The Lord gave Abraham a very difficult assignment. He said, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” Leaving everything comfortable, secure and familiar to you is totally out of the comfort zone, even if it is to obey God. But along with it was a promise: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So we see God promises that through Abraham much blessing will come to the people who live on the earth. How so? This promise has a dual fulfillment. First, it is fulfilled in the Jews. The Jews were chosen, through no virtue of their own, by grace, to be the people God. God’s purpose was to use them to show love, forgiveness, favor, how He deals with man, to steward His commandments and be the family through which the Messiah will come. And so began much blessing to the Jew and a high calling. Sometimes they were faithful to their calling, much of the time they were not. But in spite of much unfaithfulness and God nearly wiping His hands of them because of their constant spiritual harlotry, God still used them to continue His story and bring the long awaited Messiah. The human genealogy of Jesus if full of not-so-good people, and not 100% Hebrew either. The mission was accomplished, the Messiah was born and a new covenant came into being, a better covenant.
Again, there is a dual fulfillment of this prophecy. God’s promises to Abraham go far beyond the Jews and beyond the arrival of the Messiah. The promises are to a spiritual family of God, not just physical. The promises are fulfilled in the new covenant, far beyond a mere promise to a physical people. The New Testament makes it clear that we believers, whether Gentile or Jew, are enjoying the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Through Abraham, all the people of the earth shall be and are blessed because of the good news of Jesus Christ. The promise of blessing comes through faith, not through blood. The people of God ultimately are the people of faith, not just a nation or a people.
Much is still made of the Jewish tradition and the Jewish people. And blessed they are…what a heritage! But there isn’t a special reward for being a Jew. Believing Jews occupy the same heaven as believing Gentiles. And unbelieving Jews occupy the same hell as unbelieving Gentiles. The apostle Paul said they are not all Israel who are Israel. Neither are they all Jews who are Jews. No, a Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly and circumcision is of the Spirit, not the flesh. We are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ and there is no distinction. God will bless those who bless the people of God, Jew, and Gentile. As followers of Christ and part of His Church, we are the true chosen ones. Bless the Lord for His indescribable gift to the world…Jesus the Messiah and the privilege of joining the family of God through faith in Him!
Dan's Pulpit 