Across the world and down the block with Abraham
"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Genesis 22:18)
Mankind fell from grace in the Garden, and God embarked on a plan to lift us back into His presence. The story has spanned several millennia -- the blink of an eye for Him. About four thousand years ago, God chose a faithful man named Abraham, and promised that all nations would be blessed through his seed. This seed was Christ (Gal. 3:16), who redeemed us through His sacrifice (Gal. 3:13-14), brought us into His body (1 Cor. 12:12-27),and sent us to all nations (Mattt. 28:19). All these years later, God is still keeping His promise to bless the nations through the seed of Abraham, the Body of Christ. Abraham's true children, the faithful, carry the power of the gospel to those in need as they let God add their own chapters to the story of the ages. Consider those who take God's love to the downtrodden in Louisville through ministries like the Jefferson Street Baptist Shelter and the Temple of Faith Family Life Center. Think of the many Christians who have taken part in the recent Tsunami relief effort. Remember the blessed feeling you received when you carried the gospel to a foreign land, an inner city, an office next to yours, or a front porch down the block ... or when you've helped someone else spread God's mercy through your prayers, encouragement, or monetary donation.We do these things because we are thankful for our salvation. We do these things because we want everyone to share this experience.We do these things, and our personal story intersects with God's grand design. A chapter is added, a page turned, and we come closer to the day when we enter heaven and see our own name, there in theBook of Life.
7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (Galatians 3:7-9)
posted by Bobby @ 9:52 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Timing is the key Mr. Giles, I am listning to a sermon on my ipod about Galatians. The greatest thing said was
you can either live by rules or relationships, not both.
Kinda deep when you think about it.
Very deep. And those who see people only through "rules" can never understand their limited ability to affect or be affected, nor why they seem to be alone so much.
That's something I try to keep in mind for myself!
yeah its wild how we keep on and on trying to set and live by rules and new laws so much that we cant live by rules and for god at the same time.
Living for God firstmost and final the rules seem to just settle in naturally. But I am learning so very much that God is all about relationships. We do what we do out of love for god and others. So we do and do not (vs living by "rules") and build relationships.
Example: see sojourn :)
Living by rules is messy, complicated, ever-changing, and sometimes scary, but never dull. I think that once you have a taste of it, you wouldn't want to live any other way.
Oh my gosh, did I just post something serious????
It must be deep, contemplative Sarah's day to come out. Look out...
But I'd say you're talking about a different kind of rules than Tom.
My guess is you're talking about being orderly and organized, and having convictions, whereas Tom is refering to theological legalism.
something like that.....moreso like the laws of man vs the love of god. follow to be christlike and live in god's mercy and love is to have several more rules but its one blanket rule of his love and living for that encompasses (sp) all rulles under that. Much like an umbrella. One major one that trickles down into more while still being one. I hope I didnt just get more confuding.
I hope you didn't, either. Cuz if there's one thing I hate, it's confudion. And confusion, too.
I understand your point, though.
Have you never heard the term confuding? Yeah confusion too. confuding is like chaos, a mess, too much clutter.
Nope, you guessed wrong. I was really just referring to rules in general, and what your priorities are: following the rules (mainly those of society, or even just doing what is logical) or making relationships your priority.
I think that being Christ-like, and using that as a "blanket rule," would be doing just this. Look at the life of Christ: he didn't follow traditional rules, but kept his heart on the right things, and lived accordingly. That is what I'm talking about.
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