 | This Sunday’s message showed me a side of Abram I believe we all can relate to. The text was Genesis 15:1-6. The passage starts with the phrase “After these things…” which briefly, are the things God had already done for Abram - from calling him out to a new country away from his family, blessing him with wealth, causing him to be victorious against a vast army with just a few hundred men, and being has blessed by the priest/king Melchizedek. So in a vision God visits Abram and tells him that He will be Abram’s shield and that Abram will have a great reward. So what does Abram do? Does he thank, praise and glorify God for all He has done for him? |
No, he starts complaining about the one thing that God has not done for him. Abram has no heir.
Doesn’t that sound just like us? “I know You’ve done all these wonderful things for me Lord, but I still need you to take care of this one thing here or that one thing there and then everything will be wonderful.” In the midst of all the blessings God has so graciously bestowed upon us, there is that one prayer that stands out that God has not answered yet - and that is where our focus usually goes.
But notice that God did not reprimand or even get angry at him. He let Abram vent about how his servant would end up with the inheritance since he had no children.
But in Gen 15:4-5, after God lets him get it all out, God gives Abram a good word - a word of gospel.
Doesn’t that sound just like us? “I know You’ve done all these wonderful things for me Lord, but I still need you to take care of this one thing here or that one thing there and then everything will be wonderful.” In the midst of all the blessings God has so graciously bestowed upon us, there is that one prayer that stands out that God has not answered yet - and that is where our focus usually goes.
But notice that God did not reprimand or even get angry at him. He let Abram vent about how his servant would end up with the inheritance since he had no children.
But in Gen 15:4-5, after God lets him get it all out, God gives Abram a good word - a word of gospel.
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[b] shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be."
I like the way the Pastor explained this and I pictured it this way:
God, putting His arm around Abram, talks to him as a close friend comforting his distraught best bud. “No, your servant won’t be the one to claim your inheritance!" He says, "Your very-own-son will be your heir. Here, come outside. I’ve got something to show you.” So God leads Abram out into the night, His arm still around Abram’s shoulder. “Here, look up. See all those stars? Try to count them.” (I can imagine Abram saying “Yea, okay, but how long is this vision anyway?”) God continues, “That’s how many kids you will have.”
Disarmed, Abram believed God's good word. He believed God, and from that faith alone, God Himself counted Abram - right then and there - as a good man in right standing with Him. In spite of his past, and regardless of how Abraham would mess things up from that moment (Gen 16:4, Gen 20:1-18), God's declaration of him being righteous would never change.
Today, God does the same for us, if just from a different viewpoint.
Abram believed what God was going to do for him and God counted that as righteousness.
We believe what God has done for us in Christ and God counts that as righteousness.
God told Abraham what was going to happen in the future. God tells us He loves us and shows us what He did for us in the past through Jesus. So when we look at His Law and see how far away from perfection we are, we either work like a dog to reach an unattainable goal, or we just give up, knowing we can never be good enough. But God, in His great love for us, comes to us and puts His arm around us and says - “ You see what I have required of you? You and I both know you not only failed to do it, but you will never be able to do it. And according to My Law, the penalty for that is eternal death. But because I love you so much, I want to look back to My Son, Jesus. He fulfilled the Law for you, living the perfect life you never could. He went to that cross and paid the penalty for all of your sins. Because of Him, I forgive you of all of those sins and count His righteousness as yours."
Just as God’s good word brought peace to Abram’s distress over the lack of an heir, God’s good word to us alleviates our distress of trying but never achieving His perfection, and from our despair of knowing we are never good enough.
And that, my friends is the best good news we can ever hear.
God, putting His arm around Abram, talks to him as a close friend comforting his distraught best bud. “No, your servant won’t be the one to claim your inheritance!" He says, "Your very-own-son will be your heir. Here, come outside. I’ve got something to show you.” So God leads Abram out into the night, His arm still around Abram’s shoulder. “Here, look up. See all those stars? Try to count them.” (I can imagine Abram saying “Yea, okay, but how long is this vision anyway?”) God continues, “That’s how many kids you will have.”
Disarmed, Abram believed God's good word. He believed God, and from that faith alone, God Himself counted Abram - right then and there - as a good man in right standing with Him. In spite of his past, and regardless of how Abraham would mess things up from that moment (Gen 16:4, Gen 20:1-18), God's declaration of him being righteous would never change.
Today, God does the same for us, if just from a different viewpoint.
Abram believed what God was going to do for him and God counted that as righteousness.
We believe what God has done for us in Christ and God counts that as righteousness.
God told Abraham what was going to happen in the future. God tells us He loves us and shows us what He did for us in the past through Jesus. So when we look at His Law and see how far away from perfection we are, we either work like a dog to reach an unattainable goal, or we just give up, knowing we can never be good enough. But God, in His great love for us, comes to us and puts His arm around us and says - “ You see what I have required of you? You and I both know you not only failed to do it, but you will never be able to do it. And according to My Law, the penalty for that is eternal death. But because I love you so much, I want to look back to My Son, Jesus. He fulfilled the Law for you, living the perfect life you never could. He went to that cross and paid the penalty for all of your sins. Because of Him, I forgive you of all of those sins and count His righteousness as yours."
Just as God’s good word brought peace to Abram’s distress over the lack of an heir, God’s good word to us alleviates our distress of trying but never achieving His perfection, and from our despair of knowing we are never good enough.
And that, my friends is the best good news we can ever hear.
John Clark
John Clark is a husband to Julie, a father of one son living in Valrico, Florida. He has an Associate Degree of Theology from Life Christian University, and serves at Life Center of Brandon where he is a teacher and writer
