The Old and the New Testament and the Heirs of God

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Heb 13:8)

The Old and the New Testament and the Heirs of God

Heartfelt greetings to all of you with the Scripture from Heb
1:1-2: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds …”

The Bible is composed of the Old and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, God established through His prophets what He intends to do in His Plan of Redemption. Right from the first chapter, the New Testament provides evidence that everything God promised in the Old Testament comes to fulfillment. Just as a last will and testament specifies who the heirs are and to what each person is entitled, He had it written down in His Word what is ordained for Israel and what is allotted to His Church from the nations.

In Gen 15:4 the Lord God made the promise to Abraham, the father of faith, that He would give him a natural heir. “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (v. 6). In Gen 18:10 we read: “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” With Abraham, faith and obedience worked together; therefore, he was even prepared to sacrifice Isaac, his heir: “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” (Heb 11:19). Because of his obedience of faith, the Lord swore by Himself to bless all the nations of the earth: “And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”  (Gen 22:15-18).

The Apostle Paul made reference to the faithfulness and truthfulness of God and wrote: “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath …” (Heb 6:13-17).

In Gal 3:7 he called the believers “the children of Abraham” and then emphasized in verse 29: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” He wrote about the mystery of Christ with regard to the Church: “… That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel …” (Eph 3:4-6). The promises of God belong to the heirs through Jesus Christ.

True faith is anchored exclusively in the promises of God. The true children of God, the actual heirs of Jesus Christ, believe every Word, believe every promise. In Rom 9:8 the apostle wrote: “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” He further elaborated in Rom 8:17: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

This thought is also very precious: “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Gal 4:7). First the promise, then the fulfillment; first with the Redeemer, and then with the redeemed. Thus was the beginning of the New Covenant: Mary found grace with God (Lk 1:30). She believed the Word of promise (Isa 7:14), which the Angel Gabriel told her. At once, the Holy Spirit came upon her, and verse 31 was fulfilled: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS (Hebrew: Yahshua).” (Lk 1:31). And so Ps 22:10 was fulfilled: “But thou art he that took me out of the womb …” With the birth of Christ, the day of salvation and grace commenced (2 Cor 6:2). The Word became flesh and dwelled among us (Jn 1:14). “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (v. 17). The Apostle Paul pointed out that God fulfilled the promise, which He had given to the fathers, “… unto us their children, in that he raised up Jesus again …” (Acts 13:33). Our Lord and Redeemer shed His precious blood, died for us, and thus gave us the redemption. He included all sons and daughters of God by name in His last will.

This is how the flock redeemed by the blood of the Son of God believes it. We receive the Word as the seed (Lk 8:11), the Holy Spirit begets the new life in us, and we are born again as sons and daughters of God unto a living hope, as it is written: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1 Pet 1:23). James described it as follows: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (1:18). Thus the Scripture from Isa 53:10 is fulfilled with the redeemed: “A seed shall serve him …” (Ps 22:30).