Many Christians do not realize their spiritual connection to God’s chosen nation in the Old Testament (Israel) nor the patriarch of that nation. Yet the Bible plainly declares, “They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7, KJV).
How can we fill this role, especially if we happen to be Gentiles? To answer that, let’s go back in time.
Many centuries ago, when the Creator revealed Himself to a Middle Eastern man named Abram (later to be known as Abraham), He initiated their relationship with a weighty demand and eight remarkable promises:
“Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3, MEV).
Most people identify themselves three ways: by their national identity, their cultural identity and their family identity. God commanded Abram to leave these things behind. In essence, He was saying, “If you’ll depart from familiar dependencies, I’ll give you a completely new identity — and awaken purpose and destiny in you and your offspring.” God still does that kind of thing.
How did this highly favored man respond to God? The Scripture explains, “By faith Abraham obeyed … and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8, NKJV). The divine design for his life was not revealed all at once. Abraham had to walk it out one step at a time, but God had a plan that gradually unfolded. God still works that way for all His people. You don’t always get the full picture in advance. That’s when faith carries you through — day by day.
When you respond to the true God like Abraham did, you become one of his spiritual children. Abraham believed the word that God spoke to him, and he obeyed. In like manner, when you believe and obey, you obtain a new identity and an inheritance, for “those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Gal. 3:9, MEV).
This legacy covers a lot of territory, both spiritual and natural. For instance, the Lord “blessed Abraham in all things” (Gen. 24:1, MEV). He was “very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold,” but more importantly, he was also very rich in the things of God (Gen. 13:2, NKJV). He was even called “the friend of God” (Jas. 2:23, MEV).
At one point, God told Abraham to look up at the night sky, and the Most High made an awe-inspiring prediction:
“Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. … So will your descendants be” (Gen. 15:5, MEV).
Such a glimpse into the future was “exceedingly abundantly beyond” anything Abraham and Sarah could have imagined (Eph. 3:20, MEV), for they had not yet been able to produce even one child. But Abraham believed God, and then something astonishing happened — God “credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6, MEV).
This happened not only for his sake “but also for us,” that righteousness might be “imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:24, NKJV). Just as Abraham believed God could bring dead things back to life (Sarah’s “dead” womb and his own “dead” body — see Romans 4:19-22), we believe and confess that God did bring something dead back to life (the Son of God who was crucified for us). As we express faith in God’s power to resurrect, our dead souls are also raised to life. Our sins are blotted out, and God grants to us also this amazing impartation — the “gift of righteousness” (Rom. 5:17).
These are just a few of the ways God has blessed us in ways similar to Abraham. But Abraham was just one man; now there are millions who have entered a covenant relationship with the God of Abraham — and all because Jesus went to the cross.
The “curse of the law” describes all the horrendous, heartbreaking things that should result from sinning against God. (See Deuteronomy 28:15-68 for over 100 curses that pursue the disobedient to overtake and overwhelm them.) But thank God, mercy has prevailed for us and “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us … that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:13-14, NKJV).
Now God’s original promise to Abraham (“in you all families of the earth will be blessed”) has come to fulfillment in this new covenant era in a powerful and beautiful way. The blessing of Abraham has surrounded the globe and infiltrated every nation and race through the proclamation of the gospel. Ultimately, the Messiah was “the seed of Abraham” and we have come forth from Him, a part of His family. That’s why we are also spiritually considered Abraham’s spiritual offspring.
Isn’t that just absolutely amazing? {eoa}
Author Mike Shreve has two podcasts on the Charisma Podcast Network: Discover Your Spiritual Identity (a study of the names and titles of the children of God) and Revealing the True Light (comparative religion subjects). Charisma House has also published four of his books: 65 Promises from God for Your Child, 25 Powerful Promises from God, Powerful Prayers for Supernatural Results and WHO AM I? Dynamic Declarations of Who You Are in Christ.
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