Genesis 22
New International Version (NIV)
Abraham Tested
22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c] because you have obeyed me.”
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I had to go back to this story to try and understand what it was in Abraham's faith that justified him. I heard this quoted to me again yesterday (Jul 8, 2013) at the talks / Bible study my cousin and I have.
I believe that the faith that justified him was his trusting that the One True God, the Creator of all things, knew what He was doing.
We see that Abraham told his servants that both he and Isaac would return and he told his son on the way up the mountain that God himself would provide the lamb. This indeed happened but I have to wonder if he actually believed then that they both would return. He couldn't very well have told his servants the truth that he was going to sacrifice his son. That would have horrified the servants and his son. Again, he couldn't tell his son that he would be the sacrifice when asked where was the lamb. Even if he did believe they both would return, he had to have questioned that belief when he took his knife to kill his son.
Now, what did God say; the One who knows all things, the one who would have known Abraham's heart? He said. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
So, it looks to me like Abraham had in his mind to obey God and actually sacrifice his son.
Paul said this in Romans:
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Romans 4
New International Version (NIV)
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[b]
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[b]
What I am saying is, it is my faith in God in all things, that justifies me; He is in control and I will trust Him in whatever the outcome.
Right now I am having some health issues. One of my problems is lower back pain which affects my desire to do certain work. People have prayed for me and twice now have laid hands on me for healing. My pain eases at times but it is still there. If I am healed completely or not, I still believe God is in control and I trust Him for whatever the outcome. I believe that God has a reason for not healing me right now so I will wait on Him.
I was thinking about the initial fall of man and what happened that day that Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate of the fruit that God said not to eat.
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Genesis 2:16-17
New International Version (NIV)
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
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God said that they would die on the day that they ate of it. God was not talking about a kind of death that you and I know, at least not completely, because He said they would die on that day and yet Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5).
I believe that God was talking about them becoming gods and removing themselves from trusting Him in all things.
The Bible says that God is light and there is no darkness at all in Him (1 John 1:5.) Light and life are synonymous and darkness and death are also synonymous. What this is saying is that God is life, eternal life. By us becoming gods, we have removed ourselves from the light (life) and gone into the darkness (death.)
So, how can we return to God, to life? Under our own power it is imposable. The Bible says that we don't even have the desire to do so nor do we see the need.
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Romans 3:9-18
New International Version (NIV)
No One Is Righteous
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”[a]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”[b]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[c]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[e]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f]
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”[a]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”[b]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[c]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[e]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f]
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Jesus was essentially saying the same thing in His parables, that it is impossible for us to return to God the Father by our own power. After one of His parables, His disciples even asked Him how was it possible for anyone to be saved.
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Matthew 19:24-26
New International Version (NIV)
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
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Jesus said that it is only through Him to be able to return to the Father.
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John 14:6
New International Version (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------He also said this:
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John 6:53-58
New International Version (NIV)
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We've all heard the quote, "You are what you eat." Well, I believe Jesus is saying this same thing. I have to take Him in; invite Him into my life and allow Him to be Master and to take control.
We've seen that we don't see or recognize our need to return to God the Father. I believe that this too has to come from God. He has to do something in my life for me to recognize that my life is no good under my control.
In 1 Corinthians it says that we don't see our true nature right now but some day we will.
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1 Corinthians 13:12
American Standard Version (ASV)
12 For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I believe that this is when we will all see our wretched selves that we are; as Paul said:
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Romans 7:24-25
New International Version (NIV)
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
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