What are the greatest promises God made before Christ?
God did not wait until Bethlehem to start promising. In Eden He promised an offspring who would crush the serpent; to Abraham He swore a seed and a blessing for every family on earth; through Moses He promised a prophet like Moses; to David He swore an eternal throne; and through the prophets He promised a new covenant, a new heart, His own Spirit, and a servant who would carry sin away. Every one of those promises finds its yes in Christ, which is why the New Testament keeps reporting that the old promises were kept in Him.
This question arose from studying Is the whole Bible about Jesus? and Why did God call Abraham?.
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What the Scripture says
The first promise was made in a garden, to a guilty couple
Before there were covenants, kings, or prophets, there was a sentence spoken to a serpent: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Judgment had just fallen, and inside it God announced a future deliverer. Every promise that follows is an unfolding of this one, and the bruise on the heel tells you from the start how much the victory will cost.
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
He swore to Abraham a seed and a blessing for every family on earth
God told Abraham that “all of the families of the earth will be blessed in you,” and then, after the test on Moriah, He sealed it with an oath: “I have sworn by myself... All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your seed.” Paul notices that the promise speaks of a singular seed, “which is Christ,” and Hebrews explains why God swore by Himself: there was no one greater, so the oath rests on God's own unchanging character. That is the promise the whole Bible is tracking.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your seed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He doesn’t say, “To seeds”, as of many, but as of one, “To your seed”, which is Christ.
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;
He promised a prophet like Moses and an eternal throne for David's son
Moses told Israel that God would raise up “a prophet from your midst, of your brothers, like me,” and that they must listen to Him, a promise Peter later applies directly to Jesus. To David, God swore something even larger: “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” The prophets saw the shape of it, a child born with the government on His shoulders and a kingdom with no end “on the throne of David,” and a ruler coming out of tiny Bethlehem “whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.”
Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from your midst, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you.
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’”
For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
He promised a new covenant, a new heart, His Spirit, and a suffering servant
The deepest promises are internal. Through Jeremiah God said, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it,” and added the sentence no sacrifice could accomplish: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.” Through Ezekiel He said, “I will also give you a new heart... I will put my Spirit within you.” Joel promised that this Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, not just on prophets and kings. And Isaiah drew the portrait no one could have guessed: a servant “pierced for our transgressions,” on whom “Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” who would “justify many” and “bear their iniquities.”
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
Every promise finds its yes in Christ, and the oath makes it sure
Paul states the rule plainly: “however many are the promises of God, in him is the ‘Yes.’” Christ came, Romans says, “that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,” and those promises do not expire, because “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Hebrews says God's oath gives us “strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.” And the door is open to everyone: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise.” The old promises are not merely history you admire; they are an inheritance you receive by faith.
For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise.
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What is the gospel?→The Gospel trail“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”How is the new covenant different from the old one?→Jesus Christ trail“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your seed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’”
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
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