God had a plan, purpose to redeem men
And in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed. Genesis 12:3
If I understand the Dispensational view of Scripture, they believe that God has a separate will and purpose for the Jewish people (the people of Israel). That purpose is different from the church or body of Christ. This idea, view, or type of theology is what we want to consider this week. Is it really found in the Bible, or is it a false teaching put into the Word of God?
In Genesis 12:3, God told Abram, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” There are two things in this verse we should notice. The first one is found in the words, “all the families.” Not just the natural seed of Abram, but people of every tribe and group of people throughout the earth were blessed when the Son came as the Savior of the cosmos.
The next few words we want to notice are “shall be blessed.” This was referring to a future time. That future time would be when Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled and “the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent.” It was referring to the coming Messiah, the Son of Man, Jesus the Christ. The New Testament helps us to understand that verse in Genesis.
In Galatians 3:7, we are told that “those who are of faith are the children of Abraham.” Verse 8 goes on to say, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”
Galatians 3:26-29 also explains who the nations or peoples are. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” By faith in Christ, we are all on the same level regarding salvation. No group of people has any advantage over another. Romans 10:12-13 says, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him, for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Jew is part of the church and body of Christ just as the Gentile.
Romans 3:28-31 also helps us understand this truth. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”
We could go on quoting verses that prove there is no special (separate) people as far as salvation. But here is the point I am trying to make. From before the beginning of time and creation, God had a plan and purpose to redeem men through the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “He chose us (Jew and Gentile) in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (verse 6) that we might be to the praise of the glory of His grace.”
If we were to go back to the time of creation, we would see that in the beginning (when God chose to create), there were only Gentiles who were created to glorify God by reflecting His image to the rest of creation. Later, Enoch came on the scene, he was pleasing God, to the extent that he did not die. God took him home without having to taste death. Another godly Gentile was Job, he was a kind of trophy or example of righteousness to satan and the rest of creation. Those Gentiles were what the Jewish people should have been.
But if we consider the Jewish people (Israel), God destroyed almost everyone (about 99%) who came out of Egypt, because they were so sinful and dishonoring to God. I want to finish this article with a quote from John Reisinger’s book, “Abraham’s Four Seeds,” page 44. I believe this quote answers the question I put forth in the first paragraph.
“God does not have two peoples, two programs, two eternal purposes, two gospels, and He certainly does not have two separate brides for His Son,” Ephesians 2:11.
Contact the author at thoughtsonword@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.
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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published four books, Common Thoughts on The Word in 2016, Eye of a Needle in 2017, Common Thoughts on The Word II in 2019 and A Bridge Between in 2023. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children’s book.

