Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

16 January 2024

Reading From Genesis 12-15

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

‘I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.’”

–Genesis 12:1-3

     What is remarkable about this promise is that it was made to a childless old man with a barren wife.  A servant of his household was set to inherit all of Abram’s property had God not divinely intervened.  We see the fulfillment of this through not only the miracle of the birth of Isaac and the beginnings of Israel as a people group, but spiritually through another physical descendant of Abram, Jesus Christ, the God-Man.  If the leaves of his physical and spiritual family trees are counted together, we see that God truly fulfilled His promise to Abram, who would become Abraham.  Today there are millions of natural descendants of Abram through Sarai and Hagar, but also billions of spiritual descendants through faith in the Seed of Abraham, Jesus.

     Anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus becomes a spiritual descendant of Abraham.  In Genesis 15:6 when God makes His covenant with Abraham, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”  Abraham not only believed God’s call, but put his faith into action by leaving everything familiar and following God to Canaan.  Faith, believing in what is not seen and being certain of what one hopes for, is not only what Abraham was known for, but also what brings us together as the eternal family of God.  As I shared on January 1st, faith is the key that unlocks the door.  It binds us to the infinite.  Galatians 3:29 says, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”  God is blessing the nations through the ministry of reconciliation with Him through Jesus.[1]  As children of God, we are to be His hands and feet in doing His work of love around the world.[2]  The family of God is meant to be a blessing to others.[3]  Jesus is the offspring of Abraham and so are we as part of the Body of Christ.[4]

     But it isn’t enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham or to consider oneself grafted into the Vine through belief only.[5]  Part of faith in Jesus is repentance, turning away from sin and toward following God.[6]  John the Baptist said, “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”[7]  And so to be part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, I must sincerely believe, genuinely repent and bear good spiritual fruits such as those found in Galatians 5. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”[8]  God wants to bless the world through us, His children who love Him and are called by His Name for His good purpose.[9]

“Lord, increase my faith.  Help me to trust You as Abraham did and put my faith into action by obeying Your Word.  Give me the strength I need to turn away from sin and yield to Your Holy Spirit flowing through me.  I pray that my life be filled with good spiritual fruit that gives honor and glory to You alone.  Amen.”

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

–II Corinthians 5:18-21

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[1] II Corinthians 5:18-21

[2] I Corinthians 12:27, Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15, I Corinthians 15:58

[3] Matthew 5:16

[4] Galatians 3:16, 29,

[5] James 2:19, Romans 11:11-31, John 15:5

[6] Mark 1:15

[7] Luke 3:8

[8] Galatians 5:22-25

[9] Romans 8:28