Today, we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.
As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Corinthians 9:8 TPT
“Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.”
Galatians 5:4 TPT
“If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!”
Romans 6:14 ERV
“Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace.”
1 Corinthians 15:10 CEV
“But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God’s grace at work and not me.”
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Galatians 3:8 TPT
“Long ago the Scripture anticipated that God would declare the non-Jewish nations righteous by faith. So the Scripture prophesied to Abraham, as the good news was given to him ahead of time: ‘Through your example of faith, all the nations will be blessed.'”
Genesis 1:26-28 ERV
“Then God said, ‘Let us make humans in our image, in our likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Let them rule over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.’ So God created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.'”
Isaiah 46:10 NIV
“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'”
Setting the Stage:
For the past several messages, we’ve been exploring how Abraham received the Gospel, how faith makes us his children, and how faith changes our family tree. Today, as we continue unpacking Galatians 3:8, I want to show you something that will possibly transform how you see yourself in God’s eternal plan: God didn’t just foresee nations through Abraham; He foresaw YOU!
Paul says the Scripture “anticipated” or “foresaw” that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. But this wasn’t just about predicting a future event. When God looked at Abraham 4,000 years ago, He was simultaneously looking at every nation, every generation, and every person who would ever live, and that included YOU!
Think about the magnitude of God’s vision. From the very beginning, when God told Adam to “fill the earth,” His intent was for His glory to cover the entire planet. When sin entered, God’s plan didn’t change; it just revealed another dimension of His grace. The same God who foresaw the fall also foresaw the solution. The same God who saw Abraham also saw Jesus. And the same God who saw Jesus also saw YOU!
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. God’s Vision Has Always Been Global, Never Local.
From Genesis to Revelation, God’s intent has been to fill the entire earth with His glory. When God created Adam, He didn’t say, “Fill the garden.” He said, “Fill the EARTH!” When God called Abraham, He didn’t say, “I’ll bless your tribe.” He said, “ALL nations will be blessed through you!” When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He didn’t say, “Make disciples in Jerusalem.” He said, “Go into ALL the world!”
How this applies to you:
— God has never been interested in creating a small, exclusive club of believers. His heart has always been for the entire world. This means no matter where you’re from, what language you speak, or what culture you represent, you were always part of God’s plan!
— Adam’s mandate was to “fill the earth and take control of it;” to have and exercise dominion. This wasn’t just about populating the planet; it was about expanding God’s Kingdom to every corner of it. Even before sin entered, God’s plan was the global expansion of His glory!
— When sin disrupted God’s original plan, He didn’t scale back His vision; He revealed His grace! Instead of limiting salvation to a select few, God made it available to “whosoever will believe!” The fall didn’t shrink God’s vision; it magnified His grace!
— Religion tries to localize what God intended to be global. The Jews tried to keep God’s blessing within their borders, but God’s heart was always for the nations. Today, many denominations try to contain God within their traditions, but God’s grace refuses to be contained! You cannot limit God to the local; what God always intended to be global!
— When God told Abraham that “all nations” would be blessed through him, He wasn’t speaking hypothetically. God had already seen every nation that would ever exist. He saw America before it was discovered. He saw your nation before it was founded. He saw your family before your bloodline began!
— Stop thinking small about your purpose when God’s vision for you is global! The same God who told Adam to fill the earth and told Abraham to bless all nations is telling you that your purpose has global implications!
— Isabella and I are both 53 years old. I have been walking with God, in earnest, for 30 of those years, and Isabella has been doing so longer than that. But in many ways, we are just getting started in our assignment. No matter how much impact others may think God has had through us, God’s vision is so big that there is way more in front of us than behind. I pray you open your heart to the fullness of the glory of God’s assignment for your life!
2. God Foresaw His Son, The Solution Before The Problem.
Revelation 13:8 tells us that Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Think about this: Before Adam sinned, before the earth was created, before time began, God had already seen the cross and provided the solution! This means grace didn’t begin at Calvary; grace began in eternity!
How this applies to you:
— Jesus wasn’t God’s reaction to sin; Jesus was God’s provision before sin! The cross wasn’t Plan B after Adam failed. The cross was Plan A before Adam was created. Grace came before the fall, not after it!
— When God was creating the world, He already knew Adam would sin. But He created anyway because He had already provided the solution in Christ! This shows that God’s love for you is greater than your capacity to fail!
— The Lamb was slain “from the foundation of the world,” not at Calvary. Calvary was the physical manifestation of what had already happened in eternity. This means your salvation was secured before you were born, before you sinned, before time began!
— If God foresaw the problem and provided the solution before creating the world, what makes you think your current problem catches Him by surprise? He’s already seen it and already provided for it. It’s already done!
— God doesn’t give grace because you sinned. God gives grace because He IS grace. Grace is who He is, not just what He does!
— When God told Abraham about blessing all nations, the cross was already in view! God wasn’t hoping things would work out. He had already seen Jesus paying the price and you receiving the benefit. Your blessing was guaranteed before Abraham was born!
— Stop living like your salvation is fragile and you can lose it because of the inconsistency of your performance. God secured eternal life for you before the foundation of the world! What God established in eternity, no temporary failure can destroy!
— Not only does God’s grace and His foreknowledge of your decisions and actions apply to your salvation, but it applies to every area of your life. This means that every time God gives you a promise and you believe it, only to do something wrong later and have the devil tell you that you disqualify yourself, you must remember that God knew you would make the mistake before He gave you the promise. Therefore, your mistake cannot disqualify you from something God never required you to qualify for in the first place. That’s grace!
3. God Foresaw YOU Personally, Not Just Humanity Generally.
Here’s what will blow your mind: When God foresaw the nations being justified by faith, He wasn’t seeing a faceless mass of humanity. He was seeing individuals. This includes YOU! God doesn’t save nations; He saves people. He doesn’t just love the world; He loves YOU!
How this applies to you:
— When God looked at Abraham and said, “all nations will be blessed,” He saw your face in those nations! He saw your name, your story, your struggles, your victories. You weren’t a statistic in God’s plan; you were a specific person He loved before you existed!
— God knew your name before your parents chose it. He knew your personality before it developed. He knew your purpose before you discovered it. He knew your struggles before you faced them. And He made provision for it all through Abraham’s blessing!
— Think about this: 4,000 years before you were born, God was already making promises that included you. Two thousand years before you believed, Jesus was already dying for you. Before you took your first breath, heaven was already calling your name!
— Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” This wasn’t just true for Jeremiah; it’s true for you! God didn’t just know about you; He KNEW you personally, individually, specifically!
— Your spot in God’s family wasn’t a last-minute addition. When God was planning redemption, He had you in mind. When Jesus was going to the cross, He had you in view. When the Holy Spirit was poured out, your portion was already set apart!
— You’re not here by accident, and you’re not saved by coincidence. The God who sits on the circle of the earth orchestrated history, genealogy, geography, and chronology to ensure that you would hear the Gospel and have the opportunity to believe. Your salvation was that important to Him!
— When you feel insignificant, remember: The same God who sees every star and calls them by name saw you before you were born and called you by name! You’re not lost in the crowd; you’re known, loved, and chosen! Not because you are good, but solely because God is good!
4. The Blessing of Abraham Was Always Meant to Reach You.
Paul reveals that when God blessed Abraham, He was simultaneously blessing you! The promise to Abraham wasn’t just for his immediate descendants or even just for Israel. From the very beginning, God designed Abraham’s blessing to flow through time and space until it reached YOU! This blessing has been traveling for 4,000 years to get to you, and now it’s here!
How this applies to you:
— The Blessing of Abraham isn’t stuck in the Old Testament; it’s alive and active in your life today! When God told Abraham, “I will bless you and make you a blessing,” He was talking about a blessing that would transcend time, traditions, cultures, nations, and continents to reach you right where you are!
— Abraham’s blessing was never meant to stop with Isaac or Jacob or the twelve tribes. It was designed with multiplication in mind! Each generation was supposed to multiply the blessing until it covered the earth.
— When God blessed Abraham, He wasn’t just thinking about the Middle East; He was thinking about your neighborhood! He saw your city, your nation, your family. The blessing that started in Ur of the Chaldees was always destined to reach your address!
— Think about the journey of this blessing: From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to the twelve tribes, through David’s kingdom, through Jesus Christ, through the apostles, through centuries of believers, until it reached the person who shared the Gospel with you! In my case, the Gospel reached a man named Leo Jacobs, and he shared it with me in Kuwait, at Camp Doha, and I was Born-Again. Your story is similar. We are part of a 4,000-year-old blessing distribution system that is still in operation. It came TO you and now it is flowing THROUGH you!
— The devil has tried to stop this blessing from reaching you for generations! He tried through Pharaoh in Egypt, through enemies in the wilderness, through exile in Babylon, and through the crucifixion of Jesus. But the blessing cannot be stopped! What God blessed 4,000 years ago is still blessed today, and it’s yours!
— You’re not hoping to get blessed someday; you’re already walking in a blessing that was spoken 4,000 years ago! The blessing isn’t coming; the blessing has already come! Your faith doesn’t create the blessing; your faith receives the blessing that’s been traveling through time to reach you! It’s already done! Please enter into this day and this weekend walking in THE Blessing of Abraham and THE Blessing of Jesus!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for establishing a vision that has always been global, and it includes me!
You foresaw me through Abraham before I was born.
You provided Jesus as the solution before sin became the problem.
Your grace was ready before I needed it.
I am not an accident; I am part of Your eternal plan!
My faith today continues what You started in Eden and with Abraham.
I am living proof that Your Word comes to pass!
What started in Abraham, what traversed time, traditions, cultures, nations, and continents, has reached me.
Your Blessing has come TO me and now it flows THROUGH me!
I am Living #TheGraceLife and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
