At Christmas, many of us open presents. And, oh, what a joy it is to open a present. Even adults must admit that they love the feeling. Some of us might try to suppress our excitement to be, you know, ‘grown up’ about it; however, inside, we’re giddy. Children, on the other hand, express the joy of opening presents far better. Consider for a moment how children often judge presents. If you were to set two different presents, one big and one small, in front of a young child, which one will they typically go for first? The big one. Why? Because as a child you often associate the value of the gift with its size. The bigger, the better. However, as we grow older we discover the most value is often packed into the smaller present. A diamond ring comes in a small package, so that small package proves far more valuable than a big box that contains a giant stuffed toy. This same principle applies to some of the words we come across in Scripture. There is often a payload of theological treasure jampacked into small, seemingly straightforward words. And we should be more excited about these little words than we are presents at Christmas. Let’s consider one very relevant word for this advent season.

In Galatians 3:16, Paul says this,

 

“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.”

 

Paul takes one word, “offspring” and makes what on the surface appears to be quite the exegetical and theological leap by saying offspring refers to Christ, that is, Jesus the long-awaited Messiah who saves God’s people. Paul does the same thing when he writes Timothy,

 

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8).

 

Jesus is the offspring of David. Now David had many sons. What makes Jesus the offspring, and why is that so important? We may be tempted to say, “Well Paul can come to these conclusions and make these assertions because he is an Apostle.” But, I think Paul actually instructs us how to read our Bibles here. Paul offers a couple of clues in these two verses that inform his word choice. Paul connects Jesus being the offspring to two people: David and Abraham. So with those two clues in hand, let’s just consider this tiny little word offspring. One of the best ways to begin to unpack this wonderful gift is to read our Bible’s backwards, beginning with a couple of very well-known Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah, Jesus. So let’s start unwrapping, because treasure of immeasurable worth lies hidden in this word, offspring.

 

The Offspring of David

First, Isaiah prophesies in Isaiah 9:6–7—a verse that often comes to mind around the Christmas season. In fact, many of us may have memorized—“to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” Isaiah says that son is divine, that “his name shall be called…Mighty God” among other divine monikers. And, Isaiah declares that God will send this divine child, this son, to be the righteous ruler of his kingdom. Isaiah says that this son will sit on David’s throne—“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…on the throne of David and over his kingdom” (Isaiah 9:7). Right before declaring this, Isaiah says in Isaiah 7:13–14, that this promised divine son who will rule on David’s throne is the same son who will be called “Immanuel” (God with us), who will be born of a virgin unto the house of David. It doesn’t get much more Christmas than that!

Well, so far we have not seen the word offspring, but David shows up a lot. Isaiah certainly understands that David is connected to this promised son . Where does Isaiah get this? Again, we’re tempted to chalk it up to Isaiah being a prophet. However, Isaiah, just like Paul, shows us what Holy Spirit empowered, Christ-centered reading of Scripture looks like. Isaiah teaches us how to read our Bibles. So let’s continue reading backwards. For Isaiah takes his cue from a promise that God had already made to David.

We see in 2 Samuel 7:12–13 (cf. 1 Chronicles 17:11–14), that God declared to David, “I will raise up your offspring after you…and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Aha! Here we find our key word. The promised divine son prophesied by Isaiah is the offspring of David that God promised would reign forever. This promise to David ignited within David humble adoration and profuse praise to God (2 Samuel 7:18–29). Just consider some of David’s words in response to this promise,

 

“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?…You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! And what more can David say to you?…Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Samuel 7:18–22).

 

David is obviously elated. Behind this elation, though, there does seem to be more than just joy for the promise of a son who will reign as king forever—as spectacular as that is. Indeed, David says this promise of God to him is “instruction for mankind” (2 Samuel 7:19). What does David have in mind?

David understands this promise of an offspring to be the coming fulfillment of an accumulation of God’s promises to his people. David is of the tribe of Judah the son of Jacob, and God had already made clear in Scripture—Scripture that David would have been familiar with—that a promised king would come from Jacob and specifically Judah, who would crush God’s peoples’ enemies and rule over all peoples (Numbers 24:17; Genesis 49:10).

Just as Isaiah understood the promised divine son to be the promised forever king who was David’s son, David understood the offspring promised to him, to be the promised ruler who would come from Judah and Jacob to crush all enemies and rule over all peoples.

So the offspring’s connection to David is clear. But what about Abraham? Well, Isaiah, David, and the people of Judah and Jacob all would have understood the promised offspring to be the promised offspring of Abraham, just as Paul did.

 

The Offspring of Abraham

Recall, God promised Abraham that his “offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:17–18). This is the promise Paul had in mind when he wrote the words of Galatians 3:16 and 2 Timothy 2:8.

Let’s review, then. The divine son born of a virgin, the son and offspring of David who would reign forever, the enemy crushing king of Judah and Jacob is one promise. And that promise is the promised offspring of Abraham who would possess the gate of all his enemies and bless all the nations of the earth. Paul, Isaiah, and David understood that it would be through a promised offspring that God would fulfill his promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1–3).

But we’re not quite done unwrapping this word yet. There is one more way Paul, Isaiah, David, and even Abraham would have understood this promise of an offspring. To discover that, we must go all the way back to the beginning.

 

The Promised Offspring of David Is the Promised Offspring of Abraham Is the Promised Offspring of the Woman

In Genesis 3:15, after that awful day in history we call the Fall, God declares to the Serpent, in earshot of Adam and Eve these words,

 

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15)

 

Paul, Isaiah, David, and Abraham all understood that the promise of an offspring was the promise to destroy Satan and save God’s people from the curse of sin and death. What Abraham, David, and Isaiah all hoped for but never saw fulfilled, Paul declares we now behold in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Is the Promised Offspring

When Paul declares Jesus is the offspring of Abraham and David, this is what Paul has in mind:

 

Jesus is the promised offspring in Isaiah who is the divine son born of a virgin, God with us, who reigns in righteousness forever (Isaiah 7:13–14; 9:6–7).

 

Jesus is the promised offspring of David who will defeat death and reign on David’s throne forever (2 Samual 7:12–13; 1 Chronicles 17:11–14; Acts 2:22–32).

 

Jesus is the promised offspring who is the ruler from Jacob and Judah who will crush his enemies and have the obedience of all peoples (Numbers 24:17; Genesis 49:10).

 

Jesus is the promised offspring of Abraham who will bless all families of all nations (Genesis 12:1–3; 22:17–18).

 

And Jesus is the promised offspring of Eve who would crush the head of the Serpent and undo the curse of sin and death (Genesis 3:15; 1 John 3:8).

 

Great Treasure in a Small Word

Jesus is the promised offspring. It seems our principle proves true. A seemingly small package, the word offspring, contains with in it a payload of such immense worth and value, that we should be like a kid at Christmas when we happen to stumble across this word in our Bible reading. Hidden within this word “offspring” is the very promise our salvation. That is something worth getting excited for this Christmas when the promised offspring’s, Jesus’, first advent is so clearly in view.