Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

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Tag: Abraham saw my day and rejoiced

The Lord’s perpetuity, presence and promise

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On April 27, 2016

In Christian, Genesis, Through the Bible

When the Lord appeared to Isaac at Beersheba, he assured Isaac of:
– his perpetuity (I am the God of Abraham thy father),
– his presence (I am with thee), and
– his promise (I will bless thee and multiply thy seed).

Points to ponder:
Jesus said that before Abraham was he is (John 8:58) and that Abraham saw his day and rejoiced (John 8:56). Jesus also established that he and the Father God are one (John 10:30). Jesus is everlasting chosen from even before the foundations of the world (1 Peter 1:20). Jesus is perpetual.
Jesus said that he is with his followers, always, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). Jesus is with all who open their lives to him (Revelation 3:20), believing in him and have receiving him as their Savior, Master and Lord (Revelation 3:20).
In Jesus Christ, we are blessed in heavenly places with spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3-6).

If you think your life is short, come to Jesus who is perpetual and in whom is eternal life.
If you think that you are all alone, be assured the Jesus has promised to be with you always.
If you think that your life is a curse, in Christ Jesus, you are blessed with spiritual blessings (chosen by God, cleansed by God, adopted as a child of God, credited into the Lamb of God’s book of life) in heavenly places.
The question that remains is: Are you blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, by a perpetual, ever-present, promise keeping God? In other words, are you in Christ, having believed in him as Savior, Lord and Master of your life? The contrary is a dire situation. Are you blessed in Christ Jesus?

Genesis 26:24-25 (KJV)
24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

Ephesians 1:3-6 (KJV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Jesus before us in the Journey

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On July 27, 2015

In Christian, Genesis, Through the Bible

Genesis 24:7 records the response that Abraham gives his eldest servant who is being tasked with the mission of being sent to find a wife for his son Isaac, from the kindred of Abraham. When the servant questions Abraham on the probability of his journey being a successful one, Abraham affirms to the servant, that the LORD God who called him will send his angel before the servant and that he will be able to find a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham’s confidence in the angel of the LORD to provide a wife for Isaac may have been bolstered by the fact that he had heard the angel of the LORD, call out to him and stop him from taking the life of his son, Isaac (Genesis 22:11,15).

But who is this angel of the LORD? What is his identity? Though speculations exist, the Bible does substantiate that the identity of this angel who shall go before Abraham’s servant to ensure success, is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ himself.

We see that when Hagar encounters the angel of the LORD, she expresses that she has seen God who has seen her (Genesis 16:13). Another clue that identifies the angel of the LORD is recorded later in the Bible in the book of Exodus 3, where Moses encounters a burning bush and when he comes close, he is admonished that he is standing on holy ground (and no one but God alone is Holy). The angel of the LORD also identifies himself to Moses that he is the God of his father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and of Jacob (Genesis 3:6). But the most direct clue from the Bible can be attested from Jesus’ words himself, wherein he said, “Abraham saw my day and rejoiced.” (John 8:56).

One other common explanation of the identity of the angel of the LORD is that it was the LORD God (the Father) himself who had manifested himself to Abraham as the angel of the LORD, but this contradicts the Scripture wherein we learn that “No man can see God and live” (Exodus 33:20) which Apostle Paul reiterates in his letter to Timothy that God dwells in inapproachable light, whom no man can see or has seen (1 Timothy 6:16). So it is not the LORD God the Father but it is Jesus Christ, God the Son, who himself affirmed that whoever has seen him, have seen the Father (John 14:9).

In other words, Abraham was assuring his servant that because Jesus (the angel of the LORD) would go before him, he can be assured of the success of his mission.

Points to ponder:
In our life’s journey, do we let Jesus go before us? Do we let him lead the missions of our life? If Jesus goes before us, we can be assured of one thing for sure – and that is – whatever God’s purpose and mission that we are tasked to do – all of that would come to be a success. Let us let God’s messenger (angel) of the covenant (Malachi 3:1), Jesus Christ go before us!

Genesis 24:6-7 (KJV)
6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
7 The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

Blessed in ALL things

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On July 7, 2015

In Christian, Genesis, Through the Bible

Genesis chapter 24 verse 1 reads “And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.” Abraham had requested God for one blessing – a child (Genesis 15:3) and when Abraham was willing to give back to the LORD God, the very blessing of a son, that he had been blessed with, God promised to bless and multiply him (Genesis 22:7). Now Abraham is old and well stricken in age and the proof of God’s promise is recorded in the life of Abraham. He was blessed not in one or two things, but in all things. Physically he had a child as he had requested but even more as he was blessed with prosperity (rich in livestock, Gold and silver and people, Genesis 13:2), and power (the sons of Heth recognized him as a mighty Prince, Genesis 23:6).

Yet such materialistic blessings of property and position falls incomplete if we are not blessed spiritually. Ephesians 1:3 states that all who believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Only begotten Son, and who have put their trust in him, are blessed by God the Father with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Jesus, in whose mouth was found no deceit (1 Peter 1:22), the very personification of Truth (John 14:6), said, Abraham saw his day and rejoiced (John 8:56). Those who believe in Jesus are imputed (credited) God’s righteousness  (Romans 3:21-22; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). In other words, Abraham was spiritually blessed. He was blessed in all things.

Points to ponder:
Often we mistake materialism and riches of this world for blessings of God and while it is absolutely a non-issue to be blessed in such, we are to seek to be spiritually blessed – imputed Christ’s righteousness by being redeemed by his blood, forgiven of our sins and given an inheritance as co-heirs with Christ Jesus himself (Ephesians 1:7-13). Are you blessed in all things? In other words, are you spiritually blessed i.e., have you believed and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus imputed God’s righteousness? Only then can you say that you have been blessed in ALL things.

Genesis 24:1 (KJV)
1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

Ephesians 1:7, 11 (KJV)
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
…
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

 

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