- Land Given to Us
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.
The Lord made a covenant with Abraham containing a sure promise. This was a one-sided covenant. Only the Lord bound Himself to the covenant promise. On Abraham’s side there was no condition. The Lord unconditionally promised Abraham He would give him this land. Specifically, this land covered all the territory from the Nile River to the Euphrates River. This promise never came true in those geographical terms. The greatest extent of the kingdom of Israel came about under King David, but it never quite reached that far to the east or the west. And Abraham himself never saw the realization of the promise of land, for all he had at the end of his life was a tomb site at Machpelah.
But the promise remains. The seed of Abraham is the people of God with the same faith as Abraham, who believed God and His promise. The seed of Abraham turns out to be Jesus of Nazareth, God in human flesh from the line of Abraham’s descendants. The promise is for all those everywhere who believe in Jesus. They are the seed who receive the promise.
The promise is really a spiritual promise: it is the Kingdom of God brought to humans on earth by Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. The “Land” is in the hearts of believers. The inheritance is kept for them in heaven, but they have the Holy Spirit within as a guarantee of the promise. The spiritual land will become the physical land of the new heavens and new earth. God will create another universe to replace the old one that is passing away. This is our inheritance. This is our land. “This land was made for you and me.” It is reserved in heaven for us, granted and guaranteed by the unconditional covenant the Lord made with Abraham. Jesus announced this Land: “it is at hand.” Jesus earned the kingdom for us; God granted it; and the Holy Spirit seals it into our hearts. We possess the land as a gift. We have eternal life; the promise is fulfilled.