Abraham was faithful and didn't even withhold his beloved son
from the Lord. He was prepared to sacrifice him to God. He believed
in a God Who can bring the dead back to life. But before he could
even witness his son's death, an angel of the Lord appeared to
him:
"Lay down the knife," the angel
said. "Do not hurt the boy in any way, for now I know that you
truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from
Me." Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a
bush. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering on
the altar in place of his son." Genesis 22:12
God stopped Abraham from
sacrificing his son and even provided a ram for Abraham to offer a
sacrifice. And not only that, God lavished Abraham with blessings
due to his obedience:
"This is what the Lord says:
Because you have obeyed Me and have not withheld even your beloved
son, I swear by My own self that I will bless you richly. I will
multiply your descendants into countless millions, like the stars
of the sky and the sand on the seashore. They will conquer their
enemies, and through your descendants, all the nations of the earth
will be blessed - all because you have obeyed Me." Genesis
22:15-18
God showered Abraham with blessings
due to his act of obedience. God is a God of more than enough, a
God of extravagance. And today He is still the same.
God offered Abraham a ram to be
offered as a substitute for his son, but God sacrificed His own Son
as a substitute for us. He gave Jesus as an offer, so that we never
have to die, but that we can live! God spared Isaac, but God didn't
spare His own Son. He didn't spare Him, so that we can all come
into His kingdom as His sons and daughters. He loved us so much
that He sent His only Son to die for us. And now all we need to do
is to believe in the One He sent. And then we become part of
Abraham's descendants and the promise that God gave him is now ours
too:
"God's promise is given to us
as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it, whether or not we
follow Jewish customs, if we have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham
is the father of all who believe." Romans 4:16
"Now this wonderful truth -
that God declared him to be righteous - wasn't just for Abraham's
benefit. It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare
us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord
back from the dead." Romans 4:23, 24
How wonderful, we are righteous if
we believe in God! We do not even need to try, God declares us so,
when we believe in His Son. And even more than that, we are the
descendants of Abraham and all the blessings showered on him is now
ours too. We just need to reach out and take it. We need to claim
it for ourselves. What a wonderful privilege and honour. Praise Him
for His wonderful plan, conceived at the beginning of time. We can
now stand tall in a world filled with darkness knowing that we are
richly blessed.
Thank you Father that we are part
of Your family. Thank you for declaring us to be righteous, all
because of what Jesus did for us! We praise Your Name and we honour
You, our wonderful King and Father! Amen