The Child Promised to Abraham

Genesis 22:15–18 NASB95

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed 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.”

Over the past few years Rachel and I have had the opportunity to do a decent bit of hiking. If you’ve been to a national park or even been hiking in a local state park you probably know that sometimes the long small trails lead to the best views.

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A small, humble trail doesn’t mean there’s a small humble reward on the other side. Often it’s quite the opposite. There’s a reason people strive and endure on that little trail for miles and miles, because the reward at the end is worth it!

When the world looks at our faith, I’m afraid all they see is the long narrow trail. They immediately judge us thinking, “Surely there is no blessing in such toil.” And so they go looking for blessing in the broad level paths of the world.

As we look to the promise given to Abraham this morning and ask ourselves that question, “Who can be blessed?” We are immediately confronted by a ‘long, narrow path’ if you will. Namely, the path of Christ alone through faith alone. This is the path at the end of which the true and abundant blessing of God is found.

Now suppose I were to tell you about my hike in Colorado and I only told you about the long narrow arduous trail I took, but I never told you what was at the end. There were absolutely things to enjoy along the way, but the view at the top of the mountain was amazing! I simply couldn’t leave that out of the story.

In a similar sense, when we think about the blessings we have in God, when we talk to others about the blessings of God, let’s absolutely preserve the narrow way, but let’s also be sure to tell them of the wondrous blessing of salvation extended to all nations and the abundant fruit that comes with it.

John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress describes a conversation between Christian and Obstinate as Christian is on his way to the wicket gate, this narrow entry to a narrow path to follow. Obstinate thinking this endeavour absurd asks Christian, “What are the things you seek, since you leave all the world to find them?

Christian responds, “I seek an Inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; and it is laid up in Heaven, and fast there, to be bestowed at the time appointed, on them that diligently seek it. Read it so, if you will, in my Book.

Might we, like Christian, protect the narrow wicket gate as the only way, yet also have a view of the blessings of salvation on the other side.

The blessings of God come through faith alone in Christ alone, and yet bears all kinds of fruit in all the nations.

Blessing through one

Blessing for many

Blessing through one means

Blessing for many ends

Blessing through One

The first promise of blessing made to Abraham actually goes back to Genesis 12. God continues to reaffirm his promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 and Genesis 18, but when we arrive at Chapter 22 we gain some further definition to the promise. Up until this point we know generally that Abraham will be blessed and Abraham will be a blessing. In one sense we can readily acknowledge Abraham as the one through whom blessing would come. God plainly says, “You shall be a blessing.” (Gen 12:2) The people of Israel who would come from Abraham would certainly experience a kind of blessing that is unique to them. The presence of God would be with them. God would perform miracles among them, sending plagues against Egypt to deliver them from the hands of Pharaoh. They would receive manna and quail in the wilderness, witness the falling of the walls of Jericho and the defeat of enemy after enemy though they were by no means a warring nation. We can recognize this blessing, but we cannot make the same mistake as the Pharisees who assume that sons of Abraham are by heritage blessed.

John 8:31–34 (NASB95)

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

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Jesus Himself demands of us the question we’ve been asking, “In light of sin, who can be blessed?”

The matter of sins curse is indiscriminate! Son of Abraham or not, there is no freedom or blessing to be found in Abraham that can overcome the weight of sin. Who then can be blessed?

The angel of the LORD assures Abraham of the blessing that would come to him because of his obedience and concludes with a simple line.

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

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Through the seed of Abraham, through a promised child to come, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Now how do we know God is talking about a singular child to come and not the whole of Abraham’s descendants. The word translated seed is also translated descendants (plural) depending on the context. In that sense, we would have to come to the conclusion that all of Israel would be the one nation through whom the nations would be blessed.

We have more than one passage that helps us with this challenge.

For one, Jesus’ own words as he continues to talk with the Pharisees in John 8. As Christ continues to undermine their claim to blessing by means of Abraham, he concludes saying,

John 8:56–58 NASB95

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

Jesus, the promised child to come says, Abraham with eyes of faith was looking for Me and My coming. In that foresight of faith he was glad and rejoiced!

Abraham knew in his own time that there was one to come that would be even greater than Isaac.

Jesus’ own words as God Himself, the Great I am who was before Abraham and time itself says to us, Abraham was waiting for me.

Furthermore, Paul states in the plainest of words in his letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 3:16 NASB95

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

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Paul in his letter to the Galatians is actually warning the church about the legalism of the Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking. Both are making the same blatant point: Abraham was given a promise of one to come, and if you’re looking back to Abraham for blessing you’re looking in the wrong direction because Abraham wasn’t looking in the mirror. He was looking ahead to the child who would come, through whom all the nations would be blessed. The seed of Abraham is Christ!

Today in our time, we have a world full of people looking to themselves or other mortal men for blessing, and often times those men are offering broad ways which lead to destruction. Easy and broad paths that offer what many believe to be blessing, but is actually empty and fleeting pleasures. Our response to the false gospel of a broad way is very important. We do not merely react to a broad way with any narrow path. We can all agree that the broad way of worldliness is not the way, but we cannot respond by merely saying, “The way is too easy, it needs to be harder and narrower.” There’s a prominent trend in the world today that says, “Forsake wanton pleasures and unhealthy living… improve yourself. Become a more productive, active, healthy and blessed person with these 5 steps on this narrow path... The Pharisees of Jesus’ day who led the church astray had their own narrow and long way. “You must be a son of Abraham. You must be circumcised. You must adhere to the Law of Moses.” A narrow way of worldly behavior may provide brief worldly benefit but it is nothing in comparison to the blessing of salvation given to us by the grace of God. Christ and Christ alone is the way, and the way of Christ is narrow for no one comes to the Father except through Him. A narrow way by some other standard is no substitute for Christ.

A quick look down every other narrow path makes it evident that there is no real blessing for those who walk those paths, there is no freedom from sin by worldly means, but the path of Christ, though narrow, promises blessing for many!

Blessing for Many

Genesis 22:18 NASB95

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

“All the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

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God’s promises to Abraham make it clear that Abraham will be a great nation, yet at the same time the blessing of God would not remain with that nation of Israel but extend to all of the nations.

A narrow path doesn’t necessitate a narrow blessing. This is a positively global blessing and extensive in scope. Through one child to come, Christ Jesus, people of every nation, tribe, and ethnicity will know the blessing of eternal salvation and freedom from sin.

I don’t hunt much any more, but in the past I’ve spent a few mornings getting up at 5am around this time of year in northern Minnesota… bitter cold… to get into the stand before sunrise. As cold as it was you get the satisfaction of seeing every minute of the sunrise in absolute silence. We take it for granted that the sun comes up every morning, but when you just begin to see the dark sky brighten and the stars fade you wonder if that’s really dawn or if it’s just your eyes adjusting to the darkness. We might take for granted the story of Scripture knowing the Son will one day come, but to Abraham there is a wonderful glimpse of morning in the dawn of everything that would come and just how far the light of the risen Son would reach.

Paul again helps us in elaborating on this passage in Scripture, and we can’t overlook it.

Galatians 3:8 (NASB95)

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.”

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As much as God chose Abraham and sovereignly elected Israel to be His people in a particular way, God’s ambition from the beginning was that His divine blessing would one day reach across all creation to all nations.

When we look to the perfection of heaven in Revelation we can see the glorious conclusion to God’s promise of blessing to Abraham:

Revelation 7:9–10 NASB95

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

From the beginning, God expressed His divine will and promised that the nations would be blessed. We can see ahead through the testimony of Revelation that one day that promise will be fulfilled. We will gather together with saints from every time period, every ethnicity, tribe, and people. Nothing will divide us because of the perfection of unity we will have in the blessing of Christ. Not even our past differences in language will keep us from worshipping God together in glory.

Having seen the beginning and the end we ought not be surprised to see in the coming of Christ a redemptive plan to bless the nations.

The words of Simeon in the temple soon after Jesus’ birth are striking. Simeon is an elderly man who knew by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. This man’s final days are devoted to looking for the Messiah! Mary and Joseph walk into the temple with Jesus to present him before the Lord as the firstborn and there they meet Simeon. And of all the things that Simeon says, of the innumerable attributes of God that could have been said in that moment, he says this:

Luke 2:29–32 NASB95

“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

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Firstly, the salvation of God rests in this baby! Through this one child will the salvation of God be accomplished for mankind.

In addition, He has been prepared in the presence of all peoples. Simeon, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are standing in the most Jewish place they could. They’re in the middle of the temple, yet he declares,

“A light of revelation to the gentiles.

And the glory of Your people Israel”

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The glory of Israel is a blessing which is not withheld from the nations!

Simeon understood that he stood on the precipice of the dam breaking. All of the blessing to which Israel was entitled has been dammed up in this mountain lake to which the nations were welcome to come, yet the time has come for the dam to be torn down that the nations may know the blessing of this salvation.

Jesus at the culmination of His ministry before his ascension emphasizes the point.

Matthew 28:18–20 NASB95

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

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We as the church of Christ, make it our ambition in accord with God’s stated promise to Abraham, that the gospel and the blessing of Christ would extend to every tribe, nation, and tongue.

When we gather together this Christmas to celebrate Christ’s coming, might we remember Him as “A light of revelation to the Gentiles” The one through whom all the nations will be blessed.

There’s a natural inclination to look at the Great Commission and the proclamation of the gospel to the nations as a missionary task. It is true, there are some with extraordinary callings to go to difficult places and we support them wholeheartedly, yet I believe this divine ambition expressed throughout the whole of Scripture is one to be taken to heart by every disciple. We today can say with confidence, we are a people of a nation in which the blessing of God in Christ is made known. Let’s continue to make it known and make disciples. In making disciples right here at Two Rivers Community Church, we are fulfilling the Great Commission. Let’s continue to give, pray, and send those who will go to the nations who do not know the divine blessing of God in Christ, but today, let’s make disciples: Teaching and training believers to know the depth of the blessing of Christ but who are also equipped and ready to share that blessing in the church and in their community. Israel was never intended to hold on to the blessing of God and keep it for themselves. Neither should we. Might we be counted among the Jews who readily looked for others to share and teach the good news of Christ no matter their background, tribe, or tradition.

We’ve considered thus far the people comprised in this promise of blessing.

There is one child to come through whom blessing would come.

And many people of every nation, tribe, and tongue would know that blessing

Ok. We know who, but what is this blessing? How is it obtained?

Blessing through One Means

Should we look back to Galatians, Paul has directly referenced this gospel spoken to Abraham and goes on to give us how this blessing is obtained.

Galatians 3:8–9 (NASB95)

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.”

So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

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Should we go back to our big picture question, “Who can be blessed?” We can say assuredly, this blessing reaches across every cultural boundary. Your tribe, nation, or tongue, will not keep you from this blessing, but we must also readily say that those who seek this blessing, must come to Christ alone, and in faith alone.

Paul says it is, ‘those who are of faith who are blessed’ and blessed with Abraham, ‘the believer.’

To make it emphatically clear, Paul in his letter to the Romans says at length,

Romans 4:3–8 NASB95

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

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True divine blessing is simply not attainable by any means of good works, merit, or righteousness of our own. The blessing of God is attained through one means. That means is faith. Faith in Jesus Christ that He is our righteousness, faith that He bears our sins in Himself on the tree, faith that we can be forgiven of our sins by His grace, faith that believes we can know blessing in Christ apart from our own works.

Now some of you might be asking, “…but Jon, our text in Genesis clearly says multiple times,

“because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you”

also, ““In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.””

It seems that Abraham’s being blessed and even Abraham’s seed being a blessing is conditional upon His obedience and not his faith. How is it that Paul can say so plainly that the blessed are those of faith apart from works?

One commentator said it well,

“faith is no dead sentiment, but a living power which is bound to give all the manifestations of life. The evidence that a man has life is that he is able to work. Where there is this self-determining activity there is life. Thus Abraham’s faith was made manifest by his prompt and unhesitating obedience.”

Joseph S. Exell and Thomas H. Leale, Genesis, The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York; London; Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1892), 464.

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Abraham indeed was justified by faith alone. And for our benefit that faith was put on evident display through a test. A test that would require an obedience that would be utter foolishness apart from faith.

Our lives as Christians are similar in kind. We too are justified by faith alone and promised eternal blessing which we eagerly anticipate and hope for, yet our faith too is tested, we too are called to perseverance. On the other side of perseverance we will know the fullness of that blessing and yet the surety of the promise is not undermined. As we’ve heard in Philippians,

Philippians 1:6 (NASB95)

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

When God promises to Abraham before his faithfulness and obedience that He will be blessed and He will be a blessing, there is no doubt that such a blessing would be brought about,and yet, God would bring about the blessing through a true faith marked by obedience.

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There is a monumental difference between faithless obedience and a faith marked by obedience. On the outside, they’re both obedience! Aren’t we getting a little particular? Look at the world and how evil and disobedient it is. Shouldn’t we be content with something that even resembles obedience? Surely there’s a blessing to be found in distancing oneself from this worldliness?

I think we can readily agree that anyone is better off by living according to God’s design and created order. There is a common grace extended to those who acknowledge the value of marriage though they may not be Christians. They do know a kind of earthly blessing by living according to God’s design, but if we begin to identify the blessing we have in Christ as adopted and forgiven children as the same or even similar to that earthly blessing which is experienced by those who simply do not murder, do not commit adultery, or do not steal, we’ve made a categorical error.

Avoiding the godlessness and debauchery of the Romans didn’t mean the Pharisees were blessed in their ‘fidelity’ to the law.

Matthew 23:27–28 (NASB95)

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

“So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

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In response to the wide path of the world and promises of blessing through disobedience to God, we cannot be tempted to settle for an external obedience apart from faith.

We must hold firmly to the reality that true divine blessing is found in Christ alone, through faith alone. A faith that is indeed marked by obedience and many fruits.

Our final point.

Blessing for Many Ends

We see one more instance of this promise to Abraham of a child to come in the book of Acts where gain another perspective on this blessing promised to Abraham. Peter and John have healed the blind beggar and are now preaching to the people of Israel in the temple.

Acts 3:25–26 (NASB95)

“It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

“For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

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Peter readily states that Israel were intended to be blessed first through Christ, yet how is Israel to be blessed in Christ? “..by being turned from their wicked ways.”

The divine blessing of God provided in Christ through faith, has a very real character and behavior: That is a turning from sin to righteousness. Though we have been declared righteous with Abraham through the same faith, we therein walk by faith in repenting from sin and seeking fruitfulness. And this is not exclusive to our conversion. Whether we were saved last week, last year, 10 years ago or 50 years ago. We walk by faith in acknowledging our sin, turning from it in repentance, looking to Christ in forgiveness, and moving forward to work out our salvation in fruitfulness.

To put it another way, the blessing we have in Christ through faith is

to receive the righteousness of Christ by declaration. Before God we are legally declared righteous. In this we have every reason to worship and say, “I am surely blessed.”

to be progressively transformed into the righteous character of Christ in being turned from our wicked ways.

Our transformation adds nothing to our perfect record which Christ has given us, yet in being transformed we are blessed to bear His image more fully as ambassadors in a dark world.

The analogy is insufficient, but there’s a big difference between being drafted and actually playing on the field. Let’s say you’ve been playing college football for a few years, you enter the draft, you get drafted to a great team, and you couldn’t be happier! All the paperwork is signed, the contract is in the books, you are on the team! Maybe I’m wrong, but I take it you’d want to play at some point, and actually represent the team on the field so that everyone will know how great your team is! It would be odd to not train, never go to practice, and never even want to step onto the field. If you don’t do any of those things you’re still on the team. The contract has been signed, but you never actually represent the team. There’s an evident and desirable blessing in being able to step onto the field and represent the team.

Isn’t it a blessing that God from the very beginning intended to bless us by making us His representatives to the world, that we might step onto the field with all the characteristics of Christ having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit and strive for the furtherance of His kingdom.

Should we loose sight of the beauty of Christ and all that he has done for us however, we may not fully recognize the blessing of looking like Him and representing Him here on this earth.

This Christmas, let us remember the promised Christ Child who came in humility, enduring death, that we would be abundantly and eternally blessed with an imperishable salvation. In Christ alone through faith alone, we know that glorious blessing: The curse of sin is broken, the death of Christ has paid the debt, and we now know the blessing of forgiveness, a blessing reserved for no one people but rather proclaimed to every, nation, tribe, and tongue. In knowing and cherishing the depth and reach of this blessing, I pray we might be ambitious to represent Christ in bearing fruit. Might we readily thank God for the honor of being his representatives and make it our ambition for our brothers and sisters here, and those in our communities to see Christ in us.

Let’s pray.