Genesis 12:3
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.
Genesis 22:18
In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
At first glance, these verses speak of God’s covenantal relationship with Abraham and his descendants, but a deeper look reveals that they ultimately point to Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of this promise.
Jesus is the singular seed/offspring through whom the universal blessing is mediated, as alluded to in Galatians 3:16:
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?
The blessing to all the families of the earth or all nations of the earth finds its fullest expression in the redemptive work of Christ, who brings salvation not only to Israel but to all nations.
Revelation 5:9b has this to say about the scope of Jesus Christ’s redemptive work:
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation….
The Apostle Paul explicitly connects Genesis 12:3 and 22:18 to Jesus in Galatians 3:8, where he writes,
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying,
“In you all the nations shall be blessed.”
Paul posits that the blessing promised to Abraham was the gospel – the good news of justification by faith in Christ. This means that the true heirs of Abraham’s promise are not merely his biological descendants but all who belong to Christ by faith, as Galatians 3:29 rightly puts it:
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Furthermore, in Acts 3:25-26, Peter echoes this truth when addressing the Jewish people, saying;
You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
Here, Peter shows us that Jesus is Abraham’s offspring, bringing the promised blessing, not just material prosperity but the far greater spiritual blessing of repentance and salvation.
God’s plan of redemption has always been global in scope. While Israel held a unique role as the covenant people, the ultimate purpose of the Abrahamic promise was to bring salvation to all nations through the Messiah.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, not by ethnic heritage or works of the law, as Ephesians 2:8-9 explicitly puts it: For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Just as Abraham was justified by faith, so too are we counted righteous through faith alone in Jesus alone.
Our Call
We are called to a mission to proclaim the gospel to all nations, fulfilling the Great Commission
Matthew 28:19-20, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
The blessing of Abraham is now extended through the church as we take the message of Jesus Christ, the Seed in whom all families of the earth are blessed, to the ends of the world.
Our Hope
Genesis 12:3 and 22:18 assures us of God’s faithfulness. Just as He kept His promise to Abraham in sending Jesus, He will fulfil every word He has spoken. Our hope rests not in human effort but in the finished work of Christ, the true Seed of Abraham, through whom all who believe are eternally blessed.
Prayer Points
- Thank God for His redemptive plan in Christ, and that you may never take for granted the grace that saved you.
- Pray for a heart to share the Gospel.
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