Galatians 3:16 – Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. NKJV
jesus_-the-seed-of-abraham_.mp3
Genesis is the book of beginnings! It is in this book that God begins His redemptive plan for mankind. Actually, it was begun before the foundations of the world, but it is in the first book of the Bible that we see the plan begin to unfold. I am going to do a series about Jesus and how He was the spiritual fulfillment of types and shadows in the Old Testament.
God told Abraham, when He called him out of Ur, that He was going to bless him. Abraham wanted a son more than anything else and God promises to deliver a son. Then when Isaac is deep in Abraham’s heart, God tells him to go and sacrifice Isaac, his only son, to the Lord. Abraham obeys the Lord and as he is about to take Isaac’s life, God stops him. The Lord then tells him:
Genesis 22:17-18 – “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” NKJV
Now, we might say that this referred to Isaac. And you will be correct, because through Isaac, God multiplied Abraham’s seed and they now live all over the earth. But that wasn’t the only thing that God meant. Paul, being intentional, let us know that this seed God referred to was not “seeds” as in descendants, but to a particular seed, as in Jesus, singular.
When Matthew begins his record of the genealogy of Jesus, he begins with Abraham letting us know that Jesus was the seed of Abraham. This is important because Jesus was a natural descendant of the father of faith, or the patriarch of Israel, Abraham!
God’s promise, that the nations of the world would be blessed through Abraham’s Seed is therefore, not fulfilled in Isaac, but in Jesus! In the book of Revelation, John wrote, that we are called out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. All because of the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the salvation that He bestows to all those who believe. Paul also let’s us know that the promise came to Abraham when he had stepped out in faith and obeyed God and that through faith we receive Jesus and have access to the same favor and blessings that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the children of Israel had access to.
Not only that, but the promise of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus said was the promise of the Father, was part of that promise made to Abraham. (Galatians 3:14) And Isaac was not capable of bestowing or being party to making that a reality. This promise to Abraham covered every aspect of our lives, natural blessings, salvation, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and access to the Father.
Jesus, is a fulfillment of the covenant that God made with Abraham. Through Jesus all the nations have an opportunity to be blessed. Through Jesus, Abraham’s Seed, there have been an innumerable, increase in the Body of Christ. Surely we have increased to the point that we are more numerous than the sand in the sea or the stars in the sky. And contrary to polls and naysayers, we are continually growing.
Also, we are possessing the gates of our enemy. Jesus has given us authority to trample over demons; authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out; and authority over all the works of the devil. Isaac was not able to bring us to the place where we could possess the gates of the enemy!
So let’s look at what we have in Jesus because He is the seed of Abraham:
- If we are of faith, we are blessed with believing Abraham
- Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law of sin and death
- Abraham’s blessings are to come upon us through Christ Jesus
- We will receive the promise of the Spirit through faith
- We are justified by faith
- We are sons of God through faith
- We are heirs according to the promise
- We’re all one in Christ Jesus
It was so important to our redemption, that Jesus fulfill the promise of God as the Seed of Abraham! When I read the Old Testament, I marvel at all God did for the children of Israel, but I don’t have to be jealous, for I also am an heir to the same blessings they experienced and so much more! I’m gonna get my blessings, right now! Wonderful Jesus!
