CHRIST THE TRUE SEED OF ABRAHAM

The story of Abraham is not merely ancient history. It is the very soil in which the Gospel grows. God made a covenant with that old pilgrim from Ur, and the Bible shows us that every word of that covenant was a whisper of Jesus. All the promises God spoke under the desert stars were promises that would one day take flesh and walk among us. Christ is the Seed of Abraham. He is the heir of every divine oath. And all who trust in Him are gathered into that same covenant, clothed in that same blessing, welcomed into that same family of grace.

When God spoke to Abraham and said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3), He was not speaking of a fleshly lineage or an earthly nation. He was speaking of faith. Abraham believed God, and God reckoned that faith as righteousness. And now, in Christ, the same God sees our faith the way He saw Abraham’s. This was never a covenant of bloodlines. It was a covenant of belief. The door has always swung on the hinge of faith, not flesh. From the beginning God intended to draw the nations to His heart through His Son.

The Old Testament sings this truth again and again. The covenant is renewed with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob, yet always pointing to One greater than they. And the New Testament removes all doubt. Paul tells us plainly that the promise was not spoken to many seeds but to One—“and to your Seed, who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Matthew opens his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), so that we cannot miss the point. Christ is the heir. Christ is the fulfillment. Christ is the covenant. And all who belong to Christ are heirs with Him (Romans 8:17).

This covenant was never built on human strength or human righteousness. It stood long before the Law of Moses and never depended on our ability to keep it (Galatians 3:17-18). It was held up entirely by the mercy and faithfulness of God. Abraham’s tent stakes were driven into grace, and so are ours. The Gospel is simply this: all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ—Jew or Gentile—are one with Him and therefore children of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:9, 29). Our standing before God does not rise from our social status, our race, or our earthly heritage, but from our union with Christ (Galatians 3:26, 28; John 1:12). God has but one family, and all its members wear the same mark—faith in the Lamb.

Every promise God ever made finds its “yes” and “amen” in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). The inheritance of Abraham is not a strip of earthly soil but eternal life in that better country, the heavenly one (Hebrews 11:10, 16). We are citizens of heaven now (Philippians 3:20). We are the household of God (Ephesians 2:19). And we are born again into this family by the resurrection power of Christ (1 Peter 1:3). This is why claiming physical descent without faith means nothing. Jesus told some of Abraham’s own descendants, “I know that you are Abraham’s seed, yet you seek to kill Me… Abraham did not do this” (John 8:37, 39). Flesh cannot save. Faith alone finds the way home.

God swore by Himself to bless and multiply Abraham’s descendants (Hebrews 6:13-14), and in Christ, you are counted among them. You have a spiritual inheritance richer than all the gold of the earth. You are accepted, redeemed, and made righteous—not by who you are, but by who Christ is (Philippians 3:9). This is the Gospel Abraham believed from afar, and the Gospel we rejoice in today. Christ is the Seed. And because we are in Christ, we too are the seed of Abraham.

So lift your eyes and rejoice. You stand in the covenant of grace. You walk in the footsteps of faithful Abraham. And you are wrapped in the eternal promises of God, all purchased by the blood of the Lamb. Blessed are all who believe, for they are Abraham’s children indeed.

BDD

JESUS OUR HIGH PRIEST

The Book of Hebrews lifts our eyes to the greatness of Jesus Christ in a way no other book does. From beginning to end, its steady refrain is simple and glorious—Jesus is better. Better than angels, better than Moses, better than the old covenant, better than the sacrifices offered day after day. He is the One. He is the Way. He is what everything is about. And among its many treasures, nothing shines brighter than the doctrine of Christ as our High Priest.

Under the old covenant, the people approached God through a system of earthly priests—men who were themselves sinners, offering repeated sacrifices in a physical sanctuary. They had to atone for their own sins before they could even represent the people. Their ministry was necessary but never complete.

Jesus is nothing like them. He had no sins of His own to confess. He is perfect, holy, and undefiled. Instead of offering the blood of animals, He offered Himself. Instead of entering a tent made with hands, He entered the true and heavenly sanctuary. And while the Levitical priests stood daily to offer sacrifices that could never fully remove sin, Jesus offered one sacrifice—once, for all—and sat down. His atonement is finished, full, and eternal (Hebrews 9:11–12, 14, 24, 26).

His priesthood is eternal because He is eternal. Scripture declares that He is a priest “forever” after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:17). That means His covenant is better, His work permanent, His salvation unshakable (Hebrews 7:11–12, 22, 24). What the old covenant hinted at, He accomplished completely (Hebrews 10:10–14).

But we must never forget the humanity of our High Priest. He could not offer Himself for us unless He first lived perfectly among us. Hebrews tells us He became flesh and blood—He was “made like His brothers and sisters”—so that He could redeem us, sympathize with us, and help us in our weakness (Hebrews 2:17). He was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). That means His compassion is not theoretical; it is experiential. He knows what it feels like to be human (Hebrews 2:18; 5:2).

He knew frustration. He knew grief. He knew betrayal, exhaustion, hunger, loneliness, and sorrow. Whatever burdens you carry today, your High Priest understands them from the inside. He has walked this earth, lived this life, and felt these pains. And now He sits at the right hand of God, representing you with a perfect salvation and a perfect understanding of your need.

There is no greater encouragement than knowing Jesus is your High Priest. Because of Him, you receive grace instead of judgment and hope instead of fear. Because of Him, you look toward heaven as your home. Because of Him, you do not need an earthly priest—He Himself is your access to the Father (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19–22). You can draw near with full assurance, knowing you are welcomed, heard, and loved.

Even in trials, you can hold fast to your confession because your High Priest holds fast to you (Hebrews 4:14). He intercedes for you at this very moment (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34). You may not understand everything about His intercession, but you can rest in the truth that it is real, powerful, and good. You have an Advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1–2).

The truth that Jesus is your High Priest is reason enough to rejoice. He has done for you what you could never do for yourself. He saves you, stays with you, stands for you, and remains on your side forever. There are no words adequate to describe His majesty, but the more you learn of Him, the more your love and gratitude will grow.

Study Him. Trust Him. Draw near to Him. Christ our High Priest is your hope, your confidence, and your everlasting joy.

Bryan Dewayne Dunaway