Monday, April 26
“In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 28:14).
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
More than once the Lord said to Abraham that in his seed, his offspring, all the nations of the earth would be blessed (see also Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18). This wonderful covenant promise is repeated, because of all of the promises, this is the most important one, the most enduring one, the one that makes all the others worthwhile. In one sense, this was a promise of the rise of the Jewish nation, through whom the Lord wanted to teach “all the families of the earth” about the true God and His plan of salvation. Yet, the promise reaches complete fulfillment only in Jesus Christ, who came from the seed of Abraham, the One who would at the Cross pay for the sins of “all the families of the earth.”
Think about the covenant promise made after the Flood (in which the Lord promised not to destroy the world with water again). What ultimate good would this be without the promise of redemption found in Jesus? What ultimate good would any of God’s promises be without the promise of eternal life found in Christ?
How do you understand the notion that in Abraham, through Jesus, “all the families of the earth” would be blessed? What does that mean?
No question, the covenant promise of the world’s Savior is the greatest of all God’s promises. The Redeemer Himself becomes the means by which the obligations of the covenant arrangement are met and all of its other promises are realized. All, Jew or Gentile, who enter into union with Him are accounted as Abraham’s true family and inheritors of the promise (Galatians 3:8-9, 27-29), that is — the promise of eternal life in a sinless environment where evil, pain, and suffering will never again arise. Can you think of a better promise than that?
What is it about the promise of eternal life in a world without sin and suffering that has such an attraction for to us? Could it be that we long for it because that’s what we were originally created for and that by longing for it we are longing for something that is basic to our nature?
