The True Circumcision
Genesis 17:1-14;
Philippians 3:1-11
"For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus and who put no confidence in the flesh."
(Philippians 3:3)
Whenever God makes a claim on a people in Scripture, He makes a point of marking them or distinguishing them from all others as His own possession. In Genesis 17, we see Him do just that with Abraham and his family. Circumcision was meant to point to the people's need to have their hearts renewed - to have the hard, outer shell of their stubborn hearts "cut away" by God's Spirit and enabled to walk in His commandments
(Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4). But it was also a warning that whoever failed to walk in God's ways would be "cut off" from the people by God's judgment.
In the light of the New Testament, we see the ultimate reality of which the sign of circumcision was merely a shadow. We see Jesus Christ who was "cut off" from the presence of God so that we would never be cut off by God's judgment. The bloody sign of circumcision points us to the bloodied beams of the cross. In Him, we have had our hearts "circumcised" and can now obey His commandments by His empowering grace.
INSIGHT
True circumcision of the heart = true worship (see Philippians 3:3 above). Worship Him now by the Spirit of God!
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Lamentations 4-5
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 12
Genesis 17:1-14;
The Covenant of Circumcision
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty[a]; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram[b]; your name will be Abraham,[c] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Footnotes:
a. Genesis 17:1 Hebrew El-Shaddai
b. Genesis 17:5 Abram means exalted father.
c. Genesis 17:5 Abraham probably means father of many.
Philippians 3:1-11
No Confidence in the Flesh
1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Footnotes:
a. Philippians 3:9 Or through the faithfulness of
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