One thing that Christians often forget is that we have an ancestry with the Jewish people. Gordon Fee once wrote that, “as Christians the Old Testament is (our) spiritual history. The promises and calling of God to Israel are (our) historical promises and calling (Gal. 3:29).” Therefore, it is crucial to understand what the Bible can teach us regarding the human ancestry of Jesus Christ, our Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. For instance the apostle Matthew mentions the story of Jesus has been identified as Jesus, the “son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). It is often that we read those words without considering the implications they may have to our faith Covenant with Jesus.
Matthew’s motive when he wrote the gospel of Matthew was to show his skeptics that Jesus actually was the Messiah promised to us. Matthew confirms this by demonstrating to his readers the way Jesus fulfills prophecy. As per Matthew, Jesus is the real Son of David (Matt 1:1) and the only authentic Israel (Matt.2:15) and the King of Jews (Matt.2:2) as well as the central point and meaning for the laws (Matt. 5:17). At least 40 times, Matthew directly cites Scripture to show the fact that Jesus fulfills everything God had promised His chosen people (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20). One could argue Matthew’s most significant statement about Christ was the truth it was the case that Jesus is child of Abraham (Matt.1:1). We Christians aren’t required to be reassured of the fact that Christ was the son of Abraham and perhaps we do should be educated on the significance of this fact.
Paul, the apostle Paul goes on to elaborate on this subject and goes as far to say it is true that Jesus is the only genuine descendant of Abraham. He claims that the promises that God gave for Abraham and his descendants were actually given for Abraham and his only (ultimate) offspring that was Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16). Paul’s argument was that one didn’t require becoming an Jew before being able to become a Christian. In truth, you could say that one becomes a Christian in order to become a Jew or descendant from Abraham. So, “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29).
There’s a myriad of items that make up the essential to being an inheritor “according to the promise.” However, in this brief piece, I’d like to concentrate on one specific thing: God’s peculiar actions when He cut an agreement with Abraham. When the covenant is signed between the vassal and the sovereign, the parities that are part of it kill animals before cutting in pieces. Then, both parties (representing their respective countriesmen and themselves) are allowed to walk between the animal parts and make an oath, saying; “may it be done to me and my house as it has been done to these (animals), if I do not uphold this covenant.” When God made the covenant with Abraham and his family, there was only one party to the contract was the animals sacrificed to God and that one included God (Gen 15:9-21).
Also, God promised to temporarily to uphold Abraham’s side of the agreement with His own since He knew Abraham and his descendants would not fulfill the promise. There is no way one is able to be perfect. If Abraham had walked between the parts of the animals Abraham would have not lasted one day. The same thing would have happened to him the way it was performed to the animals sacrificed and Abraham’s lineage would have been cut off with the end of the covenant. But, in order for this covenant truly accepted, Abraham – or one of his descendants had be able to cross over the animals before he could fulfill the covenant’s stipulations. If the representative fulfilled that requirement, then Abraham and all his descendants will be considered legal participants in the covenant , too.
Thus it is important to understand the significance is “Jesus Christ… the son of Abraham.” Jesus crossed over the animals and , indeed He did it to Him in the same way as it was performed to the sacrifice – not to show His inability to uphold the covenant instead, it was for our sake. Sinless Jesus is the son of Abraham was crucified to a brutal execution on the cross to ensure that we could have a long-lasting relationship with God the Father. In truth, “only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham”