- All People blessed in Abraham
Genesis 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.
God loves all people. God loved the world in this way: He gave His Son. God promises Abraham that he will become a great and mighty nation. Politically, this happened to a small extent under King David, but the essence of the promise is not a political nation. The promise is for a great spiritual kingdom of all believers in Christ.
The amazing part of this promise is that all the nations of the earth will be blessed in Abraham. This promise is for all people who ever lived on earth. Jesus died for all. All people will find blessing in the promise to Abraham and the faith of Abraham. The immediate context is the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord is going to share with Abraham His intended investigation and judgment on Sodom. He will share the plan with Abraham since he is to be a blessing to that nation. His prayer was to save the nation if there were at least 10 believers in it (but there weren’t).
The subsequent years of history work out the promise: the blessing for all the nations turned out to tbe God-become-man, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the blessing to all the world’s people. Everyone may find hope and salvation and blessing in Christ, the promised seed of Abraham. “Peace on earth, good will to men” has come in the birth of the Savior. Not all the nations have believed and received the blessing, but it is given by grace to all peoples when they receive Christ.
The blessing of Abraham comes to the earth’s people through the “great and mighty nation.” This is the Church of all believers. We are the blessing to the earth people. No one knows the blessing we are to the world; no one can count the blessings Christians give the world. We cannot even imagine what life on earth would be like if all the Christians were removed. But it is true nonetheless; believers are a blessing and give blessings to the nations. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We positively affect life in a sin-cursed world. So says the Lord.