GOD’S PURPOSE REVEALED IN PROMISES   (PART 1)

The Bible gives a consistent message throughout  it’s pages of the purpose of God.  His plan is to fill the earth with men and women who show His character and give Him glory.  He has given great promises which show the way this will be accomplished when His kingdom will be established in the earth.

In order for God’s purpose to be achieved, He provided His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection men and women have a way of being part of God’s great kingdom if they respond and believe in Him.

In this leaflet we will look at two major promises given before Christ was born which all point forward to Him and His work.

 

The Promise in Eden

Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden.  Both they and the serpent were punished.  Men and women would die, and would be unable to save themselves from this.  But a ray of hope for man comes into this dark picture when God says to the serpent:

• “I will put enmity (hatred, opposition) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;  He (the woman’s seed) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

 

A “seed “  means a descendant or child, but it can also refer to the people associated with the particular “seed”, e.g. we become the seed of Abraham if we are  “in” Jesus by baptism (Galatians 3:27,29).

 

The Seed of the Serpent

The serpent, because of his lie, came to represent a sinful way of thinking.  The seed of the serpent refers to those with the family likeness of the serpent, those who distort God’s Word, lying and leading others into sin.  They allow these characteristics to rule their life.  In the time of Christ the corrupt religious rulers were referred to as a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7).

 

The Seed of the Woman

The seed of the woman refers to one who would bruise or crush the serpent’s head, i.e. sin, dealing it with a death-blow.  This was a prophecy of Jesus Christ and his work:

• Jesus Christ, who has (by the cross) abolished death (and therefore the power of sin – Romans 6:23), and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”  (2 Tim. 1:10).

 

• “God, by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:  He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3; see also 1 John 3:5; Matthew 1:21).

Christ was ‘wounded in the heel’ through his death for three days.  Yet His resurrection proved that this was only a temporary wound, compared to the death-blow that He gave sin.

 

What does this mean to us?

On the cross Jesus destroyed the power of sin in Himself.  He has invited us to share in His victory.  If we are “baptized into Christ” we can share in the promises about Jesus, like that in Genesis 3:15.  No longer are they just interesting parts of the Bible, they are prophecies and promises which are made directly to us!

Although sin and death are still experienced by true believers, by being baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27-29), they can have forgiveness of their sins now and eventually be saved from death.  God has promised a time when the righteous will be raised from the dead and given eternal life:

• “The dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory”  (1 Corinthians 15:52-54).

 

Jesus was the true ‘seed of the woman’, but we can be part of that seed of the woman too by being baptized into Christ.  Our lives will then reflect the words of Genesis 3:15 – there will be a constant sense of conflict (“enmity”) within us, between right and wrong.  The great apostle Paul described a conflict between sinful thoughts and the love of God’s ways that raged within him (Romans 7:14-25).  But he concludes this by saying:

• “O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  (Romans 7:24-25).

 

So right from the beginning God promised Christ as a Saviour.  This incredible promise given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden has been fulfilled in Christ, and we too can benefit from it.

 

 

THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

 

The Gospel preached to Abraham

The Gospel taught by Jesus and the apostles was also given in a series of promises to Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel.  God, through the promises, “Preached the gospel to Abraham”  (Galatians 3:8).

If we can understand what was taught to Abraham, we will then have a very basic picture of the Christian Gospel.  There are other indications that the Gospel is not something which began at the time of Jesus.

• “We declare to you glad tidings (the Gospel) – that promise which was made to the (Jewish) fathers, God has fulfilled”  (Acts 13:32,33; see also Romans 1:1,2; Hebrews 4:2).

 

Two Themes

The promises to Abraham have two basic themes:

• Things about Abraham’s seed (special descendant)

 

• Things about the land  which was promised to Abraham.

The New Testament comments on these promises.  By letting the Bible explain itself, we can combine the teachings of both Testaments to give us a compete picture of the promises made to Abraham.

 

Abraham – a Man of Faith

Abraham originally lived in Ur, a prosperous city in what is now Iraq.  An extraordinary call of God came to him – to leave that sophisticated life and embark on a journey to a promised land. This required faith because exactly where he was to journey was not made completely clear. It turned out to be a 1,500 mile journey.  The land was Canaan – modern Israel.

During his life, God appeared to Abraham and repeated and expanded His promises to him.  Those promises are the basis of Christ’s Gospel. so that same call comes to true Christians as it did to Abraham, to leave the transient things of this life, and go forward in a life of faith, taking God’s promises at face value and living by His Word.

• “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out (from Ur) to the place (Canaan) which he would afterward receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).

 

By showing a similar faith and acting upon it, we can have the same honour as Abraham – to be called the friends of God (Isaiah 41:8), to find the knowledge of God (Genesis 18:17) and to have the sure hope of eternal life in the Kingdom.  To truly believe in the Christian message we, too, must firmly know the promises to Abraham.  Without them our faith is not faith.  With eager eyes we should therefore read and re-read the dialogues between God and Abraham.

 

The Land

• “Get out of your country.  To a land that I will shew you” (Genesis 12:1).

 

• Abraham “went on his journey….as far as Bethel (in Central Israel).  And the Lord said to Abram.  Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward and westward: for all the land which you see I give to you, and your descendants forever…walk in the land…..for I give it to you” (Genesis 13:3,14-17).

• “The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18).)

 

• “I will give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are  a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8).

• “The promise that he (Abraham) would be the heir of the world” (Romans 4:13).

 

We see here a progressive revelation to Abraham:

• ‘There is a land which I would like you to go to’.

 

• ‘You have now arrived in the area.  You and your children will live here for ever.’

• The area of the promised land was more specifically defined.

 

• Abraham was not to expect to receive the promise in this life – he was to be a “stranger” in the land, although he would later live there for ever.  The implication of this is that he would die and then later be resurrected to enable him to receive this promise.

• Paul, under inspiration, saw the promises to Abraham as meaning his inheritance of the whole earth.

 

Abraham did not receive the fulfilment of the promises in his lifetime:

• “By faith he sojourned (implying a temporary way of life) in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents” (Hebrews 11:9).

 

• Abraham “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

Notice the four stages:

• Knowing the promises;

 

• Being “assured of them”;

• Embracing them – by being baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27-29);

 

• Confessing to the world by our way of life that this world is not our real home, but we are living in hope of that future age to come upon the earth.

• “God “gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on.  But …He promised to give it to him for a possession” (Acts 7:5).

 

God keeps his promises.  There will come a day when Abraham and all who have those promises made to them will be rewarded.

• “These all died in faith, not having received the promises.  God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us”  (Hebrews 11:13,39,40).

 

All true believers will therefore be rewarded at the same point in time, i.e. at the judgment seat at the last day (2 Timothy 4:1,8;  Matthew 25:31-34).  In order to be judged, Abraham and others who knew those promises must be resurrected just before the judgment.

 

The Seed

As with the promise of a seed in Genesis 3:15, this seed of Abraham applies primarily to Jesus and, secondarily, to those who are “in Christ” and therefore are also counted as the seed of Abraham:

• “I will make you a great nation, I will bless you…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2,3).

 

• “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered …

all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Genesis 13:15,16).

• “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.  So shall your descendants be.  To your descendants I have given this land” (Genesis 15:5,18).

 

• “I give to you and your descendants after you, the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).

 

• “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the 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” (Genesis 22:17-18 KJV).

Again, Abraham’s understanding of the “seed” was increased as God gave him further promises.

• Firstly he was just told that somehow he would have an extraordinary number of descendants, and that through his “seed” the whole earth would be blessed.

 

• He was later told that he would have a seed who would come to include many people.  These people would spend eternal life, along with himself, in the land at which he had arrived, i.e. Canaan.

 

• He was told that his seed would become as many as the stars in the sky.  This may have suggested to him that he would have many spiritual descendants (stars in heaven) as well as many natural ones (as “the dust of the earth”).

• The previous promises were underlined with the additional assurance that the many people who would become part of the seed could have a personal relationship with God.

 

• The seed would have victory against his enemies.

Notice that the seed was to bring “blessings” to be available to people from all over the earth.  In the Bible the idea of blessing is often connected with forgiveness of sins.  After all, this is the greatest blessing a lover of God could ever want. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven” (Psalm 32:1).

The only descendant of Abraham who has brought forgiveness of sins to the world is Jesus, and the New Testament commentary on the promises to Abraham provides solid support.

• He (God) does not say, ‘And to seeds’, as of many (i.e. in the plural), but as of one (in the singular), ‘And to your seed’, who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16)

 

• “…the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.  To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus (i.e. the seed), sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” (Acts 3:25,26.

Notice here how Peter quotes and interprets Genesis 22:18:

The seed = Jesus

The blessing = forgiveness of sins.

 

Joining the Seed

The basic elements of the Gospel were understood by Abraham.  But these vital promises were to Abraham and his seed, Jesus.  Can anyone else be involved?  Even physical descent from Abraham would not automatically make someone part of that one specific seed (John 8:39).   To share these promises we have to become intimately part of Jesus.  This is by baptism into Jesus (Romans 6:3-5); frequently we read of baptism into His name (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5).

•  “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s (by baptism into him) then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:27-29).

 

The promise of eternal life on earth, through receiving the “blessing” of forgiveness through Jesus, is by being baptized into Christ, the seed, so that we can share the promises made to him.  Romans 8:17 calls us “joint heirs with Christ”.

The blessing was to come on people from all parts of the earth, through Christ’s work.  The seed was to become a world-wide group of people, like the sand of the shores and the stars of the sky.

 

In Summary

We can summarise the two strands of the promises given to Abraham:

• The Land

 

Abraham and his seed, Jesus, and those in Him will inherit the land of Canaan and by extension the whole earth, and live there for ever.  In this life they would not receive it, but would do so when Jesus returns.

• The Seed

 

This was primarily Jesus.  Through Him the sins (“enemies”)  of mankind would be overcome, so that the blessings of forgiveness would be made available world-wide.

By baptism into the name of Jesus we become part of the seed and share in the promises to Abraham.

 

The Hope of Israel

Paul could define his hope as “the hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20).  The true Christian hope is the original Jewish hope, the promises made to Abraham the father of the Jewish people (see also John 4:22).

The Early Christians preached:

• “The things concerning the Kingdom of God and

 

• The name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12).

These were the very two things explained to Abraham under slightly different headings:

• Promises about the land and

 

• Promises about the seed.

The good news about this Kingdom which was preached to Abraham played a big part in the early preaching of the Gospel (Acts 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31).

A Life of Faith

Just technically being Abraham’s seed through baptism does not mean that we are acceptable with God.  The Jews are Abraham’s seed naturally speaking, but this does not mean that they can be saved without being baptized and conforming their lives to Christ and the example of Abraham (Romans 9:7,8; 4:13,14).

The “seed” must have the characteristics of its ancestor.  If we are to be the true seed of Abraham we must therefore not only be baptized but also have a very real faith in God’s promises, just as he had.

• (Abraham) “the father of all those who believe, who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had” (Romans 4:11,12; see also Galatians 3:7).

 

Real faith must then show itself in action, otherwise, in God’s eyes, it isn’t faith (James 2:17).

God’s Purpose Revealed in Promises
PART 2

“God had sworn with an oath…He would raise upthe Christ, to sit on David’s throne”ACTS 2:30
God’s Purpose Revealed in Promises  (Part 2)

The Bible gives a consistent message throughout its pages of the purpose of God.  His plan is to fill the earth with men and women who show His character and give Him glory.  He has given great promises which show the way this will be accomplished when His kingdom will be established in the earth.

In order for God’s purpose to be achieved, He provided His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection men and women have a way of being part of God’s great kingdom if they respond and believe in Him.

In this leaflet we will look at a promise given to Israel’s great King David, 1000 years before Christ was born, which points forward to Christ as the King of God’s great promised kingdom.

We will also look at the way this promise and other great promises of the Bible, especially that given to Abraham the father of the Jewish people, can have a special relevance in our own lives.

The PROMISE TO DAVID

David’s idea, but God’s reply

David, like Abraham and many other recipients of God’s promises, did not have an easy life.  After many trials of faith he eventually became king of Israel.  To show his appreciation of God’s love toward him during his life, he decided to build God a temple.  The reply from God was that David’s son, Solomon, would build the temple and that God wanted to build David a house (2 Samuel 7:4-13).  Then followed a detailed promise which repeats much of what was told Abraham, and which also filled in some other details.

• “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.  I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.  If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the blows of the sons of men:  But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.  And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.  Your throne shall be established for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12-16).

 

The promise in Eden (Genesis 3:15) and the promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:22) talk of a promised “seed” coming.  This is discussed in Bible Basics Leaflet 7.  Having seen that the “seed” in those promises pointed forward to Jesus, it would be logical to assume that the seed promised to David is none other but the Lord Jesus Christ also.  The Bible presents a consistent message and the promises of Christ are a key theme of the Old Testament.  His description as the son of God (2 Samuel 7:14) confirms this, as do many other references in other parts of the Bible:-

• “(Jesus), born of the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3).

 

• “From this man’s seed (David’s), according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a saviour – Jesus” (Acts 13:23; see also Revelation 22:16).

• The angel told the virgin Mary concerning her son, Jesus: “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and of his Kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32,33).  This is applying the promise of David’s seed, in 2 Samuel 7:13 to Jesus.

 

With the seed firmly identified as Jesus, a number of details now become significant:-

1.  The seed

• “Your seed, who will come from your body.  I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.”  “I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body” (2 Samuel 7:12,14; Psalm 132:10,11).

 

Jesus, the seed, was to be a literal, bodily descendant of David, and yet have God as his Father.  This could only be achieved by the virgin birth as described in the New Testament.  Jesus’ mother was Mary, a descendant of David (Luke 1:32), but he had no human father.  God acted miraculously upon Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit in order to make her conceive Jesus, and so the Angel commented, “therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the son of God” (Luke 1:35).

2.  The house

• “He shall build a house for My name” (2 Samuel 7:13).

 

This shows that Jesus will build a temple for God – both literally and spiritually.  Ezekiel 40-48 describes how that in the Millennium (the first 1,000 years of God’s Kingdom after Jesus returns to the earth) a literal temple will be built in Jerusalem.  God’s “house” is where He is willing to live, and Isaiah 66:1,2 tells us that He will come to live in the hearts of men who are humble to His word.  Jesus is therefore building a spiritual temple for God to dwell in, made up of the true believers.  Descriptions of Jesus as the foundation stone of God’s spiritual temple (1 Peter 2:4-8) and of Christians as the temple stones (1 Peter 2:5) now slot into place.

3.  The throne

• “I will establish the throne of his (Christ’s) kingdom forever…your (David’s) house and your kingdom.  Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:13,16; see also Isaiah 9:6,7).

 

Christ’s kingdom will therefore be a re-establishment of David’s kingdom of Israel.  To fulfil this promise, Christ must reign on David’s “throne” which was literally in Jerusalem.  The kingdom must be established here on earth in order to fulfil these promises.

4.  The kingdom

• “Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you” (2 Samuel 7:16).

 

David would witness the establishment of Christ’s eternal kingdom.  He must therefore be resurrected at Christ’s return so that he could see with his own eyes the kingdom being set up world-wide, with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem.

Salvation promised

These things which were promised to David are absolutely vital to understand.  David joyfully spoke of these things as “an everlasting covenant…this is all my salvation and all my desire” (2 Samuel 23:5).  These things relate to our salvation too; rejoicing in them should likewise be all our desire.

These doctrines are important and it is a tragedy that Christendom teaches doctrines which contradict these marvellous truths:

• If Jesus physically ‘pre-existed’, i.e. he existed as a person before he was born, then this makes nonsense of these promises that Jesus would be David’s ‘seed’ or descendant.

 

• If the kingdom of God will be in heaven, then Jesus cannot re-establish David’s kingdom of Israel, nor can he reign from David’s “throne”.  These things were literally on the earth, and so their re-establishment must be in the same place.

The Implications of the Promises

Through baptism, the promises to David and also the other great promises of the Bible can apply to us – we too can have the hope of salvation in God’s Kingdom.  We can become spiritual Israel, and therefore the people of God, separated from this world.  Abraham, the natural father of the Jewish race, can become our spiritual father.

Separation

Having looked at this promise, and also the promise to Abraham, implications emerge in relation to the way we live if we accept them through baptism.  For example, we become a separate people.  We become spiritual Jews.  What God spoke to men like Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, He therefore spoke to us (Hosea 12:5; Geneses 28:15; compare Hebrews 12:5,6).  We therefore will seek all our associations only among the people of God, with whom we will share the kingdom of God.

Abraham’s example of consciously shunning the things of this world will be matched in his ‘children’.  If we truly believe the promises, we too will separate ourselves “from the corruption that is in the world” (2 Peter 1:4).  We would be happy to have a light hold on possession of property, knowing that this earth is ours.  For now, we are just passing through it, surveying it, like Abraham did.

Commitment

All those in true covenant relationship with God will realize the fullness of commitment which He has entered, and will make a whole-hearted response and sacrifice (Malachi 2:4,5).  Psalm 103:18 parallels “such as keep his covenant” with “those that remember his commandments to do them”.  The extent of the implication of being in covenant with God ought to preclude the possibility of worshipping any other god.  The covenant we can enter into demands loyalty.

If we take part in the promises of God, it should enable us to live godly lives now in this evil world.  We can be sure of God’s mercy and truth towards us, so that whatever happens to us in this life we can have confidence that God will bring us to His kingdom.

Unity

Galatians 3:27-29 explains that through baptism into the covenant made with Abraham, there is a special unity between all in that covenant.  Slave and free, male and female, Jew and Gentile are all thereby united, as they were in the early church.  Through the power of the most basic facts of the Gospel preached to Abraham, this incredible unity is possible amongst believers.  Believers are all united in Christ as ‘Abraham’s seed’, therefore they must show kindness, patience, etc.

Present and Future Blessings
By being baptised we can have the blessings of forgiveness now (Acts 3:27-29), and also look forward to the blessings of the future Kingdom of God.

In Galatians 3:15-20 Paul is pointing out that the promises to Abraham offer eternal inheritance in the Kingdom on the basis of faith and grace, and neither the Law of Moses nor any other form of legalism can change that basis.  An appreciation of the promises will enable us to see the wonder of salvation by grace, to the point that we will reject all forms of legalism and seeking to justify ourselves by works achieved.

The Promise to Abraham can be ours

Abraham was promised that his seed would have the Almighty God as their personal God, and would eternally inherit the land.  If we acknowledge Abraham’s God as our God and can see in faith that God has promised the true believer the world, we will live now in the confidence that one day these promises will be completely fulfilled and by God’s grace and mercy we can share in them.  The time is coming when God’s purpose from the beginning will be complete, and the “earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).