The Day of New Beginnings

Coming To Fulfillment

 

Fulfillment is not necessarily what we see manifested in the physical realm. Abraham’s life gives us an excellent example. We look to the birth of Isaac as Abraham’s fulfillment. We use the phrase, “When will my Isaac come to birth?” 
 
But look carefully at the promises God made Abraham. The birth of Isaac was but one link in a very long chain. God promising Abraham that he would have a son was not the conclusion of the Word that God spoke.
 
Gen. 12:
1* ¶ Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;
 2* And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
 3* And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
 
The above passages are the first time God spoke to Abraham. There is nothing in them about having a son. The promise is that God will make a great nation of Abraham. He will make Abraham’s name great. 
 
Gen. 12:
6* ¶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
 7* The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
 
This is the second time the Lord appeared to Abraham and spoke to him. This time we have a little more insight into God’s purposes through Abraham. God says that to Abraham’s descendants He will give the land. Keep in mind that at this time God is only speaking what He is going to do. It isn’t a done deal yet.


 
 
Gen. 13:
14* ¶ The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
 15* for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
 16 "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.
 17 "Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."
 18* Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
 
This is now the third time God has spoken to Abraham. At this point it’s important to realize that Abraham has gone through some deep dealings and testings along the way. Back in Gen. 12:1 God tells Abraham to separate from his country, his relatives, and his father’s house. Notice also that God adds a little more to the promise. Now He says that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then his descendants can be numbered. God also tells Abraham to walk through the land, from one end to the other. 
 
These separations in Abraham’s life didn’t happen all at once. They came through the dealings of the Lord in Abraham’s life. What’s important to see is that these separations, these testings, were creating in Abraham the fulfillment of all that God had spoken.
 
Gen. 15:
1* ¶ After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great."
 2* ¶ Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
 3 And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir."
 4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."
 5* And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
 6* Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
 7* ¶ And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it."
8* He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?"
 9* So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
 10* Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
 11* The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
 12* ¶ Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
 13* God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
 14* "But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
 15* "As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
 16* "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."
 17* ¶ It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.
 18* On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
 19* the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
 20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
 21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."
 
This is now the fourth time the Lord speaks to Abraham. Notice again how more is added to it. This time God also emphasizes that Abraham’s heir will come forth from his own body. This of course, refers to Isaac. It’s noteworthy that this fourth appearing comes once again after the testing of the Lord. Abraham had just refused the riches of the King of Sodom prior to this appearing of the Lord, saying, “I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, 'I have made Abram rich.' 
 
Notice carefully verse 18:
18* On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
 
This time more than a promise is given. This time God makes a covenant with Abraham. This is a great thing. Now the promise is a done deal. Notice how the passage says, “I have given…” Now it is past tense instead of “I am going to give…” as God spoke in His previous appearings to Abraham. By God making a covenant, He insures that all that He has spoken will come to pass. But here’s the thing. The Words God spoke to Abraham went from theoretical prophecies to an irrevocable, established reality. That is fulfillment! 
 
It would be error to say that Abraham had promises made to him but that he never saw them fulfilled. Abraham did more than welcome the promises of God from afar without seeing the fulfillment. Isaac being born was not the ultimate fulfillment either. 
 
It’s true that Abraham did not physically see his seed as the sand of the seashore or the stars of heaven. He did not physically see all the land of Canaan possessed by his descendents. He didn’t witness all the nations being blessed through him. But that does not mean Abraham didn’t come into fulfillment. The dealings in Abraham’s life created a revelation of the Lord to Abraham from which all those things in the physical realm sprung. Abraham did not just begin something that other people finished; he was the source from which a revelation of the Lord was completed. Because a certain relationship with the Lord was established through His dealings and testings, Abraham became a channel through which completion was guaranteed. It didn’t matter if it was going to be a couple of thousand years before the promise was thoroughly played out through many prophets and kings. Abraham turned it all loose; it was established by God through Abraham in Abraham’s lifetime. Abraham’s life became the incubator through which everything was fulfilled. Abraham became a father of many nations. Even though those nations were still in his loins, mystically they were already created. “The Land”, i.e. the promise given, is always fulfilled through the “descendants” of the one fathering. That’s why in verse 18 God says, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.” God creates fathers to be channels of His fathering, and that which is generated through them inherits the promises.  
 
It was more that God just giving Abraham a promise, then fulfilling it over centuries. The dealings and testings in Abraham’s life produced a relationship with God that created in the realm of spirit everything that was to come to pass in the natural. In a real sense Abraham saw fulfillment. Long after his death the fulfillment he came into was still operating and playing itself out in the physical realm. What we are talking about is a mystical expression of Rev. 14:13: “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, ‘Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.’" There are two passages of Scripture that nail this down. 
 
In Gen. 15, which we have already read, verse 15 states: “As for you, you shall g-o to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.” This implies that God had brought Abraham into fulfillment. That which had been theoretical, that which had been just a vision, became an established thing that Abraham could “take to the bank.” He could go to his grave in peace because he had attained to that which God had spoken to him. Abraham’s destiny was completed. 
 
John 8: 
56"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
57* So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
 58* Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."
 
Jesus spoke the above passages to the Jews. He confirmed beyond all doubt that Abraham came into fulfillment. This means more than just “Abraham looking down through the centuries and seeing Christ.” The “day of Christ” is the day of fulfillment. It is an ever present reality manifested in the “Now.” That’s why Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am.” Abraham attained that day through the dealings of the Lord that were played out in his life. He came into a revelation of the Lord that created fulfillment.
 
Once Abraham attained to that relationship with God, the covenant was made and right then in the realm of spirit all was fulfilled. Everything was completed. Yes, it took many centuries for it all to play out, but it was created at that point in Abraham’s life when God established that covenant with him. From then on Abraham could go in peace because the promise had been attained and fulfilled. 
 
This message goes beyond a teaching about Abraham. If God is birthing a vision of His Kingdom in our hearts, the same principles apply to us as well. As God creates His faithfulness in us, we enter into that fathering ministry that gives birth to His word in us. In Rom. 4, we have some important passages that apply to us and give us insight into how the mystical realm becomes practical.
 
16  For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
17 ¶  (as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
18  In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, "SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE."
19  Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;
20  yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
21  and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
22  Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
 
These passages speak of the faith of Abraham and how he is the father of us all. Notice in verse 17 how it says God gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. Heb. 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Inherit within faith is that mystical quality of Christ’s life. When we believe His word the very substance of that word, Christ’s life, is turned loose through us. Like Abraham, it doesn’t matter one bit whether we ever see the total fulfillment with our natural eyes. We are assured we not only have attained it, but that it will live on into eternity because it has been fathered through us.