Video Transcript: The Abrahamic Covenant and its Fulfillment

Let's conclude our look at the redemptive historical story of the Old Testament  with an examination of, of its continuity with what God afterward revealed in the  New Testament scriptures. To review, the story has its beginnings in God's  gracious actions toward Adam and Eve immediately after they rebelled against  their Creator. They knew right away that they were in trouble and so tried hiding  from God. But in grace, He came looking for the sinners. His question to them  was, where are you that was an implicit call for them to come clean to return to  believing and trusting in Him and make a new commitment to obedient living.  And then in the midst of informing them of the terrible consequences of their  rebellion, among which would be continuing conflict between their offspring and  the serpent. He promised that this offspring would get the upper hand crushing  the serpent's head. The ensuing conflict became pronounced in the years  leading up to the flood, first with Abel's deaths by the hand of Cain and  afterwards with a pronounced contrast between the conduct of Seth's offspring  and that of Cain's. Over time, however, except for Noah and his family, the entire human race gave themselves as Cain had to the mastery of sin. And that's when God started over with the cleansing flood. But afterwards, it wasn't too long  before unrighteousness again prevailed. And that brings us to the Abrahamic  covenant, and a significant advance in the story of redemption. This began with  God's call to Abraham to leave his homeland and follow him to a new place and  a new life and fellowship with Him. God's promises were given and reiterated,  among other places in Genesis 12:2-3, Genesis 15:5-7, and Genesis 17:3-8. In  summary, these promises were that Abraham would have many descendants,  that God would provide a home for them, and that the whole world would be  blessed through his offspring. An important part of this threefold promise was  also that Abraham's descendants in their new home would serve the same God  that Abraham served. Abraham believed God. He did worry particularly about  the promised Offspring and more than once made plans to compensate for his  and Sarah's childlessness. But he finally saw the beginning of God's promise of  descendants as as many as the stars in Isaac's birth. It's worth noting that this  wasn't a natural birth. Sarah's lifelong inability to conceive together with her  advanced age meant that Isaac was a miracle child, the fulfillment of the first  part of God's promise. Notwithstanding Ishmael and the other sons Abraham  would have it was through Isaac, that God would raise up a nation to serve Him  and also bless the world. It was a rocky road, however, to the further fulfillment  of God's promises. The lives and prosperity of Abraham's grandchildren and  great grandchildren were frequently threatened, not always by outside forces.  And the family was also forced by famine to leave the land God promised  Abraham. But God provided a place where they could grow and prosper. And  when over the next centuries, they became slaves of Egypt, God raised up the  Prophet Moses, who is instrumental in their deliverance from slavery, and  afterwards in teaching them the laws of the Lord who was preparing a homeland

for them or he himself would live in their midst and be their God. God also  reiterated the promise of a homeland to Moses with these words from Exodus  33;14, he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. However, it felt to Moses successor Joshua to actually lead Israel into the promised land,  and then after a long campaign against the occupying nations, this land was  divided up among Israel's tribes as their inheritance. Although Israel had further  work to do to to secure what God had given them, a Joshua 11:23 confirms that  this was the fulfillment of the second part of God's promise, a home for  Abraham's descendants, these words of Joshua 11:23 Then the land had rest  from war, this was an occasion for great joy. And yet this was but the first stage  of Israel's rest, and a prelude to the fulfillment of the third part of God's promise  to Abraham, that in him, all the nations of the world would be blessed. A more  complete rest for Israel would come in Israel's golden years, the latter days of  King David, and the first part of Solomon's reign. And then for a time, Abraham's many descendants enjoyed a greater rest and ability to serve the Lord in the  home he had given them. Also, judging from the widespread reaction to  Solomon's wisdom and Israel's prosperity, it seemed that Israel was able to be,  in some way at least a blessing to much of their world. However, it was not long  before the worship offered by Solomon himself was compromised, and Israel  became a divided kingdom. After that the devotion to the Lord and both the  North Israel and the South Judah deteriorated, so much so that the Lord evicted  his people from the promised land. It became clear particularly in this time of  crisis, that God must have a more complete fulfillment in mind for the Abrahamic promises. That's something that would involve more than the return to the  homeland written of and Ezra, Nehemiah. Jeremiah spoke of this more complete fulfillment, prophesying that God would not only bring his people back to the  land, he would also put a new heart in them so they could live under his  mastery, and fulfill his intentions for them. Jeremiah 31:31-34 reads, the days  are coming declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people  of Israel, and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made  with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,  because they broke my covenant, even though I was a husband, to them,  declares the Lord. This is a covenant I will make with the people of Israel after  that time declares the Lord, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their  hearts, I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach  their neighbor or say to one another, know the Lord because they will all know  me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive  their wickedness and will remember their sins, no more. other prophets had a  similar message. Among them was Joel, who expanded upon what Jeremiah  had said, and Joel 2:26-29. He says, You will praise the name of the Lord your  God who has worked wonders for you? Never again, will my people be shamed, then you will know that I am in Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and that there

is no other never again, where my will my people be shamed. And afterward, I  will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, even on my  servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. Just to  be clear, what Jeremiah and Joel and other prophets were speaking about was  that every faith what every faithful Israelite long for the fulfillment of the  Abrahamic promises, but in such a way that God's people would never again  experience the shame of being disinherited, and excluded from fellowship with  God. And in such a way to that they would really be able to become a blessing  to their world. The good news is that this fulfillment has been found in Jesus  Christ. Peter explained this on the day of Pentecost and found in Acts 2, he said  the outpouring of the Spirit was in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. He also said that whoever repented would like wise received the gift of the Holy Spirit. This means that the threefold Abrahamic promise of a community living in fellowship with  God and bringing blessing to the world, represented by the diverse nations who  had gathered in Jerusalem at that time, this wonderful promise of God was for  all people in whom the Lord inspired such a spirit of repentance. What is implied in Peter's sermon is that Israel's inheritance, which for so long was identified  with a particular land. The real inheritance was fellowship with God, such as was being demonstrated that day of Pentecost. Abraham himself had known this,  although he attached some importance to the land as illustrated by his concern  to have a burial plot there. He knew it was really his fellowship with God that  was important for God had summed up his blessings with these words from  Genesis 15:1, fear not Abraham, I am your shield, and you're exceeding great  reward. Many of Abraham's descendants lacked his spiritual perception and  failed to look beyond the physical land. But Abraham had the conviction, which  Hebrews 11 speaks of that his ultimate destination was a city with spiritual  foundations, a city in which the redeemed might enjoy everlasting fellowship  with the Lord. Abraham was probably not as clear however, about the means  God would use to ensure such fellowship for his descendants is became clearer  and Peters Pentecost sermon, and this was reinforced and further clarified in the continuing ministry of the apostles. For example, the apostle Paul made a direct  connection between the Abrahamic promises and Christ when he wrote in  Galatians 3:16. He said, The promises were made to Abraham, Abraham and to  his seed. Scripture does not say and to seeds, says Paul, meaning many  people, but and to your seed, meaning one person who is Christ. In other words, by insisting that the text of the Old Testament said seed the collective singular  noun instead of seeds, a plural noun, Paul was arguing that Christ was the one  that God really had in mind, in his promises to Abraham. So Christ is the  collective head of all those who have received the promise Abraham's blessing  by their faith in Him. Paul understood God's promise to Abraham, very much like we understand God's much earlier promise to Eve of an offspring to crush the 

serpent's head. Walter Kaiser points out that this offspring mentioned in Genesis 3:15, is a collective now and embraces all of the God fearing offspring of Eve. At the same time, however, there's something individual and unique about this  seed for a certain key, a certain seed would have it out with the evil one in some  future day, even though he, of course, said speaking of Christ was only one of  the woman's descendants. So this he to repeat myself was and is Jesus Christ,  who won the victory, and in whose victory the human race now shares both  promises of God to Abraham and God to Eve, both promises point to Christ. So,  to sum up what I've been saying Christ is the offspring of Eve whom God had in  mind to crush the serpent's head. And Christ is the offspring of Abraham, whom  God had in mind is the one who would perfectly fulfill his intentions for human  fellowship with God, and through whom that condition could be reproduced in  his descendants, spiritual descendants. If we look at Revelation Chapter 12, we  see that this this chapter alludes to the fulfillment of what God promised Eve in  Genesis 3:15. And what he expanded on in his promises to Abraham. This  chapter, pictures a pregnant woman about to give birth, and an enormous  dragon prepared to devour her child as soon as it's delivered. This woman of  Revelation 12 is a composite portrait of the Old Testament covenant community.  But more particularly, she is faithful Israel, that faithful part of the Old Testament  community. She includes people like Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Hannah, David,  the prophets and so on. And after the exile, those people who desperately  wanted God's kingdom and temple to be rebuilt. She also includes Anna the  prophetess and Simeon, the righteous and devout old man in Jerusalem, both of whom spent years waiting for what Luke calls the consolation of Israel. This  woman of Revelation 12 is a picture of all of the faithful people of God who lived  before Christ came, and she is in pain for the as yet undelivered blessings and  salvation of God. The child whom she carries in her womb is none other than the Messiah, whom God brought forth out of the faithful remnant of His people. And  the dragon is a great enemy of God and His people, identified in verse 9 as  Satan. The 7 crown heads and 10 horns identify him further with a four beast  empires of Daniel's prophecy. That's from Daniel 7. The dragon stands behind  them all as the age long enemy of the people of God, and the dragon Satan's  goal throughout history had been to prevent the birth of the Messiah. But now,  having miserably failed to stop God's saving activity. To this point, the dragon  stands ready to devour the offspring of the woman that is to kill the Messiah, as  soon as he is born. What happened? Revelation 12:5-6 says she gave birth to a  son, a male child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter and her child  was snatched up to God and His throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to  a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1,260  days. So the child was protected by God and received into the throne room of  heaven from where he will one day rule, all the nations. This this one line, talks  about Jesus's life ministry, death and resurrection. And it gets to the eventual 

outcome His ascension to Heaven's throne. Revelation 12 does go on to speak  of the Dragon's pursuit of the woman who represents remember God's true  people and the outcome. But our purpose here is simply to indicate that Christ is the offspring of the woman in whom the battle begun in Genesis, continuing  through Abraham and so on, is concentrated in God's promises to Abraham, our  further development in this story, the seed promised to Abraham is the same  seed promised to Eve but with a little more detail, and the woman the faithful  people of God flees into the wilderness to await her salvation. more could be  said about this, of course, but here we leave this story to move on to see the  identity of those who are the true inheritors of God's promises to Abraham.  Those who participate in the fellowship with God that was promised to Abraham  and accomplished by Christ. The apostle Paul says, we do it we participate in  this the same way Abraham did. Had Paul gone no farther than this, he would  have been misunderstood because his fellow Jews took it for granted that  Abraham's status as the epitome of righteousness and friend of God, was  because of his righteous works. But Paul specifically contradicts this notion in  Romans 4:2-3. He says, if in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had  something to boast about, but not before God, what a Scripture say, Abraham  believed God and was credited to him as righteousness. That's a quotation of  Genesis 15:6. And this passage makes no mention at all of any work of  Abraham but simply refers to his faith. God's crediting is not a payment for  services rendered, but an unmerited decision of divine grace. Remember, at the  time that God called Abraham, he was still an idol worshiper. And even though  he responded positively to God's call, that response was not considered to be a  meritorious work, but simply an expression of faith in God. In Romans 4:5 says  as much says, however, to the one who does not work, but trust God who  justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited at righteousness. Reading on it, verse  21. Abraham, it says, was fully persuaded that God had the power to do what  He had promised. That's why it was credited to him as righteousness. And this  has implications for identifying who it is that will inherit the Abrahamic promises.  Paul continues in verse 23, the words it was credited to him. He says, We're not  written for him alone, but for us, to whom God will credit righteousness for us  who believe in Him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, he was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. That is to  say, we get righteousness the same way Abraham did, by God's crediting  through faith. God makes available to us a gift of righteousness because of the  atoning work of Christ. It's the best gift possible, because it's the gift that will  keep us forever, in the arms of God. Romans 9:6-8 confirms this. Paul says, For  Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor because they are his  descendants, physical descendants, are they all Abraham's children? In other  words, it's not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but the  children of the promise, who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. Paul expands

on the same topic in Galatians 3, basically what he says is this, since Christ is  Abraham's seed, and since the inheritance still comes by faith, everyone who  has faith in Christ becomes united in him as a true seed of Abraham. This so  called Israel of God, as Paul calls the body of Christ is far from being genetically determined. And that's why in a later in Galatians 3:28-29. He says, There is  neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for  you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's  seed, and heirs according to the promise. So how does that work? How does  that fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise work? While fulfilling the many  descendants promise, Jesus, although he never had any biological children has  untold millions of adopted children, all those who believe in Him and serve Him  as their Savior and Lord, each one, like the long awaited Isaac, the miracle  child, born to sterile parents, and with a promise of a rich inheritance, fulfilling  the promise of a home in which to flourish. Jesus invites all people to find rest in  Him, and to live as God's children in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our  home, and fulfilling the promise that Abraham's offspring would be a blessing to  the world. We have Christ's body, his church, the members of which are to bless their world, by living as citizens of Christ's kingdom and sharing the gospel of  God's grace for our inheritance is given not merely for our own benefit, but to  make known the wisdom and glory of God as Ephesians 3:10 tells us his intent  was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made  known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. To sum all this up,  there's an amazing continuity between what God was doing in the Old  Testament times and what he has done in Christ and continues to do in this  present age in Christ. All of God's promises to Abraham have come true, and  are being brought to perfect fulfillment.