Last week we learned the God promised to use the offspring of Eve to bruise the head of the serpent. By looking at the New Testament we learned that the serpent was Satan and we learned that the offspring God was referring to was the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
This week we turn to Genesis 12:1-3 where we learn more about who the Promised One is and learn that what he came to do would be a blessing for the whole world.
Genesis 12:1-3 contains seven promises to Abram:
1. I will make you a , and
2. I will you, and
3. make great, and so
4. you shall be . And
5. I will those who bless you, and
6. the one who you I will curse; and
7. in you of the earth shall be blessed.
The greatest one, at least for those of us who are not Jews, is the last. Why? First because it’s a promise for everyone, Jew and non-Jew, you and I, and second, because of the blessing that would come. Let’s see.
God promises Abram a blessing and to be a blessing
What is a blessing?
A blessing is a bestowed upon someone.
To bless is to a benefit, favor, or gift to another person.
The blessings for Abram were:
Becoming a great nation
Making his name great
Becoming a blessing to others
Blessing the world through him
Later promises of blessing included:
Being given the , Genesis 12:7, Genesis 13:14-15
Having of descendants, Genesis 13:16, Genesis 15:5
The Promised One, the one who would bruise the head of the serpent, was to be a descendant of Abram. Note that Matthew begins his gospel with an account of the genealogy of Jesus that starts with Abraham.
This blessing is for
All the families of the earth. Perhaps is the best translation.
Significance of this term here: not just Abram’s immediate family, but his family as well as extended families will be blessed in him.
Here is the clear link to the promise in the Garden. This is not a promise just to bless one man or his descendants, but the whole world, just as the promise to Adam and Eve would be a blessing for all people everywhere.
What was this blessing?
We are . Just as only a small part of what God would do through the offspring of Eve was told to us in Genesis 3:15, so, here, just a little is told.
This is what is called . Over time, God reveals more and more of his plan. As the plan becomes more detailed, the earlier parts are seen to fit.
What we do know at this point is that Abram became the through which the promise made to Adam and Eve would come. God choose one of Adam and Eve’s descendants to bring this blessing upon the earth.
The New Testament reveals what this blessing for all people is and who it came through
Acts 3:19
Acts 3:25-26
Galatians 3:8–9
Galatians 3:13–14
1 Peter 2:24
Jesus certainly blessed the world through his teaching and example, but his greatest blessing was on the cross, so that we could be forgiven our sins, have eternal life, and have an on-going personal relationship with God through him.
We learn from the New Testament that the promised blessing was the blessing of from available to all who and in Jesus who became our .
Jesus was the Promised One who brought a blessing greater than Abram could ever have imagined when God gave his promises to him.
How did Jesus demonstrate that he was the one who came to be a blessing for all people?
He said that he came for the so that anyone who believed in him would have eternal life. John 3:16
He showed compassionate toward a woman and the people in her village, something Jews would not do. John 4:7-10, John 4:39
He cast demons out of a (Legion). Mark 5:1-13
He spoke of gathering his who were not of ‘this fold’. John 10:16
Through his death he between Jews and Gentiles. Ephesians 2:11-22
He commissioned his followers to make disciples of . Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:47-47
Conclusion: Jesus was no redeemer. His death was for the and he commissioned those of us who’ve been saved through faith in him to take the message of forgiveness and new life through Him to every nation. He fulfilled the promise given to Abram that through Abram all the world would be blessed.
CONCLUSION
Jesus was the Promised One who descended from , us through his death on the cross, and through this gave you and I and all families of the earth the opportunity to for our sins and the gift of the .
All we need to do is repent of our sin and put our faith in what Jesus did on the cross to save us from the penalty of our sin and to take us to heaven when we die.