Faith like Abraham
“Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3
In today's key verses, God promises Abraham three blessings, a land, a seed, and a universal blessing. Since we are Abraham's seed (Galatians 3:29), those blessings apply to all of us.
Abraham's story illustrates how God loves the world and His redemptive plans for us because He keeps His promises to Abraham. As the father of faith, God chose Abraham because he believed that God could raise his son Isaac from death. Accordingly, just as Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3), whoever has faith in Jesus is imputed with God's righteousness as Jesus takes away our sins and transgressions.
The faith of Abraham sets a precedent for future generations, we can receive promises of God even when they seem impossible. Here are three Abrahamic blessings that apply to us.
The land promise is key to God’s words to Abraham. A constant promise of land possession is made to Abraham by God. Land not only represents physical wealth and possessions, and spiritually lands means rest in God's presence and fellowship with God. By faith, we dwell in the promised land!
Symbolically, God's "seed" blessing indicates that we are recipients of His blessings and instruments for passing them on to others. In the same way that seeds multiply, God's blessings multiply. That's why Abraham is the father of all nations, and he is the spiritual father of all. The promised seed is Jesus, as Jesus came through Abraham's lineage. As God's heirs and children through Christ, we fulfill the promises of a multitude of descendants.
Last but not least, God will bless those who bless us and curse those who curse us.” We receive blessings and curses based on how we respond to Christ. We don't need to chase blessings because covenant blessings will come upon us and overtake us. (Deut 28:2)
We know God administers justice even when people do evil to us, so we can still bless those who curse us, and overcome evil with good.
How can we receive God's promises? All we need is faith like Abraham. Although some dreams and promises are seemingly impossible to us, God has chosen Abraham as a model of how all those "promises impossible" can be fulfilled by faith. To receive His promises, let's have faith like Abraham.
Blessing prayer: May we have faith that pleases you so we will be credited with righteousness and receive all your promises. In Jesus' name, Amen
