December 4

As we mentioned yesterday, God had a very special plan for Abraham. He was going to be the father of God’s family of Chosen People.

God made a special agreement with Abraham called a covenant.
God said to Abraham, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee" (Gen 17:7)

When Adam sinned, the gates of heaven were closed. However, God did not give up on mankind. A covenant was God's "adoption".

Throughout the Old Testament, we see God making covenants with men. With each covenant, God’s family grew to include more people:

Adam and Eve-a married couple
Noah-a family
Abraham-a tribe
Moses-a nation (12 tribes)
David- a kingdom
Jesus-all kingdoms; the world- Jesus would found a World Wide Church (The Greek word for "World Wide " is Katholikos-Catholic!)

God made 3 promises to Abraham;

The Promise of Land- God promised Abraham that his descendants would have the land of Chaanan, but only after they lived 400 years as slaves in a strange land (Egypt) Finally, God would fulfill His promise of land through MOSES (Gen 15:1-21)

The Promise of Royal Dynasty- God promises Abraham, "I will make nations out of thee and kings shall come out of thee" (Gen 17:6) God fulfills this promise through KING DAVID (Gen17:1-11)

The Promise of a World Wide Blessing-After Abraham shows that he is faithful to God, even to the point of being willing to give up his son, God rewards him with the final, greatest promise, "…in thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed, because thou hast obeyed My voice" (Gen 22: 18). This promise is fulfilled through the Savior, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (Gen 22: 1-19)

God promised Abraham that he would have a multitude of descendants, yet Abraham and his wife Sarah would have to wait many years for this promise to be fulfilled.

Throughout the Old Testament, we see God teaching His dear ones to trust Him. That was the test right at the beginning for Adam and Eve and that is the test for each one of us today. Every day, God is asking us, "Will you obey Me? Do you trust Me? Will you remain faithful even when life doesn’t make sense?"

Finally when Abraham and Sarah were very old, when it seemed impossible that such a thing would happen, they had a son, Isaac.
Isaac grew straight and strong, and everything was going well. Then God tested Abraham’s faith again. God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac as a sacrifice!

You see, once again, God was asking Abraham, "Do you trust Me? Do you love Me above everything else?"
Now the good God did not intend for Abraham to actually kill Isaac, but Abraham did not know that.
Abraham obeyed God's command. He went up the mountain and Isaac went with him, carrying the wood for the sacrifice.

In doing so, Abraham and Isaac were a symbol of God the Father and God the Son. Abraham is like God the Father, offering His Son for the sins of the world. Isaac is like God the Son, carrying the wood of the cross on His shoulders.

Abraham passed the test of faithfulness. Just as he was about to kill Isaac, an angel came and stopped him, and a ram was provided for the sacrifice instead.

God spared Abraham’s son, but He would give up His Own Son for us poor creatures. His Only Son; the Eternal Word; to be born in a stable and die on a cross.

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Advent Series December 4