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Galatians 3:15–29
“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).
Jesus’ apostles saw the promise given to their ancestor Abraham in Genesis 12:3 as fulfilled in very significant ways in their own time. They came to see that passage as speaking of the Messiah who was to come and of the results of His ministry—the ingathering of a great multitude of people as Abraham’s spiritual sons and daughters.
Paul makes the case in Galatians 3 that Genesis 12 is speaking of Jesus, the Messiah. He argues that when God told Abraham that “ ‘In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,’ ” He was not saying that Abraham himself would touch the lives of people worldwide. Indeed, though Abraham made a lengthy journey from Ur to Canaan, he spent most of his later life sojourning in that relatively small land, crossing paths with relatively few people. Some might understand this verse as speaking of Abraham’s many descendants, but Paul sees a greater fulfillment. He understands “ ‘In you’ ” as “In your Seed,” and tells us that, seen from the other side of the cross, the “Seed” is Jesus. He is a descendant of Abraham in His humanity and the Son of God in His divinity. Therefore, He possesses the power to bring blessing on people in all times and places, as He chooses.
Jesus’ work of redemption is, in a sense, a work of bringing adoptees into the family of Abraham. Paul makes this point later in Galatians 3, saying, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (v. 29). In fact, those who believe as Abraham believed are more truly his sons that those who carry his DNA in their cells (Rom. 4:13–16).
Of course, the book of Acts depicts the explosion of this great adoptive work. We see Jesus Christ working to thrust His apostles away from Jews only. They are sent to Samaritans; then to Gentile God-fearers, semi-converts to Judaism; and finally to those completely outside the Hebrew religion. Everywhere the Gospel goes in the book of Acts, someone responds. It never finds universal acceptance, for such is not God’s design, but it is never universally rejected. And this, we are told, is how it always will be. Before God brings down the curtain of history, “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” (Rev. 7:9) will be drawn to Christ. Thus, Abraham will be a blessing to all the families of earth.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Believers today often find it difficult to see what the Old Testament has to do with them. It can be hard to understand and apply. But in the story of Abraham, we are reading about our spiritual ancestor, the one from whom we inherit God’s promise of blessing. Thank God today for Abraham’s faith and for God’s gracious covenant with him.
For Further Study
- Romans 4:1–25
- Galatians 3:5–9
- Hebrews 11:8–10
- James 2:21–23