What Paul Thought About Abraham's Promise

It's interesting - and important - a blessing - and a safe-guard - to notice the way Paul unpacked Abraham's promise. 

He understood the promised 'seed' to really be Messiah; 

The 'blessing' for all nations, he understood to be about the 'justification of the heathen';

He understood Abraham to have been told that he would be 'heir of the world'; 

He said Abraham was really 'looking for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God'; 

He included Abraham among those who he said were really looking for a 'heavenly country' - not an earthly country, and certainly not just land in the Middle East. 

Paul summarised Abraham's promise as God 'preaching the gospel' to Abraham in advance. 

Then Paul explained that it was 'that' promise, which Israel had been custodians of. The 'hope of Israel' he called it. 

Their Levitical Law and everything associated with it, he described as having been only a temporary 'shadow' of good and better 'things to come' - things which he said Jesus had now brought. Real things. Heavenly things.

JESUS Himself also identified Himself as the subject of Abraham's promise, when He said "Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad". 

Jesus said the same about Moses too: "He wrote of Me". 

And all the Prophets: Jesus expounded from the Scriptures all things "concerning Himself". 

So, that's what Bible promise and prophecy was really always going to be all about: it's about JESUS. It's about His salvation - for all peoples. And even for creation itself. 

Jews got to hear about this first, and then all nations - exactly as Abraham was promised. And ultimately even the physical creation itself will be seen to have been a beneficiary - when death will be abolished and the dead will rise like Jesus rose. 

All that is the real redemption, real deliverance, ingathering, restoration, rebuilding, in-dwelling, river, mountain, city, life, kingdom, new heaven and earth - new creation - God dwelling with us. That's all part of what Abraham and the prophets foresaw.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the beginning of new creation. The demarkation-point between the old and the new. Between old covenant and new. Promise, and fulfilment. 

This all means that the future isn't intended to involve reverting back under some quasi-Levitical law with Jerusalem-centred worship again in a replica-temple. That would put us on the wrong side of Bible-fulfilment! The resurrection of Jesus' from the dead already inaugurated NEW CREATION. New covenant. All things are made new.

This is the blessing which Abraham foresaw; it's what all things Levitical temporarily foreshadowed; and it's what the Prophets foretold. The hope of Israel. New creation. Heaven joining earth again. It is experienced now by the Spirit, through faith in Jesus, without anyone needing to become proselytes to Judaism; and it will be seen openly and completed, at His coming. And all in JESUS, Abraham's 'seed'.

That's WHO we proclaim, by the gospel. 

The blessing!