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When the Lord's word came to Abraham in a vision, he took him outside his tent and encouraged him to try and count the stars, as he gazed up into the night sky: "So shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5 LITV). Even though emotionally he was on a roller coaster because of the disappointment he felt, being childless, he nevertheless believed the Lord.

Without minimising the fulfilment of the promise as it related to Isaac's birth when Abraham and Sarah were old, nor the multiplication of the children of Jacob/Israel (Deuteronomy 1:10-11; Joshua 21:45), we must never forget that God's words were specifically directed at what he was going to do when he sent his own Son into the world as a descendent of Abraham many generations later (Matthew 1:1-25).

The covenant God made with Abraham is centred in the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the predicted blessing was destined to affect all people groups and would be characterised by multiplication.

How would this promised multiplication take place? If you looked up the Bible references suggested in the previous blogspot then you'll have already read these words spoken by Jesus: "I tell you the truth: unless a grain of wheat is planted in the ground and dies, it remains a solitary seed. But when it is planted, it produces in death a great harvest" (John 12:24 Voice). He also said: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32 ESV), indicating that his crucifixion would bring this about.

As a result of Jesus living a sinless life, offering himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and rising again, forgiveness became available for all who believe and put their trust in him. Without this atonement achieved by Christ there wouldn't have been any hope for anyone. What Christ did was essential for us to be reconciled with God.

In Christ we are Abraham's offspring (Galatians 3:29). And as a result of the activity of the Holy Spirit and our faith in Christ we've become children of God (John 3:5-6; Galatians 3:26). This has nothing to do with natural descent, nor human ingenuity (John 1:10-13). It's an act of God.

Through spreading this good news about Jesus and what he has done for us, multiplication takes place as others believe the message and trust Christ for salvation.

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Here are some more scriptures if you'd like to do more reading:

John 1:1-14

John 1:29-34

John 3:1-18

Acts 3:22-26

Romans 1:13-17

Romans 4

Romans 9:4-8

Romans 11

1 John 5:11-13