The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

message. The NT term for Gospel euangelia refers to a message or announcement of good news and good tidings. In a few instances it is used regarding promises made between people (cf. Acts 23.21). Even a quick scan of the OT biblical materials reveals from the earliest texts the significance of promise in them, especially in regard to God’s promise to provide an heir to Abraham (see Rom. 4.13-16, 20; 9.8-9; 15.8; Gal. 3.16-22; 4.23; Heb. 6.13-17; 7.6; 11.9, 11, 17). These promises provide the structure and shape of the entire history and experience of Abraham, his heirs (i.e., his descendants Isaac and Jacob), and the people which would spring from them and carry the hope of the seed of Abraham who would come bringing redemption and restoration to the people and the Land. W. M. Smith highlights the importance of the concept of promise in a discussion of God’s prophetic prediction that he would send an heir in promise to Abraham and a seed to sit on the throne of David, a “Savior according to promise” (Acts 13.23): Stephen speaks of the time of the advent as that in which “the time of the promise drew nigh” (Acts 7.17). This promise to David of a Savior has been confirmed in Christ (Acts 13.32). It is to this group that we must assign Paul’s allusion to “the promise by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 3.22). It is probable that this dual grouping of promises, those to Abraham concerning a seed and those to David concerning a king to reign, are united in Paul’s references to this subject as “the promises made unto the fathers” (Rom. 15.8); in the familiar discussion of Israel’s future, he refers to the Israelites as “the children of the promise” (Rom. 9.8-9) and reminds them that they are the ones who possess the promises of God (Rom. 9.4). Closely associated with this is the gift of God promised to us in Christ, that is, the promise of life in Christ (2 Tim. 1.1), or, as elsewhere expressed, “the promise of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9.15), or as John wrote, “the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal” (1 John 2.29). ~ W. M. Smith. “Promise.” The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology . Walter A. Elwell, ed. (electronic ed.) Ellis Enterprises, Inc. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984. The heart and soul of our salvation is rooted in the fidelity of God to keep his promises to his world, to humankind, to his friend Abraham, and through him, to all those who come to believe in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Lord, the