Abraham and Sarah both laughed at God's reaffirmation of His promise that in their old age they would bare a son and through Him blessing would come to the nations, fulfilled ultimately in the Messiah. The situation was absurd to them. Daft.
Nevertheless, God fulfilled His promise to them and Isaac was born to them at an age reserved for Great Grandparents! This for me, is one of the most powerful and encouraging accounts of God's covenantal nature in Scripture. Absurd it may seem but God we must remember is super-(above) natural!
Then the most unexpected and agonising part of the story unfolds in God's instruction to take Isaac, the child of promise, to the mountain (Moriah) and offer him as a sacrifice (he didn't know this at the time but this prefigures the atoning sacrifice of God as Father sending His only Son to the cross) How understated to read these accounts from a page! What agony of soul must have prefaced and been felt on this long walk?! Abraham's obedience, even in this extremity, was not required. God did not want this sacrifice, he loves children!
The thing that has been grabbing me this past week is this, can we just BELIEVE God - period? Is our belief based on probability factors, what happens when all seems lost - what left then to believe in? Nothing unless we are 'fully persuaded'. God wants His children to BELIEVE...
The Book of Hebrews sheds light on this further where it states,
"Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death". Hebrews 11v19
Abraham got to the place, beyond incredulity and laughter, where he really and truly BELIEVED in and trusted God. Romans tells us that he was 'fully persuaded' that God had the power to do what He had promised - however absurd! Less reasoning, more believing and resting and leaving God's work to God. This was a major shift, worth the pain.
Abraham's 'journey in faith' is an extreme one but he is the 'father of us all' in terms of faith. It seems that faith beyond reason is the foundation God desires to build on. Today, as you hear this word, may you realise that no matter what your situation looks like, however absurd or laughable, there is a place of rest and certainty beyond reason that is utterly reasonable.
Any comments??
2 comments:
Great stuff!
Indeed, faith cannot be found in reason at all, in fact they contradict each other. Reason has to do with the mind and faith has to do with the spirit. We need to learn to tell our minds what to think and reason, not have our minds tell our spirit.
I think the example of Abraham's faith when he reasoned that God could raise the dead is a revelation of his understanding of the power of the word of God. It is echoed by Jesus when he said to the devil that man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus was saying He trusts his Father because God had spoken concerning Jesus many times before and Jesus knew he could trust God. He didn't need to turn a stone into bread because his Father had said he would be well looked after!
Abraham believed God that he would have descendants as the stars in the sky, so even if he killed Isaac, God had promised and the promise was more powerful than any "reality" Abraham was looking at.
hey Jan, thats really insightful mate, thanks!
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