All of God’s promises in the Old Testament are promises concerning Christ. In Genesis 3:15, the promised seed of the woman was Jesus. In Galatians 3:16, the seed of Abraham was Jesus. It says, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.” According to 2 Timothy 2:8, the seed of David is Jesus. It reads, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised out of the dead, of the seed of David, according to my good news.”  The Messiah has always been understood to be a descendant of David.  Jesus is unquestionably the heir of all the promises of the Bible. Paul makes sure that his readers in Galatia and all his readers since, understand what this means to those who believe in Jesus. In Galatians 3:28-29 he writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

This was God’s purpose from the beginning of time. He always intended to deliver all mankind through the sacrifice He would make for us in the person of His son, Jesus. He did this because it was the best and probably the only way to send us the undeniable message of His love for us. The ultimate demonstration of how God feels about you and me is seen in the cross on Calvary. God’s love for us never changes. It was that way from the beginning and is so today and will be forever. Just as He gave Abraham a promise accompanied by an oath to assure the fulfillment, so too does He give us, Abraham’s heirs, a promise sealed with a blood oath. I think this is what the author of Hebrews means in Hebrews 6:17 when he says, “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath.”

The Teacher’s Commentary says, “The blood of Jesus not only won our salvation. That blood confirmed in an unmistakable way God’s oath, promising forgiveness to all who would believe in Jesus.”[1] Jesus used bread and wine as symbols for us to use to remind us of the blood covenant He made with us. In Matthew 26:26-28 says, “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” When God desired to show “more convincingly” His love for us, He demonstrated it on the cross of Calvary. Jesus is the “Word” of God. What is God saying to us through Jesus? As Jeremiah says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”

[1] Larry Richards and Lawrence O. Richards, The Teacher’s Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987), 419.