ISAAC'S FAITH

 

ISAAC’S FAITH

Gen. 22:6-7 Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac said, “Father?” “Yes, my son,” Abraham replied. “We have the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” NLT

Much has been written and said about this event in Abraham and Isaac’s lives. It has been preached and taught how it relates to the love of God for us shown by His willingness to let Jesus come and die for our sins. It is good for us to meditate on God’s sacrificial love for us.

I want us to think for a moment about Isaac. Isaac knew what was needed in order for a sacrifice to take place. How? The only reasonable explanation is that Abraham had taught him by his words and actions. This wasn’t the only time Abraham had made a sacrifice to the Lord in the presence of Isaac. I am confident that this was a regular part of their lives.

Isaac trusted his father. Even though he did not understand what was going on, he knew that his father would not fail to do what is right before God. He knew that whatever was about to happen, his father could be trusted. At this point, Isaac did not know he was to be the sacrifice, but Abraham did. Isaac rested in the faith of his father as they walked on together.

Abraham didn’t just teach Isaac about his faith; he lived it. Isaac knew that this offering they were about to make required the shedding of blood. He knew that this was the way in which man was to approach God. He knew there was no other way to be accepted by God apart from the shedding of blood.

Like Abraham, we need to not only teach the truth, but live it. We need to show others how important the Lord is to us by the way we live. We need to pass on to our children how much we love and value our relationship with God. Our living is our greatest teaching tool. God blesses those who live out what they believe consistently in their lives.

Oh but that we would be like Abraham. Oh but that we would all have such a love for God that we would be willing to give Him our all, no matter how much it may hurt us to do so. Do you love the Lord your God more than anyone or anything else in life? Do you? Are you willing to let the Lord test your love? When was the last time you laid your all on the altar before God and gave it to Him?

RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH, NOT WORKS

 

RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH, NOT WORKS

Gen. 15:6 And Abraham believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith. NLT

We are counted as righteous before God because of faith and not works. We cannot make it to heaven because of anything we can do. To believe is not a mental exercise; it is a life we live. Saving faith is taking literally what God says about us and our need for salvation through Christ and embracing it for our own. We turn to Christ for forgiveness and then we act forgiven. We strive to forsake the sin that separated us from God. We set our path on submission and obedience to Christ, willing to turn our back on sinful thoughts and practices.

Many profess to be saved because of what they believe about Jesus, but it’s simply not enough. We must give Jesus permission to change us. We must let Him take away our sin and live like we mean it. God does not mess around with sin and neither should we.

Righteousness is living by what is right in God’s eyes, not our own eyes. There is a huge difference between the two. We tend to compare ourselves to others and feel good that we are better than many. On the other hand, God compares us to His Word and sees us in need. When we realize just how far short of God’s perfect law we live, we have no other recourse but to live in Christ and take on His righteousness for He alone has perfectly lived a righteous life before God.

Righteousness is gained by faith and not by works. It is rooted in Christ and not man. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and you will be saved and declared righteous before God.

WORKING TOGETHER

 

WORKING TOGETHER

Gen. 11:5-6 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them!” NLT

United we can do great things, confused we scatter. There is an important lesson here for the Church. There are so many different church bodies under the umbrella of the Church. Each body seeks to do its own thing. We give lip service to our unity. We major in our differences instead of on Christ who unites us. We limit our exposure to each other and seldom work together for the common good of Christ. We are reluctant to have fellowship with each other out of fear of the effect it may have on our relationship with Christ.

The Church is divided and the effectiveness of reaching the world for Christ is weak. We may have some degree of success, but nothing like what it would be like if we were to work together for Jesus’ sake and glory. There is strength in unity. There is much more creativeness in our thinking and the pool of our giftedness is much deeper. There are so many benefits that we deprive ourselves of when each part of the body works independently from the whole.

If we want the Lord to come down and do a mighty work amongst us, we need to be one in heart before the Lord. We need to humble ourselves before Him and together desire to work for His glory. We need to be a people after His own heart, united together at the foot of the cross.

We need to keep our relationship with the Lord pure and wherever possible be as one for the sake of Christ’s witness in the Church and world. Christ unites, not divides, the Church under His lordship.

Granted, there are church bodies who have wandered so far away from Biblical truth that we can’t have a common fellowship or ministry with them. However, there are many church bodies that we should be having fellowship and ministry with that we don’t because they don’t label themselves like we do for ourselves.

Let us seek to work together for the cause and glory of Christ in the world today.

NOAH'S ARK

 

NOAH’S ARK

Gen. 8:20-21 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed on it the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people’s thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.” NLT

Why was the Lord pleased with Noah’s offering? He offered up as a sacrifice those animals that the Lord had approved of for that purpose. Noah knew what pleased the Lord and he did it. He could have chosen any of the multitudes of animals on the ark for his sacrifice, but he didn’t. He chose to obey the Lord all the way. Why do you suppose his heart was so set on total obedience to the Lord?

God had taken notice of Noah’s heart before the flood. Of all the people on earth He was pleased with Noah’s faithfulness. God spared Noah’s life because his life was right with God. Not only did God save Noah’s life, He spared the lives of his family. Can you imagine how much gratitude Noah must have had at that time of his life? God protected him from certain destruction. And not only that, He spared the lives of those who were most dear to his heart.

God enabled Noah to do that which was seemingly impossible. He built the Ark. Scripture doesn’t tell us how much help he had, if any. The Ark was an imposing and impressive project. It was larger than anything else ever built at the time. It was built with much great sacrifice. Think about the massive amount of lumber and materials it took. Consider the amount of time and effort which were put into this project.

The Ark was built at the expense of much mockery. I am sure that no one could ever figure out what the Ark was going to be used for. It had to be built on land and because of its size it could not be moved. So here was this massive boat being built sitting on land. What good was it except to look at? Why would anyone build such a thing? What a waste of time, money, and energy! Had Noah gone mad?

With the help God provided, Noah built the ark. He had done what seemed like the impossible to do. How it must have blessed Noah’s heart to know that with God all things are truly possible! And when the Ark was done, the animals ushered in, the door was shut, the rains came, and the Ark floated without any leaks. Noah had plenty of time on the Ark to think about these things and how the Lord had shown kindness to him. Is it any wonder that Noah did what was pleasing to the Lord in the offering he offered up to Him? The Lord was pleased with Noah and promised to never again purge the world of its population with the rains, even though He knew the heart of man and how it was prone to wander from Him.

May we too reflect on God’s goodness and kindness towards us and offer up to Him sacrifices that are pleasing to Him. The sacrifice that pleases God is the sacrifice of a heart totally yielded to Him, a heart that obeys God completely whether it makes sense at the time or not, a heart that trusts God to know what is best in all He gives us to do.

GOD'S SORROW

 

GOD’S SORROW

Gen. 6:5-6 Now the LORD observed the extent of the people’s wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. NLT

The Lord is not blind to the evil in the world and in the hearts of people. He sees it all and it grieves His heart. I know He knows what is going on in the world and in the hearts of people. He knows how bad things are and how bad it is going to get. He knows what makes people the way they are, what they think, and the desires of their hearts to do evil. It grieves His heart over what man has become.

Man was created for fellowship with God. But because of sin, most people cannot have fellowship with Him. God longs for our fellowship, but because of sin, He is deprived of it. He knows the devastating destructiveness of sin. He knows that because of sin many will never have fellowship with Him. He knows that all who live in sin cannot live with Him and will be cast into hell. He loves all mankind and it grieves Him to know that most will be doomed to hell for eternity. I can understand how there would be sorrow in the heart of God. Yet, God is able to overshadow His sorrow with the joy of knowing those who are saved. His focus is on His children, not those who aren’t.

Is sin that big of a deal? Does it really matter when we sin against God? It certainly does to God. We should take seriously the matter of sin in our lives. Don’t put your head in the sand and ignore the importance of keeping your heart pure before God. The way we live is a life or death matter for our souls. Don’t make God sorry He created you. Don’t give Him cause to have a broken heart.

The Lord, our God, is holy in heart and He can only have fellowship with those who are likewise holy. The only way sinful man can change his sinful heart to a holy heart is through Calvary. Jesus died to take away our sin and make our hearts holy. As long as you stay connected to Christ, God can have fellowship with you.

ANGRY AT GOD?

Gen. 4:6-7 “Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked him. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it.” NLT

Why do we get angry at God? People are quick to blame God for whatever is wrong in their lives, as if it is God’s duty to make sure that everything runs smoothly with no trouble or sorrow. Somehow we have gotten the idea that God exists to make heaven on earth, that He is at our beckon and call to make sure that it happens. We are quick to accept and relish the good of life, but have a problem accepting the bad. Somehow it’s God’s fault and He is duty-bound to fix it.

What we refuse to accept is that God is in control and His rule over life is governed by His holiness. God will never act outside of His holiness. He will never intervene in our lives to do good when there is sin lurking at the door. He never has, and He never will, condone sin in any way, shape, or form. He will not bless those who live in sin. He will allow suffering and troubles in this life as long as people allow Satan in their lives. We can’t have it both ways. This is not heaven; it is Satan’s turf, hell on earth. We live in a world that constantly reaps the consequences of sin. It will not change as long as God delays His coming to cleanse the world.

God does not promise to isolate us from sin’s consequences. He insulates those who trust in Him, but does not keep us from experiencing the consequences of living in a sinful world. So, don’t get angry and blame God for whatever troubles may come your way. Instead, live humbly before God. Make sure that sin does not lurk at the door of your heart. Stay true to the Lord always and refuse to let sin drive you away from God. God never promises to keep us away from troubled times, but He always promises to be with us and help us as we walk through them.

The right thing to do is to always strive to do what is right in God’s eyes.

GOD'S MERCY

 

GOD’S MERCY

Gen. 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “The people have become as we are, knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever.” NLT

There is mercy with the Lord. God had explicitly forbidden Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of good and evil. When they listened to Satan and ate of the fruit of the tree, they broke their covenant relationship with God. They were now sinners and would bear the consequences of their sin.

God had also planted the tree of life in the Garden. If man were to eat of the fruit of that tree, he would live forever. Because God loved man, He spared him from living forever under the curse of their sin. He banished man from the Garden and put angels around it to prevent man from returning to it. He lovingly protected man from an eternal life of sin.

God also provided man with a way to get rid of his sin. God does not want anyone to die in their sin so He sent Jesus to come and be our Savior. The soul of man is eternal spirit. Everyone will live on after they die. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and live for Him, we live on in heaven with Him. If we reject Jesus and die in our sin, we live on without Him in eternal hellfire.

Wherever we end up spending eternity, it will be by choice. God dignifies man by letting man choose where he will spend eternity. He has made himself known to us and we will be judged on the basis of our knowledge of Him. Our lives are a reflection of our choice. We can either live for the pleasures of earth or the pleasures of heaven. Choose carefully whom you will serve. If you make the wrong choice, you will have eternity to think about it.