Grace, mercy, and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
A
summary of our text: “Fear not, Abram, I
am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as
righteousness.
How do you picture Abram (or Abraham
when renamed by the Lord as “Father of multitudes”)? Do you picture childhood
Bible books, the elderly Abraham with a grey beard, wearing a brightly colored
tasseled robe, sitting by a campfire in front of a skin tent? Do you think of
him as a shepherd, driving herds of sheep and goats, and also donkeys and
camels? Do you think of him as very wealthy, with a household of 300 plus men,
a small army? Yet, do you see him as an alien, owning no land, wandering with
his herds looking for water and trying not to antagonize local kings? Do you
think of him as blessed by God and enduring many trials and tribulations?
Perhaps, what comes to mind first is not what he did but whom He believed?
Scripture records Abram’s history with God.
Let’s review that life.
It starts in Ur Babylon Haran Babylon Euphrates Valley Mediterranean
met. With him, Terah took nephew Lot , son
Abraham and Abraham’s half-sister Sarai, Abraham’s wife - who was barren. By
the way, marrying relatives was normal in those days. The Mosaic regulations
about consanguinity came about 500 years later.
After Abraham’s father died, Now
the Lord said to Abram, “Go from
your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will
show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make
your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the
earth shall be blessed.”[1] (Gen 12:1-3)
Abraham believed, and at age 75
travels west about 100 miles and follows the trade route south through Damascus land of Canaan Canaan suffers drought and Abraham’s
growing herds need grass. He goes to Egypt
Not long after returning to Canaan
Abraham and Lot separate. The same land cannot
sustain them both. Abraham gives the choice of the land to Lot ,
who takes the best. But Abraham is Lot ’s
elder, his superior in that culture; he should have the best. Yet Abraham
offered Lot that blessing, in view of the
promise. Lot takes his flocks to the fertile
waterway of the Jordan Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look
from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and
westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your
offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that
if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it
to you.” (Gen 13:14-17 – ESV )
One day, the rich valley where Lot settled is attacked by five kings from the North.
Many cities are sacked, including Sodom Lot lives. Lot
and his family were captured too, along with other spoils of battle. Abraham,
believing the promise, girds himself for war, and with his 300 men attacks a
far greater force to rescue Lot and the
captives of Sodom Gomorrah Salem ESV ) Meet the mysterious Melchizedek, whose name
means the righteous king. And Salem Jerusalem
All along the way the Lord preserved
him, his wife and his household. All along He has been a blessing, although
once again he fears. Now we arrive at another trial in Abraham life, and what
he endured because he believed the promise. After
these things the word of the Lord
came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward
shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God,
what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house
is Eliezer of Damascus ESV )
After being shielded by God when the
small attacked the strong, after Lot ’s happy
rescue, after being blessed by the priest of the Most High God, what now? His heart swelled up in victory bobs
down into the trough. How so? Eliezer of Damascus is mentioned, but not as the
trough. Eliezer of Damascus was
Abraham’s steward, his right and man. Perhaps he was chosen en-route to Canaan the year Abraham turned 75, perhaps employed later
on. He’s like a manager for the owner. And when you had no heir, in that
culture your right hand man was deeded all. Wealthy Abraham has no heir, and
worries about the promise. He’s probably
in his 80’s. Barren Sarai, still beautiful, is past the age of childbearing.
There is not one speck of dust, not one star, not one new citizen for a mighty
nation this wandering shepherd was promised.
If Abraham dies without a child the promise dies too. What is the Lord
doing to Abraham?
This is how the Lord trains saintly
women and men. After encouragement, when life is good, often trials arrive
causing dismay and shaking confidence. Why is this God’s manner toward those
who believe the promise, those whom He loves?
The expression, “Where is God when you need Him?” suggests our fallen
race imagines there are times we do not need Him. Who here is not tempted when
on the mountain top to trust in false security, tempted to become
self-confident rather than promise-confident? How easily do we trust in good
circumstances and set aside God’s promises, received by faith and faith alone?
Do we, sinners all, really need the sentence of death so that we believe the
resurrection? Abraham was like us. We see our failings in his. He fears again,
he is troubled again, and he wavers again when his faith is attacked again. So too the Lord tests us, to comfort the
weeping, to strengthen the weak, to pour out grace upon the confused, to
forgive and give great gifts to those who are His. He will save us through the
promise, through His Son.
He saved us through the death of
Jesus, so too we discover the Lord is strong for us when we are weakest. Jesus
Christ endured trials. Consider His night in the garden (Mt 26:41) when He
wrestled, the flesh weak, troubled. He
won the victory through faith. He won the victory for us, to fulfill the
promises given Eve, Noah, and Abraham. Jesus, the Seed of woman (Gen 3), is the
ark that preserves the faithful in the flood,
who told Abraham to leave his own country in order to bless all nations. Jesus
the Christ is the blessing of all nations, the promised Seed descended from
Abraham. Yet as our Lord said, “Abraham saw my day and was glad.” How did
Abraham see? He saw by trusting the message of the messenger sent him, even the
Lord of hosts. And Abraham, hearing glad words is comforted by the promise, and
believes. That faith, a faith wrought by God and yet Abraham’s faith, was
reckoned to him as righteousness (see Romans 4:23 ). Abraham’s fears for the promise are answered by the
promise, the happy resolution,
being for our confidence in the promise too.
We have the history of the Lord’s
faithfulness. Faith receives this promise and faith alone. Faith receives the
promise that justifies so faith alone justifies, faith trusting the promises of
God, concluding they are true and true for you. Even if that faith is tested,
struggles, wavers it is the vessel into which the promise is poured. The promise is not poured into obedience,
or actions, but faith which receives the promise. Then faith’s fruit is
obedience and love, because that’s what the promise works. Faith is the fruit
of the promise, so that by faith in the promise Abraham conquered his fears. The
promise clearly says what God thinks of Abraham, so that Abraham believes what
God thinks, and follows in view of the promise. Faith too is sustained by the
Saviour’s strength given in every trial, so that faith continues to believe the
promise. “Fear not, Abram, I am your
shield; your reward shall be very great.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as
righteousness.
He believed the LORD, and the Lord
counted that faith as righteousness. There is not a word here about what
Abraham did or did not do. Yet what Abraham then did was true to the promise
was because of faith, the promise giving him courage to believe and act. And
what Abraham then failed to do out of fear and the struggles of faith, the
faithful Lord used to build Abraham’s faith for the sake of the promise.
Despite his doubts, despite the turmoil in Abraham about an heir, despite all
his failings in the past, he is called righteous. On the basis of this faith,
Abraham is reckoned, imputed, regarded, considered, and accounted righteous. And
he is strengthened by the promise, “I am your shield.” That’s not a reward for
Abraham’s deeds, but a gift that faith receives.
The promise given Abraham (like Eve,
Adam, and Noah) is the Seed, the coming Christ. Yes, there will be a child from
Abraham’s seed and Sarah’s womb. Then Abraham will be told to offer Isaac, the
child of the promise, as a sacrifice. So in that terrible trial of faith, Isaac
will foreshadow the sacrifice of God’s Son, even as Abraham’s promised child
shall be spared by a substitute sacrifice. The promise is everything, faith
attaching itself to it, faith grasping it, so that God’s promise of forgiveness
and eternal life through His Son gives peace, life, and joy. Faith receives all
that the promise offers like a beggar, whose bowl will certainly be filled to
the brim.
That’s how your lives are filled by
the grace of God. You are given every good gift, including the testing that
ultimately strengthens faith because the promise will not fail. Faith, kept
alive by the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ, advocated to us by the Spirit -
that faith the Father regards as righteous, faith that Christ died for sinners,
and that means for you.
The peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus our Lord. (Amen)
[1] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version.
electronic ed. Wheaton
No comments:
Post a Comment