyes, Abraham has only one seed, that is, Christ— Gen. 12:7a; 13:15; 21:12; 22:17; Gal. 3:16b:

1.　Christ is the seed, and the seed is the heir who inherits the promises—v. 16.

2.　Christ is not only the seed who inherits the promises but also the blessing of the promises to be inherited by us.

D.　As the seed of Abraham, Christ in His humanity was crucified and became a curse on our behalf, being forsaken by God, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit as the greatest blessing—vv. 13-14.

E.　As the seed of Abraham, Christ became not only our Redeemer and Savior but also the lifegiving Spirit; the life-giving Spirit— the Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God— is a transfigured descendant of Abraham—v. 16; 1 Cor. 15:45b.

F.　In order to be the seed of Abraham, we must be in Christ and be one with Christ— Gal. 3:29:

1.　Since Abraham has only one seed—Christ—to be Abraham's seed we must be of Christ, be a part of Christ.

2.　Because we are one with Christ, the unique seed, we too are Abraham's seed.

G.　On the one hand, the seed is the One who fulfills the promise; on the other hand, the seed is those who enjoy the promise, which has been fulfilled—vv. 16, 29:

1.　In the matter of fulfilling the promise, we have no part; only Christ, the unique seed, is qualified to fulfill God's promise to Abraham.

2.　In the matter of enjoying the fulfilled promise, the seed becomes many—the many sons of Abraham—v. 7:

a.　In order to enjoy the fulfilled promise, we must be one with Christ—1 Cor. 6:17. 1 Cor 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

b.　Outside of Christ, we cannot enjoy the fulfillment of the promise given by God to Abraham.

c.　For fulfillment, the seed is one; for enjoyment, the seed includes all those who believe in Christ— John 3:15-16.

II.　Through faith in Christ Jesus, the unique seed, we are all sons of God and sons of Abraham—Gal. 3:7, 26, 29:

A.　Faith in Christ makes the New Testament believers sons of God, a relationship altogether in life — 4:7; Rom. 8:14; Heb. 2:10:

1.　Faith in Christ brings us into Christ, making us one with Christ, in whom is the sonship— John 3:15-16.

2.　We must be identified with Christ through faith so that in Him we may be sons of God.

3.　When we believed into Christ, the divine life with the divine nature —in fact, the Divine Being of the Triune God Himself—entered into us, and we were born of God to become sons of God—vv. 15-16, 6; 1 John 3:1.

B.　Our true status is that in Christ and by the organic union we are both sons of God and sons of Abraham— Gal. 3:26, 7:

1.　Christ is the sphere in which this takes place —1 Cor. 1:30; John 15:4-5.

2.　We and Christ have been joined in a marvelous organic union; because of this union, we are sons of God and sons of Abraham—1 Cor. 6:17.

III.　"The word of Jehovah came to him, saying,…[He] who will come out from your own body shall be your heir. And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be"—Gen. 15:4-5:

A.　The seed needed for the fulfillment of God's purpose could not be anything that Abraham already possessed (Eliezer—v. 2) or could produce out of himself (Ishmael—16:15).

B.　Only that which God worked into Abraham could bring forth from Abraham the required seed.

C.　Likewise, only what God works into us through His grace can bring forth Christ as the seed to fulfill God's purpose — Gal. 1:16; 2:20; 4:19; Eph. 3:17; Phil. 2:13.

D.　In order to fulfill God's purpose, we need to receive God's grace so that Christ can be wrought into us as the seed— John 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:10.

IV.　Abraham "believed Jehovah, and He accounted it to him as righteousness"— Gen. 15:6; cf. Gal. 3:6; Rom. 4:2-3:

A.　Believing God was Abraham's spontaneous reaction to God's repeated appearing to him; his believing was the springing up within him of the element that God had transfused into him—Acts 7:2; Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-17.

B.　In Genesis 15:6 Abraham did not believe God to obtain outward blessings for his own existence; he believed that God was able to work something into him to bring forth a seed out of his own being for the fulfillment of God's purpose:

1.　This kind of faith is precious to God and is accounted by Him as righteousness— Rom. 4:3.

2.　Abraham was justified by such a faith—vv. 2, 5.

C.　God's reaction to Abraham's believing was to justify him, that is, to account him as righteous— Gen. 15:6:

1.　Abraham believed God's word in a definite way, and God accounted it to him as righteousness—Rom. 4:2-5.

2.　God's justification is not a reward (wages) for our good works (labor); it is grace freely given to us through Christ's redemption—3:24; 4:4:

a.　Since God's justification is reckoned according to His grace, it is not based on or according to our works— vv. 4-5.

b.　Our works can by no means replace God's grace; God's grace must be absolute —3:24.

3.　For God to justify Abraham means that God was happy with Abraham and that Abraham was in harmony with God.

D.　Abraham's being justified by God was not related to sin; rather, it was for the gaining of a seed to produce a kingdom that will inherit the world— 4:3, 13:

1.　Romans 4 indicates that justification is not merely for us to be delivered out of God's condemnation but even more for God to gain many sons to constitute the Body of Christ as the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of His purpose—8:29-30; 12:4-5; 14:17.

2.　Justification enables Abraham and all his believing heirs to inherit the world and to exercise the dominion of God on earth— 4:13.

3.　The purpose of God's justification is to have a reproduction of Christ in millions of saints, who become the members of His Body; the Body then becomes the kingdom of God on earth—12:4-5; 14:17.