The Seed Promise 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. (Galatians 3:16 NKJV) The Bible has , within its pages, many promises. But the one promise that is above all promises and that is the seed promise that we find here in Galatians 3:16 Lets note a few things with regards to this incredible verse.

Points to Ponder The Need for a Promise The Curse of Sin How God Prepared the World God’s Promise to Abraham The Promise is Renewed The Law of Moses and the Promise Christ Fulfills the Promise

The Need for a Promise Sin and Death And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17 KJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned– (Romans 5:12 NKJV)

The Curse Of Sin Adam – Work and Hard Labor Eve – Pain in Childbearing Ground – Bring Forth Thorns Serpent – Go Forth On His Belly Satan – Head would be Crushed For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23 NKJV)

God Gives the Promise And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:14 ASV) Genesis 3:15: The most precious passage in the OT. God announces His gracious purpose to redeem mankind.  The fall necessitates a Saviour by whom fallen mankind will be restored to God. The first promise of the Redeemer, the "Seed", the Child, the Messiah (Christ) to come! This great doctrine begins with a promise. It is this promise of the "Seed" of the woman that becomes the germ of the whole Biblical system which we will see unfolding step by step, stage to stage. Galatians 3:16 and Galatians 4:4-5. This verse tells us that the Redeemer will be a member of the human race-flesh and blood, Hebrews 2:14-15, John 1:1 & 14 and Romans 5:8-21. "... Bruise thy (Satan's) head ..." Just a common metaphor like: "I will walk all over you ... or you will come crawling to me ..." Cf: Psalm 91:13 & in Romans 16:20 Paul takes the same metaphor and applies it to the Church's victory over Satan. The nature of His person and His work cannot be surmised by this passage, these things are to appear step by step through the coming centuries in the progressive revelation of the messianic idea, by God, which we will follow in this lesson. Genesis 4:1-2 Adam and Eve first have two sons, Cain & Abel. Notice Cain was not an atheist, he was not agnostic, he was not a polytheist (one who believes in many gods), Cain was a deist he believed in one God, he just did not believe in the necessity of the death of an innocent victim. Cf: Genesis 3:21 a bloody sacrifice necessary. Genesis 4:8 Cain slays his brother Abel. Cain kills him after Church so to speak. Genesis 4:25 God appointed another "Seed" Through whom the Messiah will be born. Seth was chosen as the head of this line which we trace from Seth to Jesus Christ cf: Luke 3:23-38. Genesis will now begin to give two lines or family trees, the Sethite line and the Cainite line. Salvation is to come through the Sethite line. The Cainite is the worldly line. Thus we see the family line of the plan of redemption.

A Promise that Spans Three Dispensations Of Time Old Testament Promise Given New Testament Promise Fulfilled Patriarchal Age Adam Abraham Isaac Jacob Mosaic Age Moses King David Prophets Law of Moses Christian Age Christ Apostles Church New Covenant

God Begins to Prepare the World A Godly Lineage is Created to Fulfill the Seed Promise Adam and Eve Cain Abel Seth Genesis will now begin to give two lines or family trees, the Sethite line and the Cainite line. Salvation is to come through the Sethite line. The Cainite is the worldly line. Thus we see the family line of the plan of redemption. Genesis 5:4 Adam and Eve had other children.  Obviously, Cain and Seth both took one of their sisters for a wife. Genesis 5:21-24 Enoch, the one example of righteousness and living in close fellowship with God in a wicked and ungodly age. No greater acknowledgement of his godly character could be made than he did not see death (Hebrews 11:5). Here we see the great truth of immortality, life after death. We, as Christians, live in hope for such a translation (1 Corinthians 15:50-55, I Thessalonians 4: 13-18). Genesis 6:1-2 "The sons of God" the descendants of Seth (Gen. 5:6-32). The daughters of men" daughters descended from Cain (Gen. 4:16-24). The Messianic line of Seth is all but lost in the sinfulness of that age, in the inter marrying of these two family lines. Genesis 6:5 The great indictment of God against the sinful hearts of all men. Genesis 7:1 Noah was a man of righteousness and faith. The one member of the Sethite line who stood alone. (B) Noah's faith was not a feeling, he was warned of God (Gen. 6:13), he believed the warning and worked about 100 years preparing the Ark. For the time consumed in building the Ark, compare Genesis 5:32 with Genesis 7: (C) Noah was a preacher of righteousness (11 Peter 2:5), and he spend those 100 years without a convert. Such was the saving faith that Noah had towards God's warning. (D) Noah's kind of faith was to hear the Word of God, believe what God said and then followed corresponding action to that belief (v.5) "And Noah did according...." Genesis 7:2-8:19 Behold: The Judgment and the Mercy of God. Genesis 8:21 Man was wicked and evil before the flood (Genesis 6:5) and man is still evil after the flood.  But Noah, the last member of the Sethite line, and his family are preserved. The promise of a Saviour will be fulfilled in the historical line that has been selected by God. Genesis 9:8-9 God's promise of a covenant is with their family and with a future coming "Seed" (child), but which of the sons of Noah is to be chosen? Genesis 9:26 Shem receives the blessing. He is now selected as the head of the Messianic line. Genesis 10:25 Dry land was one place, the earth was an island, what scientist call Pangea. Peleg means earthquake in Hebrew and divided means split it Hebrew.  So in the days of Peleg the earth was divided or split and the contentants began to drift apart. Genesis 11:1-8 Direct rebellion against God's command of Genesis 9:1 to replenish the (fill again the whole) earth, He did not say to build a city. God confounded their language, made them to speak other languages and "scattered them upon the face of all the earth". And to Seth . . . was born a son; and he called his name Enosh. Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah. (Genesis 4:26 ASV) Noah Abraham Nation of Israel

God Chooses Abram Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 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 12:1-4 NKJV) Genesis 12:1-3 (A) Only one branch of the Shemitic line that the Messiah is to come from has been given, that of Arphaxad, for the purpose of introducing Abram (Abraham). God called this great man of faith. He heard the call (Word) of God and believed the word. The belief brought on the corresponding action of him doing something about what he believed. He "departed" (v.4) and went on a long walk to the promise land. Such was Abraham's kind of faith. (Hebrews 11:8-9). Saving faith is to hear, believe, do Cf: James 2:19-26 and trust. At the call of Abraham, all other families on the earth became gentiles, which means, "The nations", and also means, "with out God" because those nations chose not to follow God. Romans 1:18-32 & Ephesians 2:1-3.l In (v.3) God alludes to the coming blessing that we will see unfold when he says: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed". Two points we need to remember: "In thee", (most important)-we do not know what it means but it will be of paramount importance! Cf: Galatians 3:29. This blessing will come upon the gentiles, "to all families of the earth". Genesis 15:3-5 "Seed" (child), singular, you will have a child Abraham. And that one Child ("Seed") will in some way become more than the stars of heaven, the Christ will multiply Cf: Galatians 3:26-29. Genesis 15:6 Make note of this verse in your side margin.  Genesis 17:5-8 God renames Abram Abraham. A father of many nations: Israel through Isaac (Hebrew Laughter) and all the Arab nations through Ishmael. God establishes His covenant with Abraham. It is a three way covenant between God, Abraham and a coming "Seed" (child), the Messiah. If the "Seed" were plural then it would be talking to all the children of Abraham-Arabs, Jews, Israelites, etc.

God Promises Abram Four Things Land Promise – Land of Canaan Nation Promise – Nation of Israel Name Promise – Abraham Revered Seed Promise – All Nations Blessed Looking at this promise of redemption , what do we find? 1- The things studied from Genesis 12 through to Malachi and on into the New Testament are the unfolding of the promises in this passage of scripture. 2- For you and I to really appreciate the New Testament, must have a firm grasp of the promises set forth in chapter 12: 3- Note that there are four things within this promise of vital significance. NEXT SLIDE CLICK

Seed Promise – All Nations Blessed : Gen 12:3. Genesis 12:2 Promise of a nation: Israel Genesis 12:7 Promise of a land: Canaan Seed Promise – All Nations Blessed : Gen 12:3.

Promises to Abram Fulfilled in Christ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." (Galatians 3:7-8 NKJV)

The Promise Renewed Abraham Isaac Jacob/ Israel Tribe of Judah Jesus: Lion of Judah Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 49:9-10 NKJV)

Major Events Leading to Christ Jacob has 12 Sons – 12 Tribes of Israel Joseph in Egypt Israel in Captivity Birth of Moses and the Exodus Mount Sinai and the Law of Moses The Land of Canaan The Law of Moses Guides Israel

Christ = The New Law Giver Moses Points to Christ The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. (Deuteronomy 18:15 NKJV) Christ = The New Law Giver

The Law Points to Christ What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed (Christ) should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator (Moses). (Galatians 3:19 NKJV)

The Land of Israel Points to Christ Israel established to bring forth the Messiah. Israel to be a light to the Nations. Israel established so true worship could be established

King David Points to Christ God says to David: "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (2 Samuel 7:12-13 NKJV) Jesus now sits on David’s Throne! Acts 2:34

The Prophets Point to Christ Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 23:5 NKJV)

The Jews Reject Christ Law of Moses The Jews rejected Jesus and refused to give up the Law of Moses Christian Age Law of Christ Mosaic Age Law of Moses Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:1-4 KJV)

The Law was to be Temporary Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (Galatians 3:24-25 NKJV) The Law Brought Mankind To The Master

Dependence on Law Will Not Justify For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. (Galatians 3:10 NKJV) Justification by Law Alone Requires Perfection

Obedient Faith Justifies Faith in God Faith that is obedient Faith that is active Faith like that of Abraham But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." (Galatians 3:11 NKJV, Habakkuk 2:4)

Those of Faith are the Seed of Abraham For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus . . . And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV)

The Promise is to All Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28 NKJV)

The Gospel is to All The Promise Patriarch Age Family Mosaic Age Nation of Israel Christian Age The Whole World

Salvation through Faith In Christ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27 NKJV) Obey the Gospel H. B. R. C. B.