The angel of the Lord said to Abraham:
"By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord...
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
And in thy SEED shall ALL THE NATIONS of the earth be BLESSED; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:15-18).
Wonderful words.
Now let's see what the Apostle Paul said that meant:
"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would JUSTIFY THE HEATHEN THROUGH FAITH, preached before THE GOSPEL unto Abraham, saying, In THY SEED shall all nations be BLESSED" (Galatians 3:8).
So according to Paul, Abraham's promise was a foretelling of the GOSPEL. The promised BLESSING foresaw that people of all nations would receive JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
(The promise was a description of the blessing of justification by faith coming upon the multi-national community of believers in Jesus, not just a description of the future of Israel or of those observant of Judaism - because the giving of the promise preceded the birth of Israel and preceded the giving of the Law. It just said, ‘all nations’. Potentially it could describe more of Israel, but only 'in thy Seed'.)
So now let's notice what Paul said about Abraham's SEED (in whom this blessing was to be received):
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy SEED, which is CHRIST" (verse 16).
The promise wasn't made to 'seeds' (plural), but to Abraham's 'seed' (singular), whom Paul said is CHRIST.
So Paul didn't see Jesus Christ - the gospel - the Church comprising of both Jews and Gentiles - merely as something else - something unforeseen that God is only doing temporarily until He finally gets around to inaugurating the fulfillment of Abraham's promise sometime in the future. No, Paul's claim was that the gospel of Jesus Christ is exactly what the promise really actually meant all along.
Our Lord Jesus made the same claim about Abraham's promise:
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see MY DAY: and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56).
According to Jesus, Abraham's promise foresaw JESUS Himself. It was about this gospel-time. Glimpsing the gospel of Christ in advance, gave Abraham joy.
The Lord God is now gathering together in one all things both which are in heaven, and on earth, people of all nations, through the gospel, to sit down with Abraham in His kingdom, new creation, as promised to Abraham long ago. This is precisely what Abraham foresaw!
I don't know about you, but as for me, I decided to just accept the way Jesus, Paul and the other Apostles unpacked Old Testament covenant, prophecy and Scripture, as radical as it may sound. It helps avoid tangents which can distract from the real message.
It's all about JESUS, the GOSPEL, and US in Him.
"For ALL the PROMISES of God IN HIM are yea, and IN HIM Amen, unto the glory of God by US" (II Corinthians 1:20).
Now, look at this next particuar promise about the seed:
"...thy SEED shall possess the gate of HIS enemies..." it said.
Through JESUS, Abraham's SEED, principalities and powers were spoiled and made a shew of openly, being triumphed over in his cross. God made peace through the blood of his cross, and by him reconciled all things unto Himself.
Jesus possessed the gate of his enemies, so in him we also receive the blessing of possessing the gate of our enemies, as coheirs of the promise.
Here's how Jesus said the blessing is actually received:
When Simon Peter confessed, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus answered and said unto him, "BLESSED art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
What that meant is that knowing JESUS is HOW one is BLESSED with the promise. Having Jewish ethnicity wasn’t how.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT".
Since the gates of hell didn't prevail against Jesus, they shall not prevail against his church either, because we are his body, his kingdom people. That's a promise.
Isaiah foretold of One coming, "And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open" (Isaiah 22:22).
Then Jesus said to John, "These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth" (Revelation 3:7).
Jesus is the One who was to receive the key, then he gave the keys to us his body, his kingdom people, in him.
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (see Matthew 16:16-19).
Since sin, death and the devil were conquered by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, so we also because we have been buried with him in baptism and also risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead, are more than conquerors over sin, death and the devil too.
(And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.)
We are all the children of Abraham by faith. You have received the blessing of Abraham by faith. We are coheirs with Jesus of the promise. You are.
Have a blessed day with Abraham's family today, Christ's body, his church, his anointed kingdom people, inheriting all the promises of God in Him to the glory of God!
