Inheritance of Abraham

Israel’s possession of Canaan was an earlier stage in God’s redemptive plan, which always envisioned something larger than Israel or a small plot of land in the Middle East. With the arrival of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Spirit, the covenant promises began to find their fulfillment in the true “Seed of Abraham,” and in his “brethren” and “coheirs,” the promised inheritance that would include bodily resurrection and New Creation.

The fulfillment of the promises has been achieved through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and the future consummation of all God’s promises is attested and guaranteed by the Gift of the Holy Spirit received by believers.

[Photo by Mr.Autthaporn Pradidpong on Unsplash]

Scriptural passages that promised land to Abraham employ words like “inheritance” and “heir,” including the Hebrew word translated as “possession,” terms linked to the Abrahamic covenant that referred originally to the “possession” of the Land of Canaan - (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-16, 17:1-8).

In the New Testament, “inheritance,” “heir” and “possession” are reapplied to what God has done through His Son, the true heir of Abraham and all things. The Gift of the Spirit is the “earnest” and “down payment” of the promise - (Matthew 21:38, 28:18, Mark 12:7, Luke 20:14, John 13:3, Romans 8:17, Colossians 1:12, Hebrews 1:2).

Jesus is the real “Seed” of Abraham, and his followers become “heirs according to promise” along with him. All men and women who have the “faith of Jesus” become “children of Abraham” and heirs of the covenant.

The inheritance of Abraham belongs to the “brethren” of Jesus, the saints who “are no longer slaves but sons, and if sons, then heirs through God,” both Jewish and Gentile alike - (Exodus 19:5, Galatians 3:29).

The Gift of the Spirit is the “earnest of their inheritance for the redemption of the possession,” it is the “blessing of Abraham” for the nations promised by Yahweh. Because Abraham believed the word of God, it was “reckoned to him for righteousness.” Men and women who are of the same faith are the “sons of Abraham,” whether Jewish or Gentile - (Galatians 3:4-9).

Believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE for the redemption of God's own possession.” The promised gift has become real and something quite substantial for believers, and the guarantee of their coming possession of the inheritance, especially the bodily resurrection and life in the New Creation – (Ephesians 1:14).

If the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead “dwells in us,” we are assured that God will raise us from the dead and grant us immortal bodies. Not only so, but the Spirit is the “first fruits” of the final harvest and the “redemption of our body” - (Romans 8:10-23, 2 Corinthians 1:20-22, 5:5).

When he returns, Jesus will declare to all who have responded with faith, “Come, you blessed of my Father, INHERIT the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” No longer is the inheritance limited to Israel, but Jesus did not abandon the original promise but universalized it, making Abraham a blessing to “all the nations of the Earth” - (Matthew 6:10).

[Photo by Jeb Buchman on Unsplash]

The land that was promised to Abraham has become a universal promise. The Patriarch has become the “HEIR of the world” or Kosmos. The promise will be actualized in all its fullness in the New Creation when the saints inherit all things - (Romans 4:10-13).

Jewish and Gentile believers become children and heirs, a reality and promise affirmed by the Gift of the Spirit. The coming resurrection and New Creation will be nothing less than the culmination of the original covenant with Abraham, and the possession of the Spirit is the foretaste and the assurance of the inheritance of the saints.

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RELATED POSTS:

• The Life-Giving Spirit - (Jesus dispenses the Life-Giving Spirit without which there is no enduring life. His words are spirit, and they are life)

• Promise of the Spirit - (The Promise of the Spirit is one of the blessings of Abraham promised by God for the nations and the children of the Patriarch)

• Evidence of Sonship - (The Gift of the Spirit demonstrates beyond question who belongs to the covenant community of Jesus, and who does not)