2000-02-14 - Blessings to All

The Prophecies Fulfilled Series, Part 2

The Prophecy

Genesis 12:1-3, "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; and 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."

The Fulfillment

Matthew 1:1, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

One of the first things you might notice is that the name of the person in the prophecy is Abram, and the name of the person in the fulfillment is Abraham. In Genesis 17:4 & 5, Abram's (meaning, in Hebrew, high father or father of elevation) name was changed, by God, to Abraham (meaning, in the Hebrew, father of a multitude).

The promise under consideration today is that in Abram, all the families of the earth will be blessed. This is viewed directly as a reference to Jesus Christ who was a descendant of Abram. Abram's seed, or his literal descendant, is the one through whom all families would be blessed.

In this passage, Abram had been given several promises, but it is here, at the end, when all the families of the earth will be blessed through him, that this, the crown of all these promises is given.

Jesus Christ is the greatest blessing in the world. We all have been given many blessings, but Christ is the chief of all the blessing we have or can receive. So here in Genesis 12:3, we have the promise of the greatest blessing your, or any family can ever receive. That blessing is Christ.

This ought to lead us to thankfulness. We ought to be thankful for the plan of God in providing a savior for us and blessing us as He has. If we really understand this promise given to Abram, we have a window into the mindset of missions in the world. Every nation, every tribe, and tongue, (Revelation 5:9) and hence every family, will be blessed through this promise to Abram. This is because the blood of Christ purchases them from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

Working the graveyard shift, as I did for four years, I got to hear the birds greet the rising of the sun with sweet singing every morning. We ought to greet this promise with similar joy. We should praise God for His promises and for the fulfillment of them in Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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