How Much We Need Need (part 4)

"Need" is a Significant Component to the Gospel Message
[Previous post:How Much We Need Need (part 3)]

This post continues to look at the gospel the woman at the well heard in John 4.

Consider how Jesus wants to make spiritual babies with His Bride.  John 4:27-28,

And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city...

The woman at the well and Jesus had an unspeakable connectedness and joy in making believers in God with one another. John 4:36-39

And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”

A Bride for the Descendant of Abraham

Jesus needed a bride from the inception of the covenant. Imagine you are Abraham, and you're at the end of your life. You've been considered the friend of God, and you and your offspring have received the promises and you're dwelling in the land. Sounds pretty good. Is there anything else that needs to be done before you die? Well - yes there is. Isaac needs a bride. If God intended Abraham to have descendants, first of all, Sarah must miraculously have a baby, and second, that child must in turn make babies. How can Isaac do this without an outsider's willing participant in the covenant family?

'Rebekah at the Well'
by Michael Deas

Abraham's "servant" (the name of Christ in the prophecies of Isaiah) swears to bring back from Haran a remnant of his own kin - Rebekah. Isaiah's Servant likewise also takes up the cause of Israel by bringing the remnant back from exile, or in another prophetical category, believers in Jesus into the Kingdom. "Do not take Isaac back there," Abraham warns his servant. The promises are connected with the land.  It's not just a who, but a where. This is the place where heaven meets earth. There is no redemption if Jesus in antitype seeks a legacy on earth separated from the promise. The servant asks Abraham, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land." What should he do in this case? Abraham gives this answer in Genesis 24:8,

"And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there."

By comparison we can afford to send again for the Bride of Isaac. It's quite another thing to lose Isaac, the son of promise.

Now how in the world will Abraham's servant find this one special Bride? Like a needle in a haystack! The Way to the Bride is so impossible that only the Father can arrange these circumstances. Jesus was obedient in all His Way to obtain the Bride.  When Rebekah's family meets the servant, one can hear the Father God; "Come in, O Blessed of the LORD, ... For I have prepared the house, and a place..." (for you!). The servant recounts the story.  It is a story of his personal prayer for impossibly amazing details in the woman who would quench the thirst of him and his camels.  He also admits Who was directing the whole Way, Genesis 24:48,

the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.

What?? The "Way" of "Truth"! Jesus is the Way and the Truth! The Godhead was talking about His own Spirit, who led the way for the Servant that all His will might be accomplished. Incredible. The Way led to the side of the well. Abraham had prophesied this success by God's hand saying in 24:40,

‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.

"Way" has to do with recognizing God from everything else. Jews and Greeks are all under sin. We have not known His ways. We have not sought Him. We have not had blessing pour forth from our mouths and lives like Abraham was promised to become, Rom. 3:10-18

There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit;
The poison of asps is under their lips;
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.

We have not personally known the Way. Why not use human need as the stuff of exchange for receiving the Way every day? And when someone is first saved, it is the first time they hear the Word say, "At this place is the Way. This is a sign of God's Presence as revealed to you; you are in Him and He is in you.  Now you know He will do this with you." It is like a guidepost, a sign; it is sticking up from the soil of which you are familiar wherever it is you happen to be. "Los Angeles," it says you're in. "Chicago - this way," it points. In all the earth there are outcroppings of guideposts. They show us we are headed in the direction we are seeking to go. We never are sure between signs that we're still on track, but just when we need it most, we seek and look and God assures us we won't miss anything we're supposed to see.

Rebekah is told that there is a Way on this special day. He says, "This is the Way. Access is yours." God shows her Himself and He wants her to show herself. By the servant asking, "Please let down your pitcher that I may drink," he is asking to sample the content of her vessel to see if he would find faith. How did Rebekah respond to the testimony of the servant? This guy's God was crazy, or else everything she needed. He bowed down to the earth and worshiped his God that he had found her. He had obvious ability to bless because of the gold bracelets and nose ring with which she was immediately dressed. He was sent from the same family to the same family, just as he prayed. Guideposts! It's like God was saying to Rebekah, "Do you see these signs and wonders coupled with obvious blessing? Do you believe He has miraculously demonstrated His Word is True, to you?" If God wasn't showing Himself totally crazy for her, she wouldn't have believed in Him.  The signs causing Rebekah to believe were only a few facets.  There are many to behold.

Jacob's Well

'Jacob and Rachel at the Well'
by Schubert Franz August

Jesus has the pizazz to offer the water that satisfies thirst forever here at the side of Jacob's well. The resemblance between His account and Jacob's is hard to miss. Both Jacob and Jesus are seeking a Bride (a body of believers) while they "meet the woman at the well." It is beyond coincidence that the Samaritan woman was waiting (by faith) for one greater than Jacob. She knew there was more to be had of God, and only one greater than Jacob would roll away the heavy stone and water all the flocks. Rachel was a shepherdess, and the woman at the well also led many to drink. But how did Jacob find his way to the Bride? How come Jesus "must needs go through Samaria"? In Jacob's case, he had a dream; a guidepost, and met God. "Surely the LORD is in this place!" he exclaimed. He called the place "the house of the LORD."  And then he made a vow to keep the Way, Genesis 28:20-21

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.

It was the Way which led Jacob back to his own kinsmen. Only the LORD can show us the way to the lost. He dedicates his successful Way of coming and going as the beginning of the temple - the dwelling of Emmanuel; God with us. "The LORD is there" is the name of New Jerusalem with all its citizens (Ezek. 48:35). How appropriate it is that the woman at the well in the Gospel of John asked about the place of worship, seeing her LORD was here, and He was greater than Jacob.

The Way and Abraham's Faith-Righteousness

Abraham saw the Way when he heard the Word of the LORD, Genesis 12:1-6,

Now the LORD 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.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
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."

In his meditations, what sort of information could Abram pull from this promise? If I pretend to be in his shoes, here's what I get:

• God will be giving a blessing, which is some sort of power or influence for good things
• It will be noticeably more powerful than what a human can do on their own. Is God going to come down?
• The power is definitely going to be housed inside flesh and blood; so, typical flesh and blood children but they will be more powerful than other people
• It will be possessed by Abraham's family, so something like an administration with Abraham probably as the head
• It is for blessing people outside the family; it apparently is intuitively comprehendible and it is intended to be passed out
• The power will not be given to all people, because there will be a control on it, based on God's parameters
• The promises are linked and limited to a geographical space

The imagery of a fountain of living waters welling up from within works nicely with these understandings of the promise. But there is a more widespread biblical theology with which we can relate the promise. It is called circumcision. Rom 4:10-11,

How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe...

The Sign of The Promise

I usually read Romans 4 in a particular manner. According to this take, Paul is making the point that he had only the sign of circumcision in chapter 15 and that he had the (physical) circumcision "later" chronologically in Genesis chapter 17. But I recall other times in my life when I have read this passage much more interestingly. According to a deeper take, Paul is not referring to the physical circumcision in chapter 17, at all. Abraham received the sign of circumcision in chapter 15, and only when Christ came did he receive the circumcision. How? Colossians 2:11-13 says,

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him...

Abraham was Circumcised not Before but "After"

Abraham was physically circumcised some time after he received the seal of righteousness that he had by faith. But he died in hope for real circumcision. Christ's circumcision is the only one that matters, amen? Galatians 5:2 says,

Indeed, I Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ profits you nothing.

Is circumcision of the flesh significant compared to the circumcision of the heart? Gal 6:15,

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

What then is the point of Abraham's physical circumcision? This "mark" (Romans 4:11) on the Jewish male body was a private reminder that his passions should distinguish him from the world around him. It is the same Greek word used more frequently in the Gospel of John than anywhere else in the NT; and we think of the eight "signs" or "marks" in John. Circumcision "sign"-ifies faith in the promise God made to empower Abraham to bless the world. Sound familiar to John 20:31? Does it have any other significance in the theology of our salvation, except to foreshadow?  Romans 2:25-29,

For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 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.

What a rich passage. The "marked" are those who seek His Ways! The outward jobbie is a nice sign to the world that someone believes God, but only if it's really going on in one's life. Otherwise there is this beautiful equivalency and negation going on here proving that men need surgery and to be born from above. When the apostles revealed the mystery, as we read in Colossians, this surgery (circumcision) is nothing short of the death, burial and resurrection (baptism) of Christ, and our identification with Him in it. Ezekiel 36:24-27

For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

With circumcision, we comprehend the Spirit of the law and we have the hope and the strength to follow it.  This is the gift.  Is God's "Way" a gospel of Lordship Salvation?   No!  Free will is biblical, and children of God can abandon even their own circumcision, losing reward, yet still be saved.  What is this then?  This is fulfillment of the difference God wanted all along.  It is a gospel of hope.  It is a gospel of capacity.  Here we see the good news of "believe Jesus for eternal life" and the doctrine of eternal rewards coming into one house, without any of the corruption of works-salvation.  It is a gospel with two significant acts of God in our receiving salvation.  One, the cleansing and cutting work of regeneration.  And two, the fitting and housing of the Holy Spirit for eternity, seemingly separated by a permeable membrane from our freshly-cut conscience.

That means that no Jew had experienced a new creation until Christ came to earth. No wonder Israel profaned God among the nations. They needed the Savior, to rip away the crusty outer layer of hard heartedness and receive a sensitive layer toward God (Deut. 30:1-6). They had the promises. They had access to the Holy Spirit! They didn't want to choose to turn to Him (Romans 3:10-18)! They really did not yet have the heart or understanding to properly interpret God in all His Ways, as the Spirit now reveals to us.

Jews and Gentiles Need Circumcision

What about Gentiles?  The Jews may have had the promises, but has anyone noticed God's choice to adopt Gentiles?  Galatians says "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Gal 3:14).  Are Gentiles required to meditate on the law of Moses to understand they need a Savior?   No!  They also have law.  Romans 2:13-15,

(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

Remember that all men were made in the image of God. Even if the image is distorted in a variety of ways from land to land, most societal law reflects knowledge of good versus evil. Every man knows that he breaks his own conscience, whatever his local land has taught him to think is best to live. They not only have law, but they have revelation of God. Romans 1:20-21

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

A Gentile "knows" God (the Greek word used 49 times in the Gospel of John) even if he's never had a drop of scripture wash up on the seashore. If he is seeking to receive the Truth, he will admit what is revealed in creation and what he's already noted through this violated conscience: that his own life doesn't seem to have the power necessary to live the commanded kind of life. Wise Gentiles are searching for circumcision.

This makes Jews and Gentiles identically alike in nature, when Christ shows up. Galatians 4 says that all were slave-servant-children; we were in bondage to the elemental forces of this world. But when the fulness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (vs. 3-5). Why was Moses given the Ten Commandments? It was given as a mediator, like between two spouses who can't decide on the rules of engagement. Just so you can't say you didn't get the memo.

God knew that mankind would want to believe till the bitter end that they could find the power within themselves to be the blessing God commanded. Works-salvation, in a nutshell. So just to get it out of their system (to make sin utterly sinful), He spent some time on the clock doing it unregenerate man's way. He told Abraham and all the descendants of his house from then on, "Go -- try." You; go circumcise your own hearts and your own flesh. Try and see if you have the ability to change yourself. When you're exhausted hearing me command you to circumcise your hearts and live, then I will show you my plan that I would circumcise you all along. And the Gentiles are largely the ones who are fresh in gratitude for God's attention, to be thankful and receive it.

Gentiles eagerly seek the essence of the gospel of Jesus -- the Spirit Himself -- and receive it.  John the Baptist's preaching was taken from Isaiah 40-41.  In it God asks the question, "Have you not known from the foundations of the earth?"  He proves that all the nations of the earth know enough that the coming of Emmanuel reveals and ratifies the children of God from the children of the devil.  He is the stumbling stone to gather His wheat in the barn and gather up those already set for destruction. This is why the harvest is white in John 4!

What is the Gift?

Do we know what the gift of God, is?

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

What is the living water? John 7:37-39

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

So is the gift of God, the Spirit? Acts 8:20 calls it "the gift of God." Romans 5:16 says "the free gift ... resulting in justification." Romans 5:17 calls it "the gift of righteousness." Romans 5:18 calls it "justification of life." It is called "salvation" in Ephesians 2:8. There is only one verse in the New Testament that calls the gift "eternal life" - - Romans 6:23. Most frequently, the gift is referring to the Holy Spirit.

Does the gift come by its differentiations? Or, when someone seeks eternal life must they then also be seeking the Spirit of God in a sense? Could it be that the essence humanity seeks is the essence of God Himself? God justifies. God gives righteousness. God gives grace. God gives eternal life. God gives... God.

How many countless people are out there in the world, seeking the circumcision - the difference - the presence and power of God? Sometimes a person hears the Word and believes, without experiencing much of God's presence and power and nearness - and their faith is considered blessed. For the rest, if they see God's presence and power, they will believe God is true. They will understand that the blessing is real. As the Living Waters booklet says, believe to life! There are unregenerate-Gentile children of God who live as slaves, longing for the adoption of sons. How can a gracious gospel use scripture as a bat to dismiss a testimony of someone believing in Jesus? They reason that because God-seeking Gentile converts today would not understand some passage of scripture, that such a soul was therefore never saved by believing in Jesus.

If the tribes in lands far away from the gospel of Christ can believe in God's ready revelation in creation, why can't they die in a hope for true circumcision, like Abraham did?

How Much We Need Need (part 2)
How Much We Need Need (part 1)
How Much We Need Need (introduction)