Today’s Readings
Context
I want you! The poster of a pointing Uncle Sam is famous in our cultural lore. But the scripture tells us that God also made choices. In our readings today he made a key choice - he chose Abram to the Father not only of many nations but of his Chosen People, Israel. In his great work of redemption and in his battle against the world system, God would work in and through this people.
Devotional
Israel never understood why they were chosen. In Deuteronomy, God told them that it was because they were so hard-headed and rebellious that everyone would know that the world he did was all by his grace and power. He said similar things in the New Testament, to churches like Corinth, reminding them that they were chosen as God's own not because of their greatness or merit but simply so God could display his power through them.
In these two passages God defines three great gifts he is going to give the people he chose as his own. These are eternal and irrevocable promises based on the character of God.
First, in Genesis 12:3, he promises to bless Israel. They will experience God at work among them, seeing his power and presence. God is infinitely good and his work in us produces good. But the real good he gives is not health and wealth, or physical, earthly things, but the blessing of his glory among his people.
But there is a key aspect to this that the Israelites almost always forgot. Not only would they be blessed, but they would be a blessing. God's gifts to us are never meant to stop with us. We are channels of his blessing - what he gives to us is to be shared with the world. When he blesses us with prosperity (as he has America) it is to be shared with others and invested in kingdom work. When he comforts us we are to comfort others. We love and forgive because God first loved us and forgave us. When God blesses us we pass those blessings on to the world .
God chose a people so he could bless the world through them. In the OT, that people was Israel. Today, that is the church. God takes us as his own not just to bless us but so that through us we can bless the world.
In Genesis 15:1-6, God promised Abraham a second gift, that his seed would flourish and that he would become the father of many nations. Though Abraham was an old man, God would supernaturally bless him with offspring who would become as numerous as the stars in the sky.
When God is working, there is growth. Offspring. New life. For Abraham, that was a physical blessing. The seed he was promised was literal descendants who would be the result of his miraculous work. Sarah. Rachel. God's power opened wombs and brought life.
Today our God promises offspring to his chosen people, but it is not literal. He uses us in his eternal process of redemption and as we proclaim Christ God saves souls and creates new life.
God chose a people so that he could bring new life through them. In the OT, that was Israel, but in the NT, that is the church's role in bringing the lost to Christ.
In these two passages God defines three great gifts he is going to give the people he chose as his own. These are eternal and irrevocable promises based on the character of God.
First, in Genesis 12:3, he promises to bless Israel. They will experience God at work among them, seeing his power and presence. God is infinitely good and his work in us produces good. But the real good he gives is not health and wealth, or physical, earthly things, but the blessing of his glory among his people.
But there is a key aspect to this that the Israelites almost always forgot. Not only would they be blessed, but they would be a blessing. God's gifts to us are never meant to stop with us. We are channels of his blessing - what he gives to us is to be shared with the world. When he blesses us with prosperity (as he has America) it is to be shared with others and invested in kingdom work. When he comforts us we are to comfort others. We love and forgive because God first loved us and forgave us. When God blesses us we pass those blessings on to the world .
God chose a people so he could bless the world through them. In the OT, that people was Israel. Today, that is the church. God takes us as his own not just to bless us but so that through us we can bless the world.
In Genesis 15:1-6, God promised Abraham a second gift, that his seed would flourish and that he would become the father of many nations. Though Abraham was an old man, God would supernaturally bless him with offspring who would become as numerous as the stars in the sky.
When God is working, there is growth. Offspring. New life. For Abraham, that was a physical blessing. The seed he was promised was literal descendants who would be the result of his miraculous work. Sarah. Rachel. God's power opened wombs and brought life.
Today our God promises offspring to his chosen people, but it is not literal. He uses us in his eternal process of redemption and as we proclaim Christ God saves souls and creates new life.
God chose a people so that he could bring new life through them. In the OT, that was Israel, but in the NT, that is the church's role in bringing the lost to Christ.
God gave his people a third gift in Genesis 15:7-11, which had also been mentioned in 12:1 and 12:7, a land to possess. The physical land of Israel was the possession of the people of Israel for all time. That has some political ramifications and even opens some controversies which are not part of our discussion here. Our purpose is to say that God gave them a land to possess, and then empowered them to possess that land and drive out the enemies that lived there.
We too have a land that we must possess - our own bodies. We must give them as living sacrifices, give them fully to God to serve him, and bring them fully under obedience to Christ. Those spiritual Canaanites who dwell within us must be driven out. But the good news is that as God promised the land to Israel he promises us the power to walk in righteousness.
God chose a people so that they could possess a land in holiness. In the OT that was the land of Israel. In the NT, it is our own bodies as the Temples of God's Spirit to be used for him.
Land. Seed. Blessing. The gifts of God to his chosen people. As God chose Israel and gave them gifts he chooses us as his own and gives us great gifts. He blesses us so that we can bless the world. He brings new life to the world through our witness. And he gives us the power to possess our "land" in holiness.
Father, thank you for you grace and power, and these mighty gifts that you give.
Think and Pray
Israel received these gifts - land, seed and blessing. Did they take full advantage of them?
Will you receive God's blessing and be a blessing to others?
Will you actively participate in God's purpose to create new spiritual life through you in this world?
Will you possess your body in holiness or will you walk in sin and the ways of the world?
Will you receive God's blessing and be a blessing to others?
Will you actively participate in God's purpose to create new spiritual life through you in this world?
Will you possess your body in holiness or will you walk in sin and the ways of the world?
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