The Gospel According to Abraham

Arizona Bible Conference

September 2–4, 2016

“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the
gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’
So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Gal 3:8–9
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’
as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” Gal 3:16
Gene taught “The Gospel According to Abraham” over Labor Day weekend in Prescott, Arizona.
We have recently completed studies in “The Gospel According to Isaiah” (No. Virginia April 2016) and “The Gospel According to David” (Colorado May 2016). The purpose of these studies is to show that the Gospel message—pointing men to Jesus Christ in faith—is declared throughout Scripture. In fact, this is the central message of the Bible. Certainly, in the Old Testament, the nature of the Gospel message is necessarily prophetic as His coming and redemption are spoken of as future events. Job’s statement regarding his “Redeemer” reveals that, in ancient times, the message of the coming Savior was clearly stated and understood.

In the future, we will also study “The Gospel According to Noah” (Uniontown October 2016) and then “The Gospel According to Moses” (No. Virginia Spring 2017). The combined weight of these studies should greatly strengthen our faith in the unity and harmony of the Scriptures and, at the same time, motivate us to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,” Heb 6:12.

Paul states that the Gospel was “preached … beforehand [in advance] … to Abraham.” The content of that message was that “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” Let’s look at the repetition of the message first, then we will consider its implications. There are five passages in which this promise is made to Abraham. Each is significant in the life and history of Abraham.
By gaining an understanding of the unity and harmony of the biblical message, we come to see that, indeed, Jesus Christ is the focus from Genesis to Revelation; and faith in Him as Savior is the only way to enter into eternal life. This is just as true for Old Testament people as for those living after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

Gene Cunningham - August 15, 2022

Jesus' Second Coming

Revelation 19 shows a picture of what Jesus Christ's return will be like. Revelation 19:11 says, Then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire.” What do you think that signifies? Anger. “Wrath on his head were many crowns…” Absolute authority. “And he had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was close with a robe dipped in blood.” Whose blood? His own. “His name is called the Word of God and the armies in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that He should strike the nations. He himself shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And He has on his robe and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords” This is the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we will come with Him. Why on the thigh? The thigh in Scripture is a symbol of power. If you remember when Samson struck the thousand Philistines, he “smote them hip and thigh.” It's a symbol of power. So here we have our Lord's return, what we call the second advent. Is it right to refer to the Rapture as phase one and the Second Coming as phase two of Jesus coming? Yes. They both refer to His coming. It's just his coming for different groups, which becomes important when we get into the parables.

From Series: "Jesus' Roadmap for the Future"

The Olivet Discourse -- Jesus' Roadmap for the future, is one of the three major discourses (sermons) of Jesus. They include: 1. The Sermon on the Mount/Galilee Discourse (Matthew 5–7) 2. The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21 3. The Upper Room Discourse (John 13–17) Each of these messages is aimed at a specific period of history, which we call a dispensation. They lay out God’s dispensational plan, like a road map, from the time of the crucifixion to the end of time. The Sermon on the Mount was directed to the generation in which Jesus lived and was His platform as King—if Israel would receive Him. Obviously, they rejected Him as their King. However, this will be the basis of Jesus’ administration during the 1,000-year Kingdom Age (Millennium). Then, the Olivet Discourse was aimed at the consequences of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah, and anticipated the destruction of the nation (70 A.D.) and the final Tribulation period. Remember that the Church Age is an intercalation—meaning an insertion, like a parenthesis, into the Age of Israel. This means that with the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation picks up where 70 A.D. leaves off. This is why the Church Age is called a “mystery” (Rom. 11:25; 16:25; Eph. 3:1–13; Col. 1:26–27), which is a graduate course to “the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Finally, the Upper Room Discourse was directed toward the Church Age, which began at Pentecost and would continue to the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13–18). The uniqueness of this Age is summarized by Paul’s phrase “in Christ,” and all of the elements involved in what we call “positional truth”—our total union with Christ and the indwelling of His Spirit in us, which occurs nowhere else in history. With the removal of the Body of Christ, the Church, Israel would again become the focus of God’s working on this Earth (Romans 9–11; Revelation 6–19).

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