Do you have Genesis 12:3b underlined in your Bible? It reads, “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This verse should be on the top of your OT bucket list alongside Genesis 3:15 when it comes to the promises of the gospel.
After the scattering of the families of the earth, after the Tower of Babel rebellion, Yahweh chooses one man to start over with, and his name is Abram. And he is the “in you” of 12:3b. In the loins or genealogy of Abram, Yahweh is going to bless all the families of the earth. At this point, we want to know what is this blessing and how is Yahweh going to bring this to pass? If you don’t know the answers keep reading.
This promise is modified slightly in Genesis 18:18, 22:18, and 26:4. In all three of these verses, Yahweh changes “families” to “nations”. Paul, the Apostle, references any of the above three verses in Galatians 3:8. Take the time to underline this verse in your Bible and then make a note connecting it back to Genesis 12:3. Let’s take a look at Galatians 3:8 with some parenthetical helps inserted into the verse.
“And the Scripture [Genesis], foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles [nations] by faith, preached the gospel [the good news] beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’”
So, what is the blessing of Genesis 12:3? The answer is the availability of justification by faith to all the peoples of the earth. Males, females, and every color of skin, rich or poor, ALL, can be declared righteous by faith in the gospel. We often talk about justification and sanctification. Justification is the Christian doctrine that God will forgive all the sins of any person who puts personal faith in the work of Christ on the cross and clothe them with Christ’s righteousness. Those who are justified go from the status of having God’s wrath abiding on them to being declared to be perfectly righteous in God’s sight. This is the blessing! The blessing is being declared just by FAITH. The next text you need to underline is Genesis 15:6.
Genesis 3:15, 12:3, and now 15:6, let me give it to you with some helps inserted again.
And he [Abram] believed the Lord [promise concerning having an offspring], and he [God] counted it [his faith] to him [Abram] as [an alien] righteousness.
Put it together. As early as Genesis, Yahweh put in place a means whereby sinners can be restored to a right relationship with their Creator. Yahweh has not forgotten the people groups He scattered all over the earth. Instead, He has promised the possibility of blessing. Paul writes, “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Gal 3:9). “Those who are of faith” are believers—they are believers in the gospel! And the blessing is salvation, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (v. 14).
