The Seed of Abraham

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed 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; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen. 3:14-15)

These words of the Lord, after the sin of Adam, are addressed to the serpent, who was the instrument through which Satan had tempted Eve. It is the first promise of Redemption given in the Word of God.

The fact that this promise of Redemption is addressed to Satan shows that the real power behind the fallen Adam race is spiritual – Satan is the god of this world, that is, he is the god of this earthly, natural realm. His kingdom must be destroyed in order for humanity to be set free.

That being said, God promises a Redeemer Whom He refers to as, “the seed of the woman.” This shows that right from the beginning that Redeemer would be, “the Word become flesh.”

God follows up His promise of a Redeemer with judgment upon Adam and Eve for their sin. This judgment was gathered up in their eviction from the garden. They were no longer capable of living in the garden – because they were no longer in fellowship with God. God clothed them with the skins of an animal which required a blood sacrifice – showing that it would only be through the death of a substitute – the seed of the woman would be that substitute – that Redemption was possible.

So immediately after the sin of Adam – the sin that destroyed the Adam race – we find the promise of a Redeemer that would be born into the Adam race – the seed of the woman.

Of course, the full revelation of the Son of God become the Son of Man is not given at this point. But the seed of the woman would not be born OF the Adam race. Rather, He would be born INTO the Adam race from the outside – God would be His Father.

I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curse thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)

The words, “IN THEE (referring to the SEED that was IN Abram, but Who was yet to be born) shall all families of the earth be blessed,” is a reference to the Redeemer. Here we see that, “the seed of Abraham,” is more than just Isaac. Rather, it is the SAME SEED that God promised in the garden – it was the Redeemer Who would be the means by which ALL the world – not just Israel – would be blessed.

What is a SEED? A seed is that which comes from a living entity – but which is used to produce more living entities after the same kind. In a very real sense, a single seed contains all that will eventually come out from it. Thus, “the seed of the woman,” Who is likewise, “the seed of Abraham,” is One Who is born human – but is ONE Who carries within Himself all Redemption, and all of the fulfillment of God’s purposes. He would also carry within Himself all who would be born of Him; of His life.

Note that the OLD Covenant was the promise, not primarily of a nation, but the promise of the SEED. The nation of Israel was birthed from out of Abraham to be a light to the nations – but a light that was to point to the Redeemer. The Old Covenant was ALWAYS Jesus Christ in type and shadow, and Israel was to be the means by which Christ was revealed to the rest of the world – at that time in type and shadow. That is why they received the promises and the Old Covenant. But they were to eventually be part of the New Covenant – which is Christ Himself in His people.

There is no need to insist upon the future of Israel according to the flesh. For it is certain that they must come to Christ in order to become the NEW Israel – in order to be engrafted into the purpose of God. And for those who do come to Christ:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal. 3:28-29)

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Gal. 3:16)

When God said to Abraham, "And in thy seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed," God was talking about Jesus Christ – not Isaac. Isaac would be the son of Abraham, but in Isaac would be Jesus Christ. HE was THE ONE SEED of Abraham, in and through Whom all of the nations of the world would be blessed.

Once we see that Christ is THE SEED, the NT teaching on this becomes clear. The teaching of the New Testament is that if you have your faith in Jesus Christ, you ARE a child of Abraham. You are a child of Abraham because, by faith, you are "in Christ" – who is THE SEED, or child, of Abraham.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham…..And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:7, 29)

So just as believers are sons and daughters of God IN THE SON – and ONLY in the Son – so are believers Abraham’s seed IN THE SEED, who is Christ. All that the believer is, and all that the believer receives, is because we are IN HIM – joined to Him in resurrection union. That is a fact whether we are Jew or Gentile.

Do we realize that Jesus was born into the Adam race? There was no other order of humanity. The new creation began when He rose from the dead – not at His human birth. If we doubt this, we need only read I Cor. 15:45. Jesus is called THE LAST ADAM. He could not be called by that name unless He were born as the same order of humanity as was Adam created.

Now, of course, because God was His Father, and because He pre-existed, He did not inherit the sin nature. Jesus took upon Himself HUMAN NATURE – but not the sin nature that had corrupted human nature. He did not inherit the spiritual death that was upon the Adam race. Rather, He lived a sinless life to God’s glory. In effect, Jesus became, “the Adam” – “Adam” means MAN – He became the MAN that God wanted. And once He glorified God fully as a human being – we see this on the Mt. of Transfiguration – there was no way to improve upon Him. There was no need for, “another Adam.” In fact, there could NOT be another, for the rest of the Adam race was dead in sin. Thus, Jesus was THE LAST ADAM.

So we see that THE SEED of the woman; THE SEED of Abraham was The Son of God become The Last Adam. He was the fullness that God wanted in creating humanity.

But THE SEED was to redeem the rest of the Adam race. Thus, The Last Adam – on the Cross – bore in His body the entirety of the Adam race and DIED. That is the end of the Adam order of humanity – Jesus bore the rest of us and the Adam race thus ended in The Last Adam.

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: (Rom 6:6-8)

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Pet 2:24)

It is without debate that Jesus Christ died FOR us. But it is because He died FOR us that our, “Adam man,” died IN HIM. And that is the ONLY reason why it is possible to be free from the sin that is IN the Adam race.

Jesus Christ bore judgment for sin because He bore sin itself. And when He died, the, “body of sin,” died in Him. When He was raised, He ushered in, not a fixed upon old creation, or a merely, “forgiven,” old creation – but He ushered in a NEW creation. He ushered in an entirely new order of humanity – a humanity that is joined to the Lord; a humanity in which Christ Himself dwells.

We saw that God proclaimed the first promise of a Redeemer – who would be the SEED of the woman – God made that promise to humanity right in the face of the enemy. Hopefully, we can now see why – and hopefully we can see why the death and resurrection of Jesus defeated the enemy. If the Adam race died in Christ, and it is the Adam race over which Satan exercises his kingdom, then Satan has NO KINGDOM. Thus, Jesus Christ has destroyed the works of the Devil at the very root – He has delivered believers out of the kingdom of darkness into HIMSELF. Satan is left without power over those who are in Christ.

God does not take those who are in Christ and apply to them what Jesus did through His redemption such that it is impossible for them to sin. No. We do continue to carry a sin nature. But the, “body of sin,” has been rendered powerless – that is what the word translated, “destroyed,” means in the NT Greek. Thus, to the extent that we abide in Christ and life in His life, Satan, and the sin nature has no power over us. That is a fact based upon the finished work of Christ.

All of this goes back to the promise of God of a SEED – the seed of the woman, and then the same SEED through Abraham – which is Christ. Jesus Christ is THE SEED of Abraham, and if we are IN HIM, then we are likewise the seed of Abraham – yet only through a spiritual union with Him.