Abrahamic Covenant II, (continued from page 4)

seed promise to penitent believers in verses 28-29, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” New Testament Christians, who have obeyed the Gospel and are re-born into Christ by baptism (Gal 3:27), are the seed of the promise.

This passage not only demonstrates that Christians are counted as seed, but also establishes the fact that Israel no longer retains status as seed. Romans 9:8 declares, “They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” There shall never again be a kingdom taken out of the Jews, because the kingdom was taken from them (Rom 10:19; cf. Deut 32:21).

The Nation of Promise

In this declaration, there are those who advocate only a two-fold promise, ignoring the explicit promise of a nation in Genesis 12:2 and focusing only on the land and seed. Some refer to Israel as a nation only in a figurative sense in that they became as numerable as a nation, ie. a multitude. Yet, even though the children of Israel did indeed become a multitude of people (Exodus 1:7), the prophet Jeremiah clearly identified Israel as a literal, sovereign nation when he stated, “If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever (Jeremiah 31:36).

Contrary to pre-millennial beliefs, the ultimate fulfillment of this nation promise is the church of Christ, His kingdom. After Jesus taught the parable of the householder and his vineyard in Matthew 21:33-40, He specifically applied the parable to the Jews declaring, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (v.43). This new nation is the church of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:9).

Some, who look for a literal thousand-year reign of Christ in Jerusalem, contend that the church and the kingdom are not the same entity. However, Paul wrote to members of the Lord’s church in Colosse affirming by the Holy Spirit that God “hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). Therefore, it was something that had already happened to these Christians; they were already in the kingdom. Jesus, in addressing the multitude, stated, “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which

shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). The logical conclusion is that either the kingdom came in the first century, or there are two thousand year-old people living today. Jesus completely destroyed any notion of a literal, earthly kingdom in Jerusalem when He told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Finally, the apostle Paul revealed that at the second coming of Christ He will not set up a kingdom on earth, but He will deliver the kingdom to God (1 Cor 15:24).

Whodunit, (continued from page 7)

a fool when the hoax was discovered. To many, de Chardin was the most unlikely suspect, since he was a priest. Being an amateur archaeologist, however, he may have had the skill to initiate the hoax. And he was present at the time of the discovery. It has been charged that he was willing to do anything, even to the fabrication of evidence, to promote his own theory of evolution. "Whodunit."

This story has held a fascination to so many that over 500 publications have appeared on the subject. To the credit of science, when the belated examination revealed the hoax, they admitted their mistake. That is an admirable posture on their part. We still do not know who the guilty party was in this fraud, but it had to be someone with a motive, the skill to fool the scientific community for 40 years, and the opportunity to plant the evidence at the right time. It is truly a 20th-century mystery.

I promised before that this was not an exercise in "science-bashing." It is a warning for any academic or spiritual discipline to be aware of the danger of "finding" only the evidence they are seeking. Scientists admit that a more objective, diligent examination of the Piltdown remains should have been made. But such an examination was not made.

Religious people have also fallen victim to this attitude. Often they search the Bible only to find proof for what they already believe. If they want to find a verse that proves man is saved by faith alone, they will find one, or at least think they have found one. If one wants to find a passage allowing loose ethical and moral behavior, they will "find" one that sustains their belief. That's just another, way they "wrest" the scripture, "to their own destruction," 2 Peter 3:16. How careful we must be that we are not victimized by our unwillingness to accept God's truth.                                                                 CG