Day 3 – The Promise to Abraham: Blessing for All Nations

The Gospel Promise Begins to Reach the Nations

In the first two days of our journey, we established two important truths.

The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ.

And the Gospel was God’s plan from the beginning.

Today, we take another step forward.

We come to one of the most important promises in the Old Testament—the promise God made to Abraham.

God called Abraham out of his country, away from his relatives and familiar surroundings, and told him to go to a land that God would show him.

But God’s call to Abraham was never only about Abraham.

God was already revealing His plan to bless all nations.

The Gospel was always bigger than one family.

It was bigger than one nation.

It was bigger than one culture.

God’s purpose was always moving toward the nations.

And ultimately, that promise points us to Jesus Christ.

God Calls Abraham

Genesis 12 begins with God’s initiative.

God says:

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”

Abraham had to respond in faith.

God did not give him the entire map.

He gave him a promise.

Abraham had to trust the One who was calling him.

This is an important principle for our own journey with God.

Faith does not always know every detail of the road ahead.

Faith trusts the One who leads.

Abraham did not know everything that would happen.

But he trusted God.

And his journey became part of God’s greater plan of redemption.

Abraham’s story reminds us that following God often begins with trusting Him before we can see everything that lies ahead.

God calls.

God promises.

And faith responds.

The Promise Was About Blessing

God told Abraham:

“I will bless you…”

But then He continued:

“and you will be a blessing.”

This is important.

God’s blessing was never intended to stop with Abraham.

God’s purpose was that the blessing He promised through Abraham would ultimately extend to the nations.

The purpose was not simply:

“Abraham will be blessed.”

It was:

“Abraham will become a blessing.”

And then God makes the promise even greater:

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

This is the beginning of a remarkable biblical story.

God was preparing the way for salvation to reach the nations.

God’s Plan Was Always for the Nations

Sometimes people read the Old Testament and think God’s purpose was only about Israel.

Israel was certainly chosen by God for a special covenant purpose.

God established His covenant with Israel.

He gave them His law.

He spoke through their prophets.

The Messiah would come through them.

But God’s redemptive purpose was never intended to stop with Israel.

Through Israel would come the Messiah.

And through the Messiah God’s blessing would reach the nations.

The prophets would later speak about the nations coming to God’s light.

And when Jesus came, He sent His disciples to:

“make disciples of all nations.”

The promise to Abraham was moving toward its fulfilment.

God’s plan was never confined to one ethnic group.

From the beginning, His purpose was moving toward a people gathered from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

The Gospel is therefore not the possession of one culture.

It is God’s good news for the world.

The Promise Points to Christ

The New Testament helps us understand the deeper meaning of God’s promise to Abraham.

Paul writes in Galatians 3:8:

“Scripture… announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’” – Galatians 3:8

Think about that carefully.

Paul says that the promise to Abraham was connected to the Gospel.

Why?

Because the ultimate blessing promised through Abraham comes through Jesus Christ.

Jesus came through the line of Abraham.

Jesus is the promised Saviour.

And through Christ, people from every nation can receive salvation.

The promise was never ultimately about material prosperity.

It was about God’s redemptive blessing reaching humanity.

The Blessing Is Found in Christ

This distinction is important.

When God promised to bless the nations through Abraham, the greatest blessing was not simply:

• wealth,
• success,
• comfort,
• land,
• political power,
• or earthly prosperity.

The greatest blessing is reconciliation with God.

Forgiveness.

Grace.

Salvation.

New life.

And these blessings are found in Christ.

Paul tells us that those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s offspring according to the promise.

This does not mean that we become ethnic Israelites.

It means that God’s promise reaches its fulfilment in Christ and is received by faith.

Faith Is Central to Abraham’s Story

Abraham is one of the great examples of faith in Scripture.

Genesis tells us:

“Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

Abraham trusted God’s promise.

He believed God.

And his faith became an important picture of the way God saves.

This is especially important for The Open Gospel.

Because as we continue through this journey, we will ask:

How is a person made right with God?

Is it through religious achievement?

Is it through human effort?

Is it through our family background?

Is it through our ability to perform perfectly?

The story of Abraham points us toward an answer.

God calls us to trust Him.

Salvation is God’s gracious work through Christ.

Faith receives what God has promised.

Our confidence before God is not found in our religious background or our personal achievements.

It is found in Christ.

Faith Produces Obedience

There is another important lesson.

Abraham’s faith was not merely an intellectual belief.

When God called him, Abraham went.

His faith produced action.

This is important because biblical faith should never be confused with simply agreeing with certain religious statements.

True faith trusts God and therefore responds to Him.

We should not say:

“I believe in Christ,”

while deliberately refusing to follow Him.

Faith and obedience belong together.

But we must also keep the order clear:

We do not obey in order to purchase salvation.

We obey because we have trusted the God who saves us.

Obedience is the fruit.

Grace is the foundation.

Christ is the Saviour.

And God receives the glory.

Our obedience does not compete with grace.

It demonstrates the reality of a faith that has been placed in Christ.

The Gospel Is for Every Nation

This promise also speaks directly to us today.

The Gospel does not belong to one ethnic group.

It does not belong to one country.

It does not belong to one language.

It does not belong to one culture.

People from the East need the Gospel.

People from the West need the Gospel.

People in Africa need the Gospel.

People in Asia need the Gospel.

People in Europe need the Gospel.

People in every nation need the Gospel.

Because every human being has the same fundamental problem:

sin has separated us from God.

And every person needs the same Saviour:

Jesus Christ.

Our Heritage Cannot Save Us

This is particularly important when we think about inherited Christianity.

A person may be born into a Christian family.

They may grow up surrounded by Christian traditions.

They may know Christian prayers.

They may attend church.

They may identify strongly with a Christian culture.

We can be grateful for the good things we have received from previous generations.

But none of these things can substitute for personal faith in Christ.

Abraham’s physical descendants did not automatically possess righteousness simply because they belonged to Abraham’s family.

God called Abraham to trust Him, and Scripture records that Abraham believed God and was counted righteous.

The same principle applies today.

Christianity cannot simply be inherited like a family name.

We must personally respond to Christ.

We must personally believe.

We must personally trust Him.

We must personally come to Him in faith.

A Blessing That Must Be Shared

There is another lesson hidden within God’s promise.

God told Abraham:

“You will be a blessing.”

That principle should also shape the Christian life.

We have received the Gospel so that we can share the Gospel.

We have received grace so that we can show grace.

We have received mercy so that we can show mercy.

We have been blessed through Christ so that we can become a blessing to others.

The Gospel should never become something we keep to ourselves.

When Christ changes our lives, His grace should begin to overflow into the way we treat other people.

And when God gives us an opportunity, we can tell others about Jesus Christ.

We do not bless others because we are the source of the blessing.

We bless others because we have received grace from Christ.

Why This Matters Today

Perhaps you come from a Christian family.

Perhaps your parents and grandparents faithfully passed down what they believed.

We can be grateful for the good things we have received from previous generations.

But there comes a point when we must personally ask:

Do I know the God of the Gospel?

Not simply:

“Was I raised Christian?”

But:

“Do I trust Christ?”

Not simply:

“Do I belong to a Christian tradition?”

But:

“Do I belong to Jesus?”

Not simply:

“Do I know about God?”

But:

“Have I placed my faith in Him?”

These are personal questions.

And no one else can answer them for us.

Our heritage may explain where we came from.

It cannot determine where we will stand before God.

Our traditions may tell us what generations before us practised.

But God’s Word must remain the authority by which we examine what we believe.

The question is ultimately simple:

Do I trust Jesus Christ?

The Invitation

The promise to Abraham was much bigger than Abraham.

God said:

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

That promise became part of God’s great redemptive story.

Through Abraham came the nation through which the Messiah would come.

Through the Messiah came salvation.

And through Jesus Christ, the Gospel has gone to the nations.

Today, people from every background can come to God through faith in Christ.

We do not need to become part of someone else’s culture before we can come to Jesus.

We do not need to earn our place before God.

We do not need to trust in our religious heritage.

We need Christ.

The blessing promised to the nations ultimately leads us to the greatest blessing of all:

Jesus Christ Himself.

So let us remember Abraham.

He heard God’s call.

He trusted God’s promise.

He stepped forward in faith.

And his story became part of God’s plan to bring salvation to the nations.

May we do the same.

May we trust God’s Word.

May we trust His promises.

May we place our faith in Christ.

And may the blessing we have received through the Gospel become a blessing to others.

Above everything else, may our lives point people to Jesus.