Your Name Will Be Abraham 73 (You Will Be The Father Of Many Nations) [Gen 17:1-14] / Anne's Faith Column

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Your Name Will Be Abraham 73

(You Will Be The Father

Of Many Nations)

[Gen 17:1-14]

/ Anne's Faith Column 

 

 

/ By Priscilla 

 

 

"When Abram was

ninety-nine years old,

the LORD appeared

to him and said,

 

 

 

"I am God Almighty ;

walk before me and

be blameless.

 

 

 

I will confirm my covenant

between me and you and

will greatly increase

your numbers."

 

 

 

Abram fell facedown,

and God said to him,

 

 

 

"As for me, this is my

covenant with you:

You will be the father

 of many nations.

 

 

 

No longer will you be

called Abram ; your name

will be Abraham, for I 

have made you a father 

of many nations.

 

 

 

I will make you very fruitful;

I will make nations of you,

and kings will come from you.

 

 

 

I will establish my covenant

as an everlasting covenant

between me and you

and your descendants

 

 

 

after you for the generations

to come, to be your God

and the God of your

descendants after you.

 

 

 

The whole land of Canaan,

where you are now an alien,

I will give as an everlasting

possession to you

 

 

 

and your descendants

after you; and I will

be their God. 

 

 

 

Then God said to Abraham,

"As for you, you must keep

my covenant, you and 

your descendants

 

 

 

after you for the

generations to come.

 

 

 

This is my covenant with 

you and your descendants

after you, the covenant

you are to keep:

 

 

 

Every male among you

shall be circumcised.

 

 

 

You are to undergo

circumcision, and it will

be the sign of the covenant

between me and you.

 

 

 

For the generations to

come every male among you

who is eight days old must

be circumcised, including

 

 

 

those born in your household

or bought with money

from a foreigner--

 

 

 

those who are not your offspring.

Whether born in your household

or bought with your money,

they must be circumcised.

 

 

 

My covenant in your flesh

is to be an everlasting

covenant.

 

 

 

Any uncircumcised male,

who has not been circumcised

in the flesh, will be cut off

from his people; he has

broken my covenant."

(Gen 17:1-14)

 

 

God made a covenant

with Abram, changed

his name to 'Abraham',

 

 

 

and commanded that

all males be circumcised

and live according to that

 covenant as God's people.

 

 

 

With God's free grace,

Abram finally got the

blessing of becoming the

'father of the nations'.

 

 

 

In particular, through

God's word,

 

 

 

'Walk before me

and be blameless,'

amazingly,

 

 

 

Abram experienced

a moment of becoming

a precious being by falling

facedown and acting

humbly.

 

 

 

By the free grace of God,

the gospel has reached us

as Gentiles through the

Apostle Paul.

 

 

 

What a wonderful

 blessing of God is this!

 

 

 

All I can do is fall facedown

in humility before

Almighty God. 

 

 

 

How dare I be proud of

myself in front of God?

 

 

 

"You will be the father

of many nations.

 

 

 

No longer will you be

 called Abram; your name

will be Abraham."

(Gen 17 : 4-5)

 

 

 

We, who have already

accepted the Lord as

our Savior

 

 

 

and become children 

of God the Father,

must live by imitating

his faith like Abraham,

 

 

 

who became the father

of faith by the grace

of the Lord.

 

 

 

On the other hand,

we need to examine

what God's will is when

He changed his name.

 

 

 

God wants our faith to

grow day by day as

His children

 

 

 

and He also expects us

to be more and more

changed.

 

 

 

"Therefore, if anyone

is in Christ, he is a

new creation;

 

 

 

the old has gone,

the new has come!"

(2 Corin 5 : 17)

 

 

 

God wants us to become

born-again believers,

 and as mature Christians,

 

 

 

He wants us to never

lack anything as heirs

 of God's inheritance.

 

 

 

That is why He earnestly

wants us to live the lives

of children of God.

 

 

 

So, how should we live?

 

 

 

1) We must live without

doubting that each of us

has become a new creation

created by the Lord by

receiving the Lord

 

 

and being born again

as a new being.

 

 

 

2) As promised, we must live

the life God wants us to be,

joyfully and obediently.

 

 

 

3) As God's children who

became new creations,

we must live by practicing the

word of the Lord with good

deeds like children of light.

 

 

 

Prayer

 

 

 

Lord!

 

 

I look to the Almighty Lord.

 

 

 

Make me Walk before the

Lord and make me blameless!

 

 

 

I can't do that, but your

powers and authorities

can make it possible.

 

 

 

Please change me into a

new being in Christ!  Amen.

 

 

 

Amen

 

 

 

2010/04/19

 

 

/ By Priscilla