All the families of the world

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 12v3

Abraham could have no idea what kind of promise God was making here. The moment must have been almost overwhelming. God called him to leave everything and then began a list of promises. One of those promises that was through Abraham all the families, or nations, of the world would be blessed.

God was going to make a great nation out of Abraham’s descendents. Beside everything else that could be listed, there is one thing I want to focus on the morning.

The greatest of all the blessings that God was going to provide through Abraham’s seed was the coming of Messiah. Jesus would one day be born as Abraham’s seed. Jesus, Messiah, the Hope of all nations would provide the ultimate blessing of eternal life to the whole world. That alone would be enough to justify this amazing promise. I think, however, there is even more.

I recently read a book called ‘What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?’ While I disagreed with some of the particulars I found the book interesting. The author attempts to point out how society better for everyone one just because Jesus, one of Abraham’s descendents, was born.

Though horrendous things have been done by those who claim the name of Christ, there can be no doubt that the earth has been blessed through Abraham’s seed. Hospitals, charities, and educational institutions have all been built in the name of Christ. It was Christians who worked tirelessly to abolish slavery in the west. Christians have gone to where women were treated as chattel and widows were burned alive with their husbands and through Christ brought change to those societies.

There can be no doubt that the world is a better place because of Christ. His people have blown it, yes, but the whole world has been blessed through Abraham and Christ as his descendent.

Best of all of course is what was mentioned above. Through Christ we can become Abraham’s spiritual seed. God has adopted us as believers into His family. That is the ultimate blessing!