The Gospel in the Old Testament

Tim Davis

The Old Testament Scriptures told the gospel long before Jesus stepped on the scene.

Don’t just take my word for it. In Galatians 3:8, Paul writes, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be bless.’”

Paul is quoting Genesis 12:3 where God promises an old man (whose wife is barren) that their offspring will be the source of blessing for every nation. 

This is the good news preached in advance.

WHAT CAN GOD DO?

Genesis 12 comes after Genesis 11.  

Riveting insight, I know. But this point really matters because Genesis 11 doesn’t stand on its own—it’s part of a larger literary unit that begins with Genesis 1. These chapters (Genesis 1-11) give us the backdrop to that first gospel proclamation in Genesis 12.

God created humanity in his image but Adam and Eve sinned. God cursed the ground and banished these two humans from Eden. Outside the garden, humanity’s sin only increased. Fast forward all the way to Genesis 11, God scatters the people of Babel for attempting to magnify their own name. 

This is why scholar Christopher Write says, the question that Genesis 1-11 asks is, “What can God do about the brokenness of humanity, the earth, and the nations?”[1]

Genesis 12 gives us the answer. God isn’t done with the world or the people he scattered. He’s on a mission to bless. 

#BLESSED

God plans to bless the nations through Abraham’s offspring. But what exactly does “bless” mean? Scroll social media, I bet you can find a “#blessed” on someone’s feed. But I don’t think God’s version of “bless” is synonymous with this social media trend. 

So what does it mean for God to bless?

Well if you’ve made it this far into the article, you not only like to read, but you’re also a good reader. And as a good reader you’re going to ask, “Has the word “bless” been used in the narrative before this point and if so, how?” 

This is where you recall that “blessed” was first used in the creation account. The word is used to describe days five, six and seven and it’s “constituted by fruitfulness, abundance, and fullness in the natural order, and by humans enjoying God’s own rest within God’s good creation.”[2] In short, the opening pages of Scripture describe a “blessed” state of affairs where humans enjoy right relationship with God, right relationship with others and right relationship with the created order. 

God’s commitment to bless the nations through Abraham’s offspring, then, brings the story one step closer to God’s original design. 

THE GOSPEL IN FULL

Here’s where we come full circle. What Genesis 12 anticipates, Jesus fulfills. Jesus is the offspring of Abraham who drives God’s blessing to the nations. Because of his glorious resurrection, Jesus enables us to have right relationship with God and others. Jesus takes us one step closer to God’s original design—or if I may, to something better. After all, we’re not going back to the original heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1); we look forward to a new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1). 

Jesus is the good news; yet God preached the gospel of Christ in advance.