Covenant Promises

One major theme of the Scriptures is the covenantal promises of God. It's a topic worth studying on its own!

But we find one of God's covenants in Genesis 12. It states:

"Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'"

First, this is remarkable. God picks out Abraham for God's own reasons.

For instance, on two occasions, Abraham lies to powerful political leaders and tells them that his wife Sarah is only his sister. He protects himself at her expense. Can you imagine how hurtful that might have been to Sarah?

Abraham is not presented as a morally perfect individual. But God pursued him and blessed him. And this serves as a model for how God pursues and blesses us.

Why do I say that? Well, we see in Genesis 12 that God announces to Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations will be blessed. But what offspring did God have in mind?

The Apostle Paul makes the meaning clear in Galatians 3. He says:

"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.' … Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ."

So think this through. Who is Abraham's true offspring? According to Paul, it is Christ.

And so, who are the people of God? They are the people who are "in Christ", that is, anyone who places their faith in Christ.

When you trust Christ for your salvation, you inherit the blessing that God promised to Abraham!

What makes you deserving of Abraham's blessing? For that matter, what made Abraham deserve such a promise from his Creator?

Try to write down your argument for why God should pursue you and bless you like that. What happened to Abraham isn't only a matter of history. It is one of the many ways that we see God's commitment to save you and me.

Sometimes, when I'm really on my game, I might finish buying Christmas gifts for my family in early December. I know the bargain hunters go out the week after Christmas to scoop up gifts for the following year, but that's just saving money. That's usually not done because you found the perfect gift for your beloved.

Well, let's compare ourselves to God. 4,000 years ago, when Abraham was departing from Mesopotamia, God was announcing his plan to bless you and all the families of the earth. And 2,000 years ago, God fulfilled that plan through Abraham's offspring, Jesus Christ, who took God's curse upon himself, so that God could save us.

God had - and God has - a very intentional and determined plan to save us.