This episode spells out the significance of the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15, in light of the rest of the Scriptures. The previous episode noted that Abraham was justified by faith (Genesis 15:6), and Abraham rejoiced when he saw his perfect representative in Christ. (John 8:56) God did not make a covenant with Abraham directly but made it through his representative. These foundational planks of Judaism help answer the question “do Jews and Christians believe in the same God?’ To the extent that Jews continue to relate to God in the manner of Abraham, they believe in the same God as Christians. Christ came 2,000 years ago, perfectly fulfilling the hope of Abraham, who saw Christ’s day and was glad. (John 8:56) Just as Abraham believed and saw his perfect representative in Christ, albeit in types of a “smoking oven” or a “flaming torch,” believers in Christ become sons of Abraham when they put their faith in the second Adam.(Galatians 3:7) The emergence of the distinctive traits of Judaism in the father of Judaism, Abraham, point to their full development and expression in Christianity, highlighting the continuity between the Old and New Testaments.
