When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17.

From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14.

Continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 6: The promise made to Abraham’s seed: Genesis 12:7: The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. And Galatians 3:16: Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

And if we continue in Galatians a little further, What I am saying is this: the Law which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. v. 17-19.

I loved this in What St Paul Really Said by Tom Wright about Jesus and us: “The answer hinges, as I have shown in detail elsewhere, on Paul’s foundational belief that Jesus, so far from being irrelevant for theology, was in fact the Jewish Messiah, the one in whose life, death and resurrection Israel’s destiny was summed up and brought to fulfillment. He has carried the destiny of Israel, including the promises to Abraham, down into the valley of death, down into the place of the curse, on behalf of Israel and hence of the whole world.” And this: “For Paul, the cross and resurrection were the eschatological events par excellence. He knew that God would, one day, complete the work He had begun both in the cosmos (Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 15), and in him personally, as in all believers (Philippians 1:6). He knew, too, that events were looming on the historical scene which would be, along with the resurrection of Jesus, part of the eschatological inbreaking of the Age to Come (2 Thessalonians 2). But he knew, above all and more than all, that the Age to Come had already dawned when Jesus of Nazareth defeated death. That was what mattered The outworkings and implications demanded energy and application, and even suffering and facing persecution. But all was done with a note of joy: nothing could now separate those in Christ from the all-powerful, all-embracing, all-conquering love of the creator and covenant God.”

It helps to know words we don’t use every day. “Eschatology is the branch of theology concerned with “last things,” including death, judgment, the afterlife, and the final destiny of humankind and the cosmos. It focuses on themes like the return of Christ, resurrection, and divine judgment. Major views include pre-, post-, and amillennialism, often focusing in interpreting biblical prophecy.”

Creator God is faithful and just. He will complete the work He began of which we are all a part. I can’t imagine living in this fallen world without God to help me see His good will is being done. What does it take, looking at our world, for us to see how far off-course is the way of mankind without Creator God? I think it takes the love of God showing us the better way with Him that brings hope for all of us. Our moving toward Him begins in His love for us and it is deeply personal. In experiencing how much He love us we begin to see how much He loves all of His children.