Planned Before Time Began

At Pentecost – on the very day the promise was fulfilled – Peter used a similar form of speech.

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)

Peter here joins together the words gift and promise. To what special, promised gift does he refer? To the same as that spoken of by Jesus and by Paul – the promise of the Spirit. This is indeed the promise of the Father which He had planned and prepared through many long ages, that He might bestow it upon His believing children through Jesus Christ in this present dispensation.

Paul also calls this promise “the blessing of Abraham” (Gal. 3:14). Thus he links it with the supreme purpose of God in choosing Abraham for Himself. When God first called Abraham out of Ur, He said:

I will bless you... And you shall be a blessing... And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 12:2-3).

In His subsequent dealings with Abraham, God reaffirmed His purpose of blessing many times.

“In blessing I will bless you... In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 22:17-18)

To what specific blessing did all these promises of God look forward? The words of Paul supply the answer: “the promise of the Spirit” (Gal. 3:14). It was to purchase this blessing, promised to the seed of Abraham, that Jesus shed His blood on the cross.