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KNOWING GRACE FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PURPOSE CIRCUMCISION FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PURPOSE
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
Genesis 17:9-10
In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ.
Colossians 2:11
In the book of Genesis, nearly all the divine truths are sown as seeds. In this message we come to a great and basic truth in the holy Word that is sown as a seed in Genesis 17—circumcision.
In order to understand circumcision, we need to see two main points of the divine revelation unfolded in the Bible. The first is that God’s eternal purpose is to have Himself expressed and represented by man on earth. This matter is revealed throughout the whole Bible, from the first chapter of Genesis through the last chapter of Revelation. The second point concerns God’s way of accomplishing His purpose. God’s way to fulfill His purpose is to work Himself into man as man’s life and everything so that man may become His expression and representation. The accomplishment of God’s purpose does not depend upon what we can do but upon God’s working Himself into us. If we see these two points, then we can understand the basic truths in the Bible.
For the fulfillment of His divine purpose, God called Abraham out of Chaldea, a land of demons and idolatry. As we have seen, Abraham did not give a clear-cut answer to God’s call but dragged his feet through mud and water. His father brought him to Haran, the half-way place. By God’s mercy, Abraham answered God’s call nearly in a full way at Haran, crossed the great river, and came to the very place where God wanted him to be. That place was close to the sinful city of Sodom. It was not easy for Abraham to remain in the place where God wanted him to be and not long afterward he drifted down to Egypt. But by God’s sovereignty, Abraham, who had left demonic Chaldea, had forsaken halfway Haran, and had overcome sinful Sodom, was delivered out of worldly Egypt and was brought back to the place of God’s choosing.
We need to recall the names of three very important persons related to Abraham—Lot, Eliezer, and Hagar. Abraham took Lot with him when he left Haran, and he probably acquired Eliezer at Damascus and Hagar in Egypt. None of these three was a help to Abraham; each one was a problem. God rejected all three of these persons. Abraham used his natural strength to coordinate with Hagar to produce his masterpiece—Ishmael. But Ishmael was absolutely rejected by God.
With this as the background, we come now to the matter of circumcision (17:9-14). At the time of Genesis 17, Abraham had been robbed of all the places where he had been and of all the important persons he had acquired. Chaldea and Haran were past, and he had nothing to do with Egypt. Although he was in the land that God had promised to give him, it had not yet been given to him. Thus, Abraham did not have Chaldea, Haran, Egypt, Sodom, or a portion of the promised land. Furthermore, Lot had separated from him, and both Eliezer and Ishmael had been rejected by God. Abraham was left alone with Sarah. They were two old people who had gained nothing and who were able to do nothing. Perhaps Abraham looked at Sarah and said, “What shall we do? We don’t have anything and we can’t do anything.” At that juncture God came in, revealing Himself to Abraham as El-Shaddai, the all-sufficient Mighty One. It was then that God told Abraham that his name had to be changed from Abram to Abraham and that his wife’s name had to be changed from Sarai to Sarah. After that, God told Abraham that he had to be circumcised. Abraham had been robbed of every place and every person. The only thing that still remained with him was himself. God came in to deal with Abraham’s self, with his flesh, natural strength, and natural ability. This self, the flesh and natural strength, had to be cut off, circumcised. If we had been Abraham, we probably would have said, “God, don’t You know that You have robbed me of so much? There is no one like me on the whole earth. Everyone else has a place of his own, but I have nothing. What will You do now—get rid of me?” God might have answered, “Abraham, you are right. I have robbed you of Chaldea, Haran, Egypt, Lot, Eliezer, Hagar, and Ishmael. I will not rob you anymore, but I will cut you. What you have acquired has been taken from you, and what you are must now be cut.” This is circumcision.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CIRCUMCISION
TO PUT OFF OUR FLESH • What is the significance of circumcision? Firstly, it is to put off our flesh (Col. 2:11, 13a; Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4a; Acts 7:51). Many Christians today talk about the overcoming of sin, but that is not the basic dealing. The basic dealing is to put off the flesh. The flesh does include the sinful flesh. However, in the Bible, the flesh includes much more than this, for it also includes our natural strength, ability, power, and talents. Moreover, the flesh includes our natural man, the ego, the “I.” Hence, to put off the flesh means to put off the very “I”; it means to terminate the self.
Many years ago I was seeking for the overcoming of sin, but I was only partially successful until I saw that my need was not to overcome sin but to terminate myself. I began to see that once I was terminated everything would be all right. This is why Paul said that he who has died is free from sin (Rom. 6:7). The more we try to overcome sin, the more we are involved with and troubled by it. The best way to overcome sin is to be dead and buried. Then sin will have nothing to do with us. Thus, the basic dealing in the Bible is not to overcome sin but to terminate ourselves.
Although the book of Genesis contains nearly all the seeds of the biblical truths, it does not contain the seed of the overcoming of sin. The real dealing with sin is not to overcome it but to get rid of ourselves, to circumcise ourselves. Once we have been circumcised and have ourselves terminated, we shall have no problem with sin. If you are still trying to overcome sin, it means that you are still living. If you terminate yourself, you will be through with sin. Therefore, it is not a matter of dealing with sin or of trying to overcome it; it is a matter of terminating ourselves. This is the negative significance of circumcision.
TO BRING US INTO RESURRECTION • The positive significance of circumcision is to bring us into resurrection (Col. 2:12). Circumcision was always performed on the eighth day (17:12). In figure, the number eight signifies resurrection. This means that we cannot have circumcision without resurrection. Circumcision must be in resurrection, and it will always usher us into resurrection, just as death ushers people into resurrection. On the one hand, we have been crucified with Christ and have been buried with Him. On the other hand, this crucifixion and burial will usher us into His resurrection. When we have been terminated and ushered into resurrection, we become a new person. We are still we, but we are now another person because we have another life, nature, and constitution. We are people in resurrection. Only by being in resurrection are we able to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. In our natural strength, we can do nothing to please God or to fulfill His purpose. Our self and our natural strength must be cut off in circumcision. Then in resurrection we shall become another person.
EQUAL TO BAPTISM • Circumcision in the Old Testament is the equivalent of baptism in the New Testament (Col. 2:11-12). Both baptism and circumcision have the same purpose—to terminate our natural being and bring us into resurrection. Why are we baptized after believing in the Lord Jesus? Because we realize that our old man has been crucified with Him and that we must be buried so that we may be one with Him in His resurrection. Hence, Abraham’s circumcision has the same significance as our baptism. In both circumcision and baptism the principle is the same. Although Abraham was justified in Genesis 15, he was circumcised in Genesis 17. As circumcision was the sign of Abraham’s being justified, so baptism is the mark of our being saved. How can we prove that we have been saved? By living a life of baptism, a life of one who has been crucified, buried, and resurrected. If we live such a life, everyone will be able to see upon us the mark of our salvation.
CORRESPONDING TO THE CHANGING OF HUMAN NAMES • Circumcision corresponds to the changing of human names (17:5-6, 15-16). As we have seen, to change the name is to change the person. When Abraham’s name was changed, his person was changed also. This was especially true of Jacob. When Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, his person was changed (32:27-28). This change of name can only be accomplished through circumcision, through having ourselves terminated and ushered into resurrection. Then we are no longer a natural person but a resurrected person. Being terminated and ushered into resurrection is the real changing of a person. Hence, circumcision corresponds to the changing of names. Now we can understand why the changing of names and circumcision are both revealed in the same chapter. These two things are actually one. The changing of names and circumcision both mean to terminate our old being and to bring us into resurrection so that we may be another person.
NOT OUTWARDLY IN THE FLESH, IN THE LETTER, BUT INWARDLY OF THE HEART, IN THE SPIRIT
Romans 2:28-29 says that circumcision is not “outward in the flesh,” but “of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter.” Circumcision is not an outward matter; it is an inward one (Phil. 3:3). The same is true of baptism. Baptism should not just be a form; it must be an inward reality. Let me tell you a story that I heard more than forty years ago. In Central America, the Catholic Church accepted and baptized as members many people who were not saved. One day, a certain priest sprinkled a few drops of water on a boy’s head and changed his name to John. At that time, the Catholic Church insisted that on Fridays its people eat only fish, not meat. One Friday, this John had only meat to eat. Since the priest had sprinkled water on his head and had changed his name to John, he thought that he could do the same to the meat. Therefore, he sprinkled water on it and called the meat fish. He then proceeded to cook the meat by boiling it. As he was boiling the meat, the priest came by. Smelling the aroma of boiling meat, he was angry with John and asked him what he was doing. John replied, “I am doing nothing wrong. This is not meat; it is fish. Don’t you remember sprinkling water on me and changing my name to John? I followed your way and sprinkled water on the meat and called it fish.” This is not real baptism nor the genuine changing of names. Baptism must be an inward reality in the spirit, not an outward form of sprinkling a few drops of water on a person’s head.
THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST
Colossians 2:11 speaks of “the circumcision of Christ.” Real circumcision is in Christ. The circumcision of Christ, like baptism, means to terminate our old being and to make us a new creation, a new person. Galatians 6:15 says, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” The book of Colossians reveals that Christ is our eternal portion (1:12), our life (3:4), and our hope of glory (1:27), and that we must live by Him as the seed and walk in Him as the land (2:6). If we a*re to walk in Christ, we must not be distracted by other things. The way to live by Christ and walk in Christ is to be buried with Him. We who have been buried with Christ have been brought into His resurrection, not by our effort but by the operation of God, which is carried out by the Spirit of God. When we realize that we have been terminated with Christ, buried with Him, and ushered into His resurrection, the indwelling Spirit will honor our realization with an operation, minister the riches of Christ into us, and make us a person in resurrection. This is not a matter of mere teaching; it is the operation of God, the exercise of the living Spirit within us. This is the circumcision of Christ.
Colossians 3:9-10 tells us that we have put off the old man and have put on the new man. This is the real changing of names, the true significance of circumcision, and the genuine experience of baptism. To circumcise the flesh is to put off the old man and to put on the new man. Then as the new man, we shall have the seed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Moreover, when we are in the new man, we are in the land, the church. This is altogether a matter of the experience of Christ. When we see that we have already been terminated with Christ and ushered into His resurrection, the indwelling Spirit will honor this by operating within us so that we can put off the old man and put on the new man. In this way, God has the seed and the land for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.
NOT I, BUT CHRIST
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” The real changing of names is the change from I to Christ. This is the significance of circumcision and the meaning of baptism. The circumcision of Christ works out one thing—the change from I to Christ. Then it is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me.
NOT I, BUT THE GRACE OF GOD
Eventually, the “not I, but Christ” becomes “not I, but the grace of God” (1 Cor. 15:10). The Apostle Paul said that he labored more than the other apostles; yet it was not he, but the grace of God. What is grace? As we have seen, grace is God coming to us to be everything for us.
In Genesis 18:10 and 14 we find a very strange saying: “At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” What does this mean? There was no need for God to come in order for Sarah to have a son. If we had been Abraham, we probably would have said, “Lord, You don’t need to do that much. You can simply stay in heaven and say a word, and Sarah will have a son.” But the Lord said that the birth of Isaac would be His coming, His arrival. It seems that the coming of God was very nearly the birth of Isaac. God seemed to be saying, “The delivery of Isaac will be My arrival. Isaac will not be out of you, but out of My coming. When I return to you, Sarah will have a son. My coming will be the birth of Isaac.” I am not saying that Isaac is God or that God is Isaac, but I do say that it appears that the return of God nearly was the birth of Isaac. Isaac was an unusual person. Although he was a human being, his birth was the result of a divine visitation. What was that divine visitation? It was grace. Hence, both Abraham and Sarah could say, “It is not I, but the grace of God.”
God called the time of Isaac’s birth the appointed time. The appointment was made in 17:21, when God said, “My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” God called that appointed time the time of life, saying that according to the time of life He would return and Sarah would have a son. This is very meaningful. Everything we do must be according to the time of life and by God’s visitation. The seed that we bring forth must be the coming of the Lord in His visitation of grace. This visitation of grace is the birth of Isaac. This proves that only the very Christ whom God has wrought into our being can be the seed to possess the land for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This is absolutely a matter of grace. It is not I, but Christ. It is not I, but the grace of God. Praise the Lord that we do have Christ and the grace of God worked into us so that we can have the seed and possess the land. We have Christ as our seed and the church life as our land. This is altogether the result of circumcision.
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