The Daily Word

 

Once God had established the beginnings of the family line from which Jesus would be born, the focus of Genesis is all on Abraham’s descendants, and the miraculous birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah when they were both past 90 years old, in some respects foretells the even more miraculous birth of Jesus. Though God had promised to establish the family line through Isaac, we have the record of God commanding Abraham to offer Isaac as sacrifice. But unlike Jesus, that sacrifice did not take place. Again, this episode in Abraham’s life foreshadowed the actual sacrifice of God’s Son upon the cross. But there, at Calvary, that sacrifice for sin had to happen or the world would have had no hope of redemption.

The covenant God had made with Abraham was then passed on to Isaac and through Isaac to Jacob. All the time the number of descendants was multiplying but God was following one line only and the promise of a Ruler, a Sceptre as described in Genesis 24, was given to Jacob.

Jacob was anything but perfect in his life, he could be accused of ‘sharp’ practice many times. But likewise God uses us as fallible and sinful human beings to serve Him and like Jacob, God’s favour never departs from us. We have an eternal covenant relationship with Him because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and access ‘by faith into this grace where we stand’.  

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church