Articles
The Promises to Abraham - Part 3
The Promises to
Abraham - Part 3
By Derek Long
The final promise we want to consider which God made to Abraham is the promise that in him all nations of the earth shall be blessed. The Old Testament does not show us the fulfillment of this promise made by God to Abraham. The Old Testament looks forward to a time when all nations would be blessed by God through a descendant of Abraham. For example, Isaiah 42:6 says, “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.” The New Testament opens with the record of Jesus coming to earth as a descendant of David and Abraham. Matthew 1:1 says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Jesus came to bless the Jewish people as well as all others by providing them with the forgiveness of their sins. Acts 3:24-26 says, “Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” The blessing promised to all nations through Abraham comes through Abraham’s seed, Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:16 says, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” The promised blessing is unto those people who display the same sort of faith Abraham had. Galatians 3:7-9 says, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Abraham’s faith is one which was living, active, and obedient to God’s commands. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” God has kept His promises made to Abraham. We can benefit from the blessings brought through Jesus, the descendant of Abraham, if we will but obey Him. Hebrews 5:9 says, “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey
Him.” If you would like to learn more about the Bible story and what God expects of us today, please feel free to contact us.
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