There is a day coming when Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. We have the hope of final glory set in our hearts as we work towards that day. It is in this time of the church that we must share the gospel of the king who died for rebel sinners.

Of Promises and Seed

One of the pivotal promises within the Old Covenant/Testament is found when God speaks to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3:

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This promise is repeated in Genesis 22:18:

“…and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

I’ll add to this the language of the King James Version for 22:18:

“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

The Bible clearly states that in Abraham’s “offspring” or “seed” all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

This of course is based on God’s word to the Serpent in Genesis 3:15

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Again, that word for “offspring” can also be translated “seed”.

Who is this seed?

In the Old Testament we might consider the Line of Promise, a lineage that we see laid out in Matthew 1 or Luke 3:23-37, a lineage that goes back to Adam and includes Abraham.

Of course this lineage also includes King David (among others), to whom it was promised in 2 Samuel 7:12–13:

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

Again, we see an “offspring” or “seed” promised to David, who would be greater than David, because he would not be a temporary king, but an eternal king. In Matthew 1 and Luke 3 though, we see clearly that this “offspring” or “seed” is Jesus Christ. Consider Matthew 1:1: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Luke traces the genealogy right back to Adam, for Jesus is the second Adam.

Jesus Christ, the Glorious Fulfillment of the Old Testament Promises

Jesus says in the sermon on the mount:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
(Matthew 5:17)

So the Old Testament is neither abolished nor replaced by Jesus Christ, rather it is fulfilled in Him. True obedience to the Old Testament Law is found by faith in Him and in union with Christ. Jesus makes this abundantly clear throughout the New Testament, but especially in John 15:5–6

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

This is fundamentally a call to faith in Christ for all those around them. There is no evangelical gospel, apart from this call to faith in Christ, there is no separation between an old covenant community under old promises and a new covenant community under new promises. There is a distinction, but no fundamental separation or division. When Christ came into the world, there was a bold and steadfast call to faith in Him. All of the old testament is in Christ revealed, even as Christ was initially concealed in the types and shadows of the Old Testament. There is no life apart from union with Him in His death and resurrection.

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