The Blessing
God’s Gospel Promise to the World:
“Now the LORD said to Abram…
“in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
— Genesis 12:3,15:5-6
“The LORD appeared to him (Isaac) and said…. I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven.., and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
— Genesis 26:2-5
“He (Jacob) had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
— Genesis 28:12-14
***
God’s Gospel Promise comes to fruition:
“And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news (the Gospel blessing) of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” — Luke 1:46-48, Luke 2:7-11
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
— John 10:9
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
— John 14:6
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
— John 1:51
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
— John 8:56-58
“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
— Matthew 8:11
“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” - Luke 24:25-27, Luke 24:45-47
The Witness of the Apostles who Saw The Promised One:
“The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
— Galatians 3:8-9
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
— Galatians 3:13-14
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
— 1 Peter 1:3-5
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”
— 1 Peter 1:10-12
“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”
— 1 Peter 2:24
“If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” - 1 John 1:7-9, 1 John 2:1-2
Observation:
The Theme of the entire Bible is about God making a promise to mankind through a “particular people” whom He made special Covenants with, that is, the nation Israel. The final Covenant was made personally when God came to earth, and “sealed” the Holy Covenant by His own blood on the cross.
Jesus (who is God made flesh) clearly taught us that this is the central theme in the Scriptures. EVERYTHING written in the Bible points to God as “the seed” of Abe who comes and dies a penal death for OUR sins, that is, our “lawlessness”. This penal substitutionary death of God IS the Gospel blessing promised to all the “families of the earth” given first to Abraham - who “believed it” and was justified. This jaw-dropping act of Love on the part of God, plunging Himself under His own wrath to save us from eternal death, out-crafted the “crafty one”, that is, the serpent accuser. The devil never saw this coming, that God would be BOTH “just and justifier” by stacking up sin in one place (through the mechanism of the Law), in order to step into our place to bear our punishment for its violation:
“For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you.
Your dealings will return on your own head.”
— Obadiah 15
And yet, in the Gospel, God comes and “turns our dealings” on HIS OWN HEAD! In this way, the serpent’s mouth us shut. The devil can no longer accuse. Justice has been served. Sin has been judged and condemned in the flesh of God. “It is finished!”
***
“The LORD appeared to the Church and said…. I will establish the oath which I swore to your husband Jesus. I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven.., and by your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because your husband Jesus obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
— Genesis 26:2-5
“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.” — Hebrews 6:13-14, Hebrews 6:19-20, Hebrews 7:23-27