Walk In Newness of Life Pt. 15 Great promises, a Starry Night and a Man who Believed God!

We are examining the life of Abraham in order to help us learn more about walking in newness of life. Remember, the word "walk" is a transitive   verb that means the action of walking must be connected to someone or something. In the case of a born again believer, our "walk" must be connected to Jesus Christ and shaped by His Word. Genesis 15 began with Jehovah giving Abraham a very significant promise. 

Abraham had real concerns and worries. 

Genesis 15:2-3  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3) And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Abraham's wife Sarah was barren and they had no children. Abraham voiced his concern to Jehovah because he had a difficult time understanding how he could father a child as both of them were getting older. Abraham was about 60 years old when he left Ur of the Chaldees, and at this point, he is nearing 75 years of age. 

Legal customs in ancient times required that the "steward" or manager of Abraham's estate be the one to inherit his estate, if there was no heir, no son to inherit. Twice in this text Abraham mentioned that he was "childless" and that he had "no seed." 

Abraham is not lacking in faith but he is genuinely perplexed about how God can promise him a son through Sarah, because time for child bearing is running out. He is not guilty of murmuring or complaining to God, for the Lord does not rebuke him for voicing his concerns. This should encourage us too, because God will not rebuke us when we bring our sorrows, burdens and cares to Him (1 Peter 5:7).

Jehovah quickly responded to Abraham's questions. 

Gen 15:4-6  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5) And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

What blessings Abraham received after he voiced his worries to the God of glory. First, he found a ready audience with Jehovah. Next, for the second time, "the word of the LORD came" to him. Third, his main worry about having no son to be his heir was quickly and decisively answered. God told Abraham that he would father his own son with Sarah. 

Then, Jehovah demonstrated His tender affection for Abraham. He "brought him forth" which means that He led Abraham out of his tent so that they could look at the dazzling night sky. It was a kind and tender gesture, like a father bringing his own son outside to tell him about the precious things of God. This is the idea of God leading and caring for all the sheep of His pasture, until He calls us home. 

Jehovah told Abraham to "look toward heaven" which is the idea of carefully observing what you see. He asked Abraham to "tell the stars" which is an accounting term meaning to make a complete and accurate inventory. We know today that our own Milky Way galaxy consists of hundreds of millions of stars, and we also know that there are millions of other galaxies full of stars! Counting the stars is an impossible task for any human being. 

No man can count the stars, but God does!

Psalm 147:4  He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. 5) Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. 

Abraham was growing in his faith and the God of Abraham is so vast that He does know exactly how many stars there are and he has named them all.  Now, God's point in having Abraham go outside with Him to look at a dazzling display of stars in the night sky, was to show him that it is impossible for any man to count them. Then, God gave Abraham a staggering promise. The offspring of Abraham would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens!

This marked a turning point in Abraham's life. He considered what Jehovah said to him and he looked at the vast numbers of stars that he could observe, and he believed. He trusted that God would do what He said He would do when he left his homeland many years earlier. He placed his faith in the One, True God of Heaven. This is the same as calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Romans 10:17). Abraham was learning that the "just" shall live by faith. 

At this point in time, he already believed God and his faith became the basis for the promises he received from God. Righteousness from God had already been imputed to Abraham and this extraordinary blessing from God was granted to him and his offspring.

God imputed righteousness to Abraham

What happened when Abraham believed? The same thing that happens today when a sinner turns to Jesus Christ in repentant faith. He is justified and righteousness is credited to his account. The word "counted" has almost the exact same meaning as the word "imputed." 

Psalm 32:1-2  Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 

God covered the sins of Abraham and forgave him. God put his transgressions away and did not impute any iniquity to Abraham's account, because he believed God! 

Romans 4:3-5  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4) Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 

The apostle Paul wrote about Abraham in order to explain for us how the righteousness of God is credited to our account when we turn to Christ in repentant faith. Faith in Jehovah for salvation is counted to us for righteousness. We are made right with God and cleansed of our sins. We received full and complete forgiveness from the Father. This is what God did for Abraham and what He does for us today. No wonder we sing about "Amazing Grace!"

2 Corinthians 5:19-21  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21)  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

The work and person of Jesus Christ the Son of God, is the basis for our salvation. God did for us what we could never do. He satisfied God's holy law, died in our place and shed His blood in order to pay for our sins. 

God was in Christ when He died on the cross. Jesus was made sin for us, or in our place, so that we could be justified. Thus, He took all our sins out of the way and nailed them to His cross (Colossians 2:8-15). He blotted them out and they are removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:1-14). 

All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are born again, are made citizens of heaven, children of God and are fully forgiven, fully justified and fully covered with the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us when we believe. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

If Abraham had questions for God, so will we. If he voiced his worries to God and expressed his real concerns, so should we. God is not distant and detached from us. He wants what is best for each of us and He alone knows what that is. We must trust and believe God as Abraham did. We must take Him at His word.

Jehovah responded to the things that troubled Abraham and He will respond to us as well. This is why Peter tells us to cast all of our cares upon God, because He cares for each believer. 

Abraham could not count all the stars and even with technology, we still cannot count all the stars. That is an impossible task. But, we love and serve the God of the impossible. He knows how many galaxies and stars there are because He made them. He gave them all names because it pleased Him to do so. 

He is the God who saves us, justifies us and imputes the righteousness of Christ to us. 

May these beautiful truths sink down into our hearts this day.

Bob