In last Wednesday’s post, we pondered the faith of Sarah who believed in the words of God and obeyed the commands of God despite the occasional doubt and deep pain she experienced along the way. This week I’m eager to ponder with you the fruit that came about because of Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith, fruit for which God is ultimately responsible.
Because Sarah lived by faith in the promises of God, a son was born to her at the ripe old age of ninety. And sons were born to him. And sons were born to them. And the nation of Israel came into being. And the kings and priests and prophets of God arose. And in due time Jesus Christ was born in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in due time Jesus sent his followers into the world to preach the good news that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. And in due time Jesus will finish the work of building his church so that one day some people from every tribe, tongue, and nation who’ve clung to Christ by faith will gather around his throne as one body, one temple, one bride, one nation, and one people of God. And there the mighty throng will worship the Lord forever in fulfillment of the words of the Lord to Abraham and Sarah.
O Beloved, may we have eyes to see and ears to hear today! Because Abraham and Sarah believed that he who promised is faithful, because they clung to the specific words of God, many others have believed and clung to his words as well, including us. I say this not to give glory to Abraham and Sarah but to give glory to the God who is faithful to his word.
It was God who spoke the promises. It was God who reiterated the promises. It was God who sustained Abraham and Sarah through the excruciatingly long process of waiting on his promises to be fulfilled. It was God who caused the miracle of birth to happen for people who were well past the time. It was God who caused that family and their descendants to prosper. It was God who caused Jesus to come and lay down his life and take it up again so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It is God who will bring about the fullness of his purposes and promises to Abraham and Sarah all the way to the day when Jesus Christ returns and all things come to their appointed end.
Beloved, the story of Abraham and Sarah is ultimately about God. It’s about a God who speaks and makes promises and fulfills his promises, and what we learn about faith as we look at this story is that faith is trusting in God by clinging to his specific words, to his specific promises. Faith is not the product of fantasy, feelings, or foolishness; it’s the fruit of a soul that by grace believes what God has said and therefore clings to him who is forever faithful.
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