The Promise To Abraham

THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM
When the Lord revealed Himself to Abram, He gave to him certain promsies that were to form the foundation of a covenant relationship.

Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
So you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3).

There are three major promises in this passage that are later confirmed and developed in greater detail. The promise of a land (Genesis 12:1; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:7-8; Genesis 17:8). The Lord promised that He would give to Abram and to his descendants all of the land of Canaan for an eternal inheritance. This promise was fulfilled when Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. The promise of a multiplied seed (Genesis 12:2; Genesis 16:1-16; Genesis 15:2-5; Genesis 17:4-6; Genesis 22:15-17). God promised that He would make a great nation from the descendants of Abram. This was fulfilled in part when Moses led an entire nation out of Egypt. Both the nations of Israel, Edom and Arabia descend from the loins of Abraham. But that is not all. The ultimate fulfillment of this promise is the church, the spiritual seed of Abraham that is made up of every nation, tribe and people. The families of the earth are to be blessed by Abram (Genesis 12:3). Paul alluded to this promise as being fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (Galatians 3:8-9).

Paul sites this promise as a forerunner of the truth that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. By giving this promise to Abraham, God was preaching the gospel to him. This means that the Abrahamic Covenant not only contins the seeds of the gospel, but also that it forms the basis of the New Covenant into which we enter when we believe the gospel.

We have been promised a new country. It is not a country of this world, but a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. We have been given a commission to spread the seed of the gospel, a seed that brings blessings to all who experience its harvest.