In our previous blog, we learnt that God does not see us as man sees; but looks beyond what man looks at. He looks beyond the physical body and its demeanour among other outward parameters, to look at the condition of our hearts.
We concluded from our study that the biblical heart is the intangible part of man, comprising our minds, emotions, will power, decisions we take and our thoughts; and it is what is referred to as “the hidden man of the heart” (1 Pet 3:4). In effect, our speech and everything we do, stems from our heart. Our biblical heart therefore, is the lens through which our Creator, God Almighty identifies who we really are.
The choice of the word heart, as earlier stated, is to better enable us relate to it as humans, and understand that, the condition of our spiritual heart is just as important for the sustenance of our faith in God, as the condition of our physical heart is, to the sustenance of our lives here on earth. In today’s blog, we will examine the heart as the reproductive organ of our spiritual life and begin with God’s covenant with Abraham.
Abraham is the father of promise. God divinely elected him and determined that through Abraham, He would establish His promise with mankind. So that when God manifested Himself in human form through Christ Jesus, He made sure that our Saviour was born from the lineage of Abraham. (Matt 1:1)
We read from the book of Genesis that God first appeared to Abraham and promised to bless him, make him “exceedingly fruitful”, make nations out of him, and ensure that through him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. God again appeared to Abraham when the latter was 99 years old, not only re-echoing the earlier blessing pronounced but also establishing a covenant of blessing with him.
Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations…. and I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Gen 17:3-5;7-8 NKJV
This is the promise, that every believer in Christ Jesus has become a partaker of, by virtue of God’s grace. In this same discourse with Abraham, God continued by stating clearly what the sign of that covenant between Him and Abraham’s descendants thereafter would be: the circumcision of every male child of his.
This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Gen 17:10-12 Emphasis mine NKJV
So in the Israelite culture and many other cultures in the world to date, circumcision is widely practised. Circumcision is the cutting of the foreskin of the male sexual organ with a sharp object. This male sexual organ is also part of the reproductive organs of a man, and experts say that the cutting of the foreskin not only shapes that organ, but also prevents it from attracting diseases.
Fruitfulness and productivity come from the reproductive organ. A productive sexual organ is able to produce the life of another human being.
In our study of Scripture, it is important for us to understand that the Old Testament is a shadow of the New Testament. (Col 2:17) Everything we read in the Old Testament, is thus a pointer to the new covenant we have with God through Christ Jesus, and which is revealed in the New Testament. Consequently, every believer in Christ Jesus, is a partaker of the promises made to Abraham.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus ….and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal 3:26-27; 29 NKJV
No doubt, Abraham’s promises are ours.
….that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, Eph 3:6
If the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham of which we are partakers, is one of circumcision, how does that translate into the New Testament covenant that we have with God through Christ Jesus, in this era of Grace?
Well, it is interesting to note that circumcision is also mentioned in the New Testament as a sign of our covenant with God.
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. Romans 2:28-29 NKJV Emphasis mine
This time around, as born again believers, the organ to be circumcised for fruitfulness in our walk with the Lord, is not the male sexual organ, but the heart, our spiritual heart – the ruling centre of our whole being. Indeed, New Testament circumcision has to do with the heart. Why? Because the heart is the productive organ of the spirit, “out of it are the issues of life”. (Prov 4:23)
The sign of our covenant with God, as beneficiaries of His grace, is therefore the circumcision of our hearts! Just as the act of circumcision in the old covenant involves a sharp object which is used to trim the reproductive organ, so also is provision made in the new covenant for the heart to be trimmed with a sharp spiritual weapon – the Word of God!
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. Heb 4:12-13 NLT
God’s intent for man is to be fruitful and multiply, and the heart is the spiritual reproductive organ of our spirit man. It is only when this heart is circumcised with the sword of the Spirit – God’s word, that we can bear fruit as children of God. (Gal 5: 22-23)
To be continued in the next blog.
God bless you!
