The Promise.

I have made reference to "The Promise" in this blog before, but because it is such a key subject in the Bible, it should be addressed again. I would guess that most "Christians" today would not think too much about seeing the word "promise" in the Bible. But it has major significance to us. Here are a few samples of the word being used in the scriptures:

Acts 2:39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Galatians 3:14 "...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. 3:16 "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."
Gal. 3:29 "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Hebrews 11:39 "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." Here he is saying that all the people of faith in the Old Testament, as great as they were, didn't receive the fulfillment of the "promise" as do we.

All of this use of the term promise relates back to Genesis 12, where God gave a promise to Abraham there. Actually, he made several promises, but the significant one, the one referenced over and over in the NT, is that "..in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." This is a reference to Jesus, saying that through the genealogy of Abraham would come the Messiah. If you haven't read it in awhile, read all of Hebrews 11; this gives a good perspective of the significance of the promise to us. It is amazing how God made a promise to Abraham and fulfilled it several thousand years later in Jesus; and what a blessing to us!

Have a good week; God bless!