The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers…
Why do you hear this line so often in the Bible? Who are these men of God, and what makes them so important that their names are scattered all over the Bible in both the old and new Testaments?
They are all forefathers of Jesus Christ, and they uniquely fit into the beginnings of the nation from which Jesus came to be the Savior and Lord of all nations.
Jesus’ genealogy goes back to these key characters. To the rest of the world at that time, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were nomadic shepherds, leaders of a large band of family and servants wandering about mostly in the land of Canaan, but sometimes to Egypt to get away from famine, and sometimes to Mesopotamia to get wives from relatives that lived there.
Of all the people in the world that God could have called to become his chosen people, these are the ones. God selected them and called them and entered into covenant with them and gave amazing promises to them and guided and blessed and protected them and struck bargains with them and sometimes even wrestled with them. God appeared to them. He spoke to them.
If you are reading along with us then you know what I am talking about. This weeks readings (Genesis 20 – 46) take us from the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, through Isaac’s adventures with Rebekah, to Jacob and Esau and all that Jacob did to his brother and how his brother wanted to kill him (sound familiar), through Jacob’s wanderings and wives and 12 sons and a daughter, to Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, the coat and the dreams, to his brother’s jealousy, selling him into Egyptian slavery, his master’s wife who falsely accused him, his imprisonment and finally his exaltation to power in Egypt and the rescue of his family from famine. It’s quite a story! It’s the history of Jesus’ human ancestry. God recorded and preserved it for us.
But what does this have to do with me and you today? Listen: When we come to Christ and become Christians by faith and obedience to the gospel, this becomes our story, too. We join in the line with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That’s right!
Being a Christian is not just about being an individual who comes to God out of nowhere and starts from scratch to build a new life with God. No, no, no! Being in Christ is entering into God’s family! God’s forever family! With Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus said, Matthew 8:11 "And I say to you, that many shall come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;
When Jesus describes what happens after you die, in Luke 16, for the saved Jesus describes it as going to feast with Abraham. (This is before the day of Judgment and so Jesus depicts paradise and torment in this way). There is clearly a separation between those who are found faithful and those who are not. The faithful join with Abraham in celebration, the wicked are placed in the flames of torment. The message is hard to miss. Being with Abraham in paradise is where we all would want to end up. Our lives here and now make a critical difference in not just where we go, but whose family we are in.
Paul wrote speaking of how God credits us with righteousness and brings us into this family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: Romans 4:16 For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
17 (as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU")
And similarly he tells the Ephesians: Ephesians 2: 11 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands--
12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one,
Are you a Christian today? Then Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are your forefathers too! God puts us into this forever family of faith together. It is by cleansing through Jesus blood and our rebirth into Christ that we enter this family. God makes us into children of Abraham by faith through his gracious calling and adoption into the family of Jesus Christ. Don’t you want to know more about your family and spiritual history? That’s what we are reading about as we go through the Old Testament.
Listen to Galatians 3: 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
What if you were a son or daughter of the richest man in the world? What would be your inheritance?
When it comes to getting an inheritance, one of the things that are important is that you are legally a member of that family. If in the last will and testament it says that all the children are to equally share in the inheritance, then let me ask you a question: who gets the inheritance? The children, right?
Did you know that God has determined to give out an inheritance to all the children of Abraham? That’s right! Then what can you do to be a child of Abraham?
Listen to Jesus in John 8: 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 "You are doing the deeds of your father."
Jesus is saying, “Like father, like son.” Then he tells them that instead of being like Abraham who trusted and obeyed the call and commands of God, they are being like the devil who lies and kills. Thus, spiritually speaking, we can see who our father is by who we act like.
Abraham was a great man of faith in God. He was not a perfect man, but a faithful man. We can not be perfect like Jesus Christ here in this life, but we can be faithful like Abraham.
We can trust and obey God and receive his inheritance that he promises us in Christ through Abraham.
Let’s finish this lesson with one of the peak events that proved Abraham’s faith. It is the one event that most clearly defines the depth of his trust in God.
Genesis 22.
22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2 And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you."
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 And Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
12 And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."
15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
Just think about the faith of our forefather in Christ. When God spoke to him, he listened! Even when the command seemed unreasonable and unthinkable, by faith, Abraham obeyed.
Remember, Abraham didn’t start here! God tested Abraham only after years of faith training where God proved to Abraham that he was God and that he kept his promises. God built Abraham’s faith with covenants, promises, and proofs. Abraham believed God and walked with God, listening to God’s voice and growing stronger and stronger in his faith until we reach this point in his life. Abraham has walked with God for years now. He is way over 100, with a long history of hearing and seeing God’s hand of blessing and protection, and provision for he and his family.
He is ready for this test. God has prepared him well. Now, he faces it. Now he takes Isaac up the mountain. Now he builds the alter arranges the wood and binds his son. Now he draws the knife to sacrifice him. And God’s angel stops him and says, “Now I know.” God knew Abraham’s heart before, now God knows Abraham’s actions as well.
Faith was put to the test here. Can a man’s faith stand the test? Job’s did. Now Abraham’s has stood the test as well. God is glorified and man is saved through such a faith.
How about me and you? Where is your faith? Is God just beginning to build faith in you? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. But faith is tested by trials, proving it to be genuine and of great worth. Listen to 1 Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
