Abraham: Blessed to Be a Blessing

In other words, God’s selection of Abraham (and Israel) – his choosing them out of a mass of humanity who had drifted far from him – was a tactical move. It was a means to an end, rather than the end itself. The theological way of putting this is to say that election is for the sake of mission. The biblical way of saying it is found in a passage like Isaiah 42:1, 6-7:

Here is my servant . . . my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. . . . I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness . . . I will . . . make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

The role that God assigned to the Old Testament people of Israel was a crucial one. They were the first recipients of God’s gracious promises. To them belonged the covenant, the wonderful agreement by which God first established a relationship with a community of people from among the estranged human race. God gave Israel the law, the revelation of his holy nature, of his character and expectations. Supremely, Israel was the instrument God chose to give his Messiah, his Servant, to the world, his Chosen One, who would be the means of salvation for everyone. As the New Testament makes clear, these promises of blessing that God made to Abraham ultimately point to Jesus Christ and find their fulfillment in him (Gal.3:16).