< Eden                    The key to the promises God made to Abraham                David >

Land: When on high ground God told Abraham to look all around him, because all the land around him would one day be his.

King: God made a promise to Abraham of a King to rule over all the land in a perfect and just way - this future king is Jesus.

Saviour: Promised also to Abraham was a saviour for him and all his seed (offspring).

The promises were confirmed by Jesus Christ through the sacrifice he made for sin. Sin leads to death, so having committed no sin the grave could not hold Jesus.

• The kingdom of God will be established on the earth and not in heaven.
• The earth will in the future be ruled in a fair and just way by a perfect leader - Jesus Christ.
• There is a way to be saved from sin and be a part of God's kingdom on earth.
• The gospel is the power of God unto salvation - "In thee shall all nations be blessed".

a) "In thee" - speaks of Abraham as Father.  At the time the promise was given, Abraham was childless.  It was not until many years later when he was about 100 years old and when, naturally speaking, Sarah his wife was well past the age of child bearing, but they did have a son.  They named him Isaac which means laughter.  He was a child of promise.  It was through Isaac that the promises would be fulfilled ultimately.

b) "shall" - indicates that the Gospel message would be worked out over time in the future.

c) "all nations" - The purpose of God embraced from the very beginning not only the natural descendants of Abraham i.e. Israel and the Jews but also the Gentiles (non Jews).  Abraham however could only be father "of all nations" if at some future point in time the principle of adoption was established.  This is explained in the New Testament (see Eph 1:5) and has been accomplished through Jesus Christ.

d) "be blessed" - The blessing derived from the covenants of promise, which is the very kernel of the Gospel overcomes and is a perfect antidote to the punishment received by Adam for his transgression and sin.  The blessing spoken of therefore concerns the forgiveness of sin as well as the inheritance of the kingdom which belongs to the adopted sons and daughters of God.  Again all this has been achieved through Jesus Christ.

(Hebrews 11:39-40 "And these all (speaking of those of faith) having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.").

In other words, the day in which these "great and precious promises" are to be realised has been delayed for the express purpose that those, even of our own day, might have the opportunity to share in the salvation of God.  The blessing spoken of is focused towards attaining unto the resurrection of the faithful which will happen when Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God upon the Earth.