John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
The Promises of God through His Word, were contingent upon the Law and obedience to the Law. Natural man couldn't keep the Law, so the fullness of God's Blessing couldn't be realized in the abundance of His covenant. The Spiritual Blessing couldn't be fully realized, until the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the spirit of the new covenant family of God. Jesus said in John 10:10 (Amplified), "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy Life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
Abraham walked with God in a state of Grace, but he was unable to receive the fullness of the Promises, until his Seed (Who was Jesus) could come into this earth and restore that which was lost in the Garden of Eden. He could enjoy and prosper int the natural things of this earth, but the Spiritual Blessing was still only a Promise. In Christ Jesus, the Promise is now fulfilled to the new creation family of God.
Hebrews 11:13,14 (Amplified) tells us, "These people (Noah, Abraham, Enoch, Sara, and Abel), all died controlled and sustained by their faith, but not having received the tangible fulfillment of God's Promises, only having seen it and greeted it from a great distance by faith, and all the while acknowledging and confessing that they were strangers and temporary residents and exiles upon the earth." Verse 14 says, "Now those people who talk as they did show plainly that they are in search of a fatherland, (their own country)."
Ephesians 3:18-19 (Amplified) says, "For it is through Him that we both, whether far off or near now have an introduction, access by One Holy Spirit to the Father so that we are able to approach Him. Therefore, you are no longer outsiders, exiles, migrants and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens; but you now share citizenship with the saints, God's Own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself, and you belong to God's Own household."
This was and is the Promise Abraham and the Old Testament saints were looking forward to, but couldn't obtain until the new creation and the birth of the Holy Spirit in mankind. Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) says, "Christ purchased our freedom, redeeming us from the Curse (doom of the Law and its condemnation), by Himself becoming a curse for us, for it is written in the scriptures, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (crucified). To the end that through their receiving Christ Jesus, the Blessing Promised to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might all receive the realization of the Promise of the Holy Spirit."
Many look upon the Day of Pentecost and the speaking of tongues, as the fulfillment of the Promise. True, these people, along with millions more since that day, have entered into the Promise of the new birth by the coming of the Holy Spirit. But, we've failed to understand the Spiritual Gifts that accompanied this Promise of Fulfillment. Many dismiss the new language and the benefits of that language, but that isn't the only Gift that comes with the Promise of the Holy Spirit. The Gifts of the Spirit listed in 1Corinthians 12, aren't necessarily the fulfillment of the Spiritual Gifts John 1:16-17 refers too.
The main Gift we're to recognize is the Gift of Life, which is being born-again and becoming God's children. We're no longer "outsiders," but we're citizens of His Own family and His Kingdom. This was part of God's Promise that Abraham couldn't receive, until Jesus. The Spiritual Gifts found in John 1:16-17 have been fulfilled in those who are born-again (us). Galatians 4:5-7 (Amplified) says, "To purchase the freedom of, to ransom, to redeem, to atone for, those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have son ship conferred upon us, and be recognized as God's sons. And because you really are His sons, God has sent the Holy Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant), but a son, and if a son, the it follows that you are His heir by the aid of God through Christ as an act of Grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
The fullness of the Promise comes by faith and then by walking in your inheritance. You must receive it BY FAITH. Even though it's yours already, you'll only enjoy this new found Life in Christ Jesus, as you accept by faith, the things of this Promise of the Holy Spirit. Although we've received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we cannot accept the things He provided for us here, unless we put faith in this Promise.
God has "made good" His Promise of the Holy Spirit that He Promised to Abraham to be "heir of the world." Romans 4:13 (Amplified) says, "For the Promise to Abraham or his posterity, that he should inherit the world, did not come through observing the commandments of the Law, but through the righteousness of faith." When we read about these Spiritual Gifts, Graces, and Spiritual Blessings in John 1:16-17, we sometimes overlook the Power of what was said about, "now."
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