SCRIPTURE READING: Galatians 3.

GOLDEN TEXT: Galatians 3:16, 29.

1. Read Romans 15:8, answering: (a) Does this text confirm that Jesus was sent as Minister to ISRAEL, rather than Gentiles? (b) Even tho He brought a new Message, what did it confirm? (c) Since Christ's Gospel is based on the promises made to Abraham, does that not prove it was not a new religion?

2. Who were the fathers? Exodus 3:15; Acts 3:13.

3. Did the Lord command Abraham to do anything, before the promises became sure? Genesis 12:1-2, 17:1-2.

4. Were individuals of any other than the Hebrew race ever to be blessed by these promises? Genesis 12:3, 22:18. In this last verse, to Whom does the word "seed" apply? Galatians 3:16. Through whom, must the promises be received?

5. Where is the TERRITORY of the promise? Is it heaven? Genesis 12:6-7, 13:14-15. If one inherits land, the deed must describe the exact boundaries of the property. Is such a description given? Genesis 15:18.

(NOTE: Other Scriptures show the Kingdom will spread until it includes the whole earth.)

6. In making His Covenant with Abraham, God agreed to these promises only on condition Abraham obeyed. After Abraham had obeyed and stood faithful, was the promise any longer conditioned on his obedience? Genesis 22:15-18. The promise is now UNCONDITIONAL. Abraham had performed HIS PART of the agreement. The promises are now SURE -- absolutely certain. WHY? Genesis 26:5.

7. Isaac and Jacob also were among "the fathers." Were the promises made also to them? Genesis 26:1-3, 35:9-12.

8. Since the promises pertain only to Israel, yet all nations are to be blessed by them, how may individual Gentiles receive them? Galatians 3:28-29.

9. What hope has any Gentile, without becoming an adopted Israelite? Ephesians 2:11-12. How is a Gentile adopted? Verses 13, 19.

10. Who is the human father of the faithful, by adoption? Galatians 3:17. (NOTE: Adam is the human father of the unconverted man, and the Devil is his spiritual parent. But, through Christ, Abraham becomes our human father, and God our spiritual parent, so that we can even call God our Father in heaven.)

11.Abraham kept God's Commandments, proving his Faith by his obedience. If we are his children, are we not commanded to do likewise? Genesis 18:17-19.

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 15:12-58.

GOLDEN TEXT: John 3:3.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jesus came bearing a NEW message from God to man, which Message is the Good News of the Kingdom of God. In proclaiming this Gospel, He also came to confirm the promises made to Abraham, which promise was eternal inheritance of the land of Palestine, and eventually the whole earth, for Abraham and his children, through Christ.

1. Did Abraham ever, as yet, come

into this eternal inheritance? Acts 7:2-5; Hebrews 11:8, 13.

2. Are Christians now, in this age, actual inheritors? Galatians 3:29. (An heir is one who has not yet come into his inheritance, but has promise of it.)

(NOTE: Since "eternal inheritance" of the EARTH is the promise Jesus came to confirm; and since Jesus preached but one message, or Gospel, in confirming this promise; and since that Message is THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, it follows that the LAND of THIS EARTH is the "TERRITORY" to be occupied by the KINGDOM.)

3. Why did Abraham not, as yet, inherit the promise, and why are we only HEIRS at this time? I Corinthians 15:50; John 3:3.

4. What is our ONLY HOPE of inheriting eternal life? I Corinthians 15:12-18. Are those who have died IN CHRIST already perished, unless there is to be a resurrection?

5. When will the resurrection occur? I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

6. Will Abraham then come into his inheritance? Luke 13:28.

7. When will the Kingdom be inherited? Matthew 25:31, 34. (His inheritance IS the KINGDOM.)

8. Will we, through the Gospel, inherit heaven, or the earth? Matthew 5:5; Psalm 37:9, 11, 22. Proverbs 10:30, 11:31.

9. Can sin, (transgression of the Law), enter the Kingdom? Revelation 21:27, 22:14. Is it not significant that the PROMISE of eternal inheritance was given to Abraham and his children because Abraham kept God's Commandments?

(Gal 3:16 NKJV) "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ."

(Gal 3:29 NKJV) "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

(Rom 15:8 NKJV) "Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,"

(Exo 3:15 NKJV) "Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'"

(Acts 3:13 NKJV) ""The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go."

(Gen 12:1-2 NKJV) "Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. {2} I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing."

(Gen 17:1-2 NKJV) "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. {2} "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.""

(Gen 12:3 NKJV) "I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.""

(Gen 22:18 NKJV) ""In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.""

(Gal 3:16 NKJV) "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ."

(Gen 12:6-7 NKJV) "Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. {7} Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him."

(Gen 13:14-15 NKJV) "And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are; northward, southward, eastward, and westward; {15} "for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."

(Gen 15:18 NKJV) "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates;"

(Gen 22:15-18 NKJV) "Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, {16} and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son; {17} "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. {18} "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.""

(Gen 26:5 NKJV) ""because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.""

(Gen 26:1-3 NKJV) "There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. {2} Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. {3} "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father."

(Gen 35:9-12 NKJV) "Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. {10} And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. {11} Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. {12} "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.""

(Gal 3:28-29 NKJV) "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. {29} And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

(Eph 2:11-13 NKJV) "Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh; who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands; {12} that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. {13} But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

(Eph 2:19 NKJV) "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,"

(Gal 3:17 NKJV) "And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect."

(Gen 18:17-19 NKJV) "And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, {18} "since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? {19} "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.""

(1 Cor 15:12-58 NKJV) "Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? {13} But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. {14} And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. {15} Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up; if in fact the dead do not rise. {16} For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. {17} And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! {18} Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. {19} If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

{20} But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. {21} For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. {22} For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. {23} But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. {24} Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. {25} For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. {26} The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. {27} For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. {28} Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

{29} Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? {30} And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? {31} I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. {32} If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" {33} Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." {34} Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

{35} But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" {36} Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. {37} And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain; perhaps wheat or some other grain. {38} But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. {39} All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. {40} There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. {41} There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. {42} So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. {43} It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. {44} It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. {45} And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. {46} However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. {47} The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. {48} As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. {49} And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

{50} Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. {51} Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; {52} in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. {53} For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. {54} So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." {55} "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" {56} The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. {57} But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. {58} Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

(John 3:3 NKJV) "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.""

(Acts 7:2-5 NKJV) "And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, {3} "and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' {4} "Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. {5} "And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him."

(Heb 11:8 NKJV) "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going."

(Heb 11:13 NKJV) "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

(Gal 3:29 NKJV) "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

(1 Cor 15:50 NKJV) "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption."

(John 3:3 NKJV) "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.""

(1 Cor 15:12-18 NKJV) "Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? {13} But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. {14} And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. {15} Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up; if in fact the dead do not rise. {16} For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. {17} And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! {18} Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished."

(1 Th 4:16-17 NKJV) "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. {17} Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

(Luke 13:28 NKJV) ""There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out."

(Mat 25:31 NKJV) ""When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory."

(Mat 25:34 NKJV) ""Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:"

(Mat 5:5 NKJV) "Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth."

(Psa 37:9 NKJV) "For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth."

(Psa 37:11 NKJV) "But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

(Psa 37:22 NKJV) "For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those cursed by Him shall be cut off."

(Prov 10:30 NKJV) "The righteous will never be removed, But the wicked will not inhabit the earth."

(Prov 11:31 NKJV) "If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, How much more the ungodly and the sinner."

(Rev 21:27 NKJV) "But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

(Rev 22:14 NKJV) "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city."