The purpose of making Abram's name great was so that he
would be a blessing. The Lord was
blessing the man, making him fruitful, giving Him protection and presence. Abram's name wasn't to be made great in order
that people would know him and he would have much, it was that he would be a
blessing. If people treated him well,
they would be blessed but if they did not, they would be cursed. We see that as truth in Abraham's life, even
when he was deceiving foreign kings about Sarah, that the king who took her as
a wife was cursed in some way for doing so.
Abram was chosen by God, a complete act of God's sovereign election, we
are told nothing at all of the man prior to this moment other than the names of
his parents and siblings. He was not
chosen for righteousness but because God wanted to make for Himself a
people. His righteousness was believing
God's promises.
The new covenant, the covenant in the flesh and blood of
Jesus, is an eternal covenant. The
promise is that we will be raised up on the last day. Death is no longer the
final word. God has the first word and
the final word. Jesus offers His body
and blood and assures us that " I should lose nothing of all that he has
given me." If we are truly His, we
will continue in the covenant, just as Abraham and the people of Israel did. All who were circumcised according to the law
were not saved, only those who believed like Abraham did. The same is true in the new covenant, belief
is the entry point and the continuation but belief plays itself out in life, a
life lived according to the will of God.
The call to us, as to Abraham, is to follow, it is a call to get up,
leave where we were, and go wherever He leads.
Faith means new life.
("By faith we understand that the universe was created
by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are
visible." That is a fascinating
statement for someone like me who invests a great deal of time and energy in
thinking about and teaching on creation.
The singularity which the Big Bang proponents speak of as that from which
all things came is, in fact, something more or less invisible. It is a point but not really a point, it is
of infinite density but takes up no space, certainly a paradox but if we enter
the realm of things unseen as the writer here suggests, we have our explanation
for the paradox.)
The words "by faith" are important. It is by faith we are saved, faith in
Jesus. It is by faith that we live and
that "by faith" is the evidence for belief. We see in this portion of Hebrews the pattern
the writer uses to encourage us by way of appealing to those who have gone
before us in faith. In every instance
their faith was seen by their actions, they did something that revealed they
had faith. We are saved by faith but our
faith doesn't end with belief, it begins there.
From that point forward, we live by faith, our lives are unusual and
inexplicable to those who do not have that faith. Is that true in your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment