Abraham Dies, and Yet Lives Forever with God
So, we finally come to the close of Abraham's life. It has been a fascinating journey to say the least. I've learned many things through his life. From a New Testament perspective, it can be said that his life looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ (John 8:56-59). He was credited with righteousness which would be paid out when Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world (Rom 4:22-25). This fascinating fact and reality is part of the fulfillment of what is known as the 'Abrahamic Covenant'. This is much different from the later Mosaic Covenant, which was conditional (man had to do something in order to fulfill the covenant) and temporary. The Abrahamic Covenant, on the other hand, is unconditional (God is the one who will fulfill the covenant) and everlasting.
Most Bible scholars agree that the Abrahamic Covenant is the single most important covenant in the Bible. For it reveals God's one-sided initiative and grace to mankind in saving him from the power of sin and death. God's working out of the details of this covenant throughout history can be seen, in a biblical sense, from Genesis 12 to the book of Revelation. All of the promises that we receive as Christians have their origins in this covenant. Perhaps even more importantly, the way in which we are to relate to God after our initial point of salvation is understood through the Abrahamic Covenant. Therefore it is absolutely essential that we understand the true nature of it. For a scholarly and edifying view on this subject visit this link.
Through Abraham's life, we can glean some general truths concerning the application of this covenant to our respective lives of faith. I personally have taken to heart God's faithfulness to Abraham despite his shortcomings and failures. He bore with Abraham until he could grow in faith and obedience to Him. Likewise, despite our mistakes and even colossal failures, God is faithful and keeps calling us to Himself so that we may grow spiritually, know Him deeply and inherit his promises. Below is a bullet list which summarized what I learned from God's interaction with Abraham.
What do you think about when you read Abraham's story; what touched you or perplexed you the most?
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| Abe looks forward to coming of Jesus' day |
Most Bible scholars agree that the Abrahamic Covenant is the single most important covenant in the Bible. For it reveals God's one-sided initiative and grace to mankind in saving him from the power of sin and death. God's working out of the details of this covenant throughout history can be seen, in a biblical sense, from Genesis 12 to the book of Revelation. All of the promises that we receive as Christians have their origins in this covenant. Perhaps even more importantly, the way in which we are to relate to God after our initial point of salvation is understood through the Abrahamic Covenant. Therefore it is absolutely essential that we understand the true nature of it. For a scholarly and edifying view on this subject visit this link.
Through Abraham's life, we can glean some general truths concerning the application of this covenant to our respective lives of faith. I personally have taken to heart God's faithfulness to Abraham despite his shortcomings and failures. He bore with Abraham until he could grow in faith and obedience to Him. Likewise, despite our mistakes and even colossal failures, God is faithful and keeps calling us to Himself so that we may grow spiritually, know Him deeply and inherit his promises. Below is a bullet list which summarized what I learned from God's interaction with Abraham.
- God initiates a relationship and plants vision: He both calls and draws us to himself despite our ignorance of who He is and our undeservedness due to our sin (Gen 12:1-3). Also, according to Heb 12:2, God even gives us faith as a gift that we may believe in Him.
- God blesses and sustains: We make mistakes, even after we answer the call to follow Him. Yet he mercifully forgives us and restores us (going to Egypt, ordeal with Hagar)
- God wants our repentance: God is relational, so repentance (expression of contrition for sin and turning to Him in a positive manner) is necessary
- God makes us righteous: Absolutely nothing that Abraham did made him righteous before God. Rather through the faith given to him as a gift, he believed God's word and was made righteous. It is the same for us as well (Rom 1:17)
- God is relational: God visits Abraham on a number of occasions, eating a meal with him and also discussing the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah with him.
- God is patient: God patiently bore with Abraham for thirteen years after he had Ishmael. He also mercifully saved Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. Though His heart is grieved over our sin (Gen 6:6), He waits for us patiently to come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9).
- God disciplines: Abraham's mistakes did not come without consequences. He was grieved dearly when he had to send away Hagar and Ishmael. His relationship with Sarah was strained through his deceitfulness towards Pharaoh and Abimilek. God allowed him to suffer through these ordeals as a form of discipline. He also restored and reassured Abraham afterward. This reveals God's heart in always wanting to reconcile with His people. In the same way, God disciplines everyone that He loves (Heb 12:4-11)
- God is the author of covenant promises: God again and again planted faith in Abraham's heart through repeatedly restating the covenant promise to him (Gen 12:1-3, 7; Gen 13:14-17; Gen 15:1-21; Gen 17:1-21; Gen 18:17-33; Gen 21:12-13; 22:15-18)
- God wants our obedience: God saved Abraham so that he would obey Him in order to bring the Messiah through his family line. Also, in a personal sense, God called Abraham to obedience so that they could enjoy a love relationship together. Without obedience to God, we cannot say that we truly love Him (John 14:15). To be sure, we cannot truly obey God unless he works in our hearts to renew us. So even our obedience (or love) to God, is a fruit of His work in us (Gal 5:22-23). He works and wills in us so that we may worship Him alone and receive his covenant promises.
- God wants our worship: It was clear that Abraham idolized having a son. In order for God to be his God in a real sense, Abraham had to part ways with this sentiment. So God led him to nearly sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. In the same way, God calls us and works in us to relinquish our idols so that we may worship Him alone. He wants our lives and He alone is worthy of this for He is our Creator.
- God will bring our faith to completion through His work: This is the conclusion that I have come to when I view this story. His grace to Abraham is perplexing due to his many faults and blatant blunders. But through this, we see that Abraham is sustained by the one-sided efforts and grace of God. This also echoes the New Testament sentiment of our salvation see Phil 2:12-13. This means that we can take zero credit for what God is doing in us. At the end of the day, we can all rejoice in what He has made is into through His powerful work alone in us according to 1 Cor 15:10.
What do you think about when you read Abraham's story; what touched you or perplexed you the most?
Thank you David for your well written and thought provoking exegesis on each day's reading. I've always liked the story of Abraham and always feel sad when I see that his story has come to a close. But alas his life has come to a close. However, one thing I learned about God from Abraham's life and touched me the most was of course God's amazing faithfulness. God was drawing Abraham to himself the whole time through his faithfulness and love. Especially I like how what started as a journey to get a blessing (a son) ended as a journey to know God and that was the greatest blessing. God is always pursuing us!
ReplyDeleteIt is common to almost everyone that time is a limited commodity and the time we have on Earth is also very limited. I heard it said far too often that a lifetime being around 75 - 100 years seems like a long time but it really isn't and that it will fly by and you should take advantage of things while you are young. When I study Abraham this is not the case. God is sending us a message that we do not need to hurry and get really good and stable jobs, establish a family and live the "American Dream." God says that first we must work on ourselves and establish a strong realtionship with God through faith and then work on the rest of our lives. God is patient and teaches us to be patient as well. When God summoned Abram he was already old and in an earthly viewpoint he was too old to be a father let alone leave his country and establish a nation in a foreign land. However, God did not see it that way, God worked in Abraham until his faith was pure and he put God first. Next God gave him a son so that Abraham can raise Issac to be a God loving man. Time does not seem to be a major factor for God and this is the better way to live because time and time again it has been proven that haste makes for waste and that anything that is rushed is never done right. I can rest assured because God lets Abraham die only after his mission and purpose is fulfilled and I believe that God will do the same for me.
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