Grant Abbott Child of Father, Follower of Son, Student of Spirit

God had promised Abraham that He would create a great nation from Abraham's descendants. But Abraham had no children with his wife Sarah. God called Abraham to go to a land that God was promising to his descendants (the land of the nation of Israel) and God repeated his promises to Abraham.

Abraham waited many years and then God performed a miracle. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old when she gave birth to her son, Isaac, the fulfilment of God's promise. When Isaac was a teenager, God decided to test Abraham's faith in these promises of God, about a great nation coming from Abraham's descendants. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, to kill him as a sacrifice to God. But God stopped him just before he plunged the knife into Isaac, because he saw that Abraham's faith was solid and sure. We can read all about these events in Abraham's life in the book of Genesis (chapters 12 to 25).

In the New Testament, the book of Hebrews explains that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his one and only son because he reasoned that God would be able to raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham understood that God could not keep his promise unless Isaac was alive. That was the evidence of Abraham's strong faith.

Hebrews 11:17-19
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death."

God used this example in Abraham's life to foreshadow what God himself would do for us to fulfil his promises to us. God loves his human creation so much, that He sacrificed his one and only Son to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world, so that, everyone who puts their faith in Jesus would receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16).

That is the definition of "Goodness", a willingness to even lay down one's own life for the people who would become God's friends.

July 12 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report