Abraham’s call was very special. God commanded, “Take your son, your only son, … It is also His goal in calling us to be His people. He was an ordinary man who was no different from anyone else. Abraham’s being chosen by God was for the purpose of recovering man from his sinful situation. I have to go." What did he do after he heard God’s call? In Matthew 6 the Lord Jesus taught the disciples to pray, saying, "Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth" (vv. He even predicted them by name. "Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." We have to know that our hope rests in God. Indeed, once a man sees God’s glory, there is no way for him not to believe. This covenant was renewed with Abraham’s son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, who was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. God said that he should leave his father’s house, but he took his father’s house with him. Verse 2 says, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." Eventually it becomes clear that this global blessing is made possible through one particular offspring of Abraham, namely, Jesus Christ. Sarah demanded of Abraham, “Drive out this maid [Hagar] and her son [Ishmael], for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac” (Gen. 21:10). 2) According to Matthew We should carefully consider the items included in the calling of Abraham and the kind of things brought about through such a calling. All rights reserved. May the Lord open our eyes to see these things. The calling of Noah to enter the ark was a matter of salvation, but the calling of Abraham to enter Canaan was a matter of ministry. 9-10). Verse 3 says, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Abraham was an ordinary man, the same as we. Second, even though God began with one people, he revealed to that people his wider saving purposes and his desire to bless all the peoples and nations of the world. He wanted to obey, and he felt uneasy not obeying. RESPONSE: We can resolve this objection, when we consider the context for this passage: Chapter 21. Abraham was an idolater who lived in central Asia. All Rights Reserved. © 2014 Living Stream Ministry. 2 And he (Stephen) said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! God intended to give the land to his descendants. God was the reason and the cause of him becoming a believer. 9:16). The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Multiply. "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there" (Gen. 11:31). The writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee focus on the enjoyment of the divine life, which all the believers possess, and on the building up of the church, the goal of God's work with man in this age. Acts 7:2 says that Abraham heard the call in Mesopotamia. There was no reason for God to choose him, yet God chose him. God’s work on Abraham shows His intention with Abraham, yet Abraham did not understand. In God’s selection of Abraham, three things were included: (1) bringing him into the land which God would show him, (2) making him a great nation that would become God’s people, and (3) blessing all the families of the earth through him. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. According to the biblical book of Genesis, Abraham left Ur, in Mesopotamia, because God called him to found a new nation in an undesignated land that he later learned was Canaan. Purchase Dr. Tim Tennent’s book 30 Questions: A Short Catechism on the Christian Faith. We should take note of the word here: "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees." Living Stream Ministry publishes the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, providing the authoritative and definitive collections of treasures from these two servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we do not know God’s mind, we ask, "Why does God treat me this way? THE SECOND TEST— PRAYING FOR THE HOUSE OF ABIMELECH, "SHINETH MORE AND MORE UNTO THE PERFECT DAY", Electronic Publications (Kindle, EPUB, iSilo). But he did not believe in an exceptional way; he merely believed. Question: "Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?" Timothy C. Tennent is the President of Asbury Theological Seminary and a Professor of Global Christianity. IT WAS THE PROPER TIME IN GOD'S PLAN TO CALL HIM.It probably sounds silly in the light of the teachings of the modern false religions in the world, that. Finally, he promises that through Abraham and his offspring, he will bless every nation in the world. Why don't libraries smell like bookstores? This post is a chapter from Dr. Timothy Tennent’s book, 30 Questions: A Short Catechism on the Christian Faith available for purchase from our store. 18. He only did half of it; Lot still followed him. It is a story of how God reveals Himself to a man, calls and chooses him for a daunting mission, and then tests him to see how he will respond – to see if he has the capacity to carry out the mission successfully. Did he do this? God tested Abraham's faithfulness by asking him to offer his son (Isaac) as a sacrifice to Him. His works include Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-first Century and Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church Is Influencing the Way We Think about and Discuss Theology. What happened after Abraham followed his father and left? THE SECOND TEST— PRAYING FOR THE HOUSE OF ABIMELECH, "SHINETH MORE AND MORE UNTO THE PERFECT DAY", Electronic Publications (Kindle, EPUB, iSilo). Later, God told Abraham, “Through Isaac your descendants shall be named” (Gen. 21:12), and God promises to build a nation through Ishmael also (v.13). God called Abraham so that he would go into Canaan, live there, express God, and carry out the authority of the heavens. Was Abraham’s faith great from the beginning? This was God’s goal in calling Abraham. What is the conflict of the story of sinigang? If God wants to do something, He will do it. The reference to Abraham’s “offspring” in this passage is to Jesus Christ, through whom all the people of the world would be blessed with the opportunity for eternal life. When Abram was justified 430 years before the Old Covenant was made, what did the Scriptures foresee? He still did not understand why he had to pay such a great price. It involved two key features. He was called, and he believed. He was not much different from us. He wanted to leave, but he did not leave in a clear way. (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Chapter 2, by Watchman Nee). Wherever God’s people obey His will and allow His authority to spread among them, that is the place where God’s authority and God’s will are executed.

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