ABRAHAM, Father Of Us All / Genesis

----ABRAHAM/ The Father of Us All~~

-"For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith."-
--"For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to
those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all."
--(Romans 4:13,16)

-"No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of
you, and kings will come forth from you." --(GENESIS 17:5-6) --

--CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT~~

A few years ago, a professor in Europe wrote that only one can be true: either the modern Jewish teaching that Jesus is not the Christ of the Old Testament or the Christian teaching that the Old Testament is valuable because it speaks of Jesus. He said you can't have both.

The deepest roots of our Christian faith are in the Old Testament and the life of faith described there.

This was the early message of the Apostles: that Jesus was not something "new" but rather the long-promised and long-expected Messiah. Most of us may not be ethically Jewish. But all Christians, finally, are children of Abraham by faith.

Perhaps the lesson then is this: God intended your salvation before the very foundations of the world. You cling to Christ in good times and bad because you are His own dear child, part of His chosen people!
----PORTALS OF PRAYER~~

--JUSTIFIED BY FAITH AND WORKS~~

“And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: And he was called the Friend of God Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:23,24).--

The Scripture cited here by James is Genesis 15:6, which contains the first mention of “believe,” or “faith,” in the Bible—thus introducing the great doctrine of justification by faith. Paul refers to the same passage in Galatians 3:6, and Romans 4:22, in both places making the strong point that salvation and justification (i.e., being declared righteous before God) come only through faith in Christ. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Yet James said a man is justified by works! How can we resolve such an apparent conflict’? The answer is that genuine, saving faith is necessarily productive of works which demonstrate the reality of that faith.

It is significant that James speaks of Abraham’s works as being a “fulfillment” of the Scripture. The testimony in Genesis that Abraham’s faith was counted as righteousness was thus, in effect, a prophecy! That prophecy was fulfilled when Abraham’s faith was demonstrated as he “offered Isaac his son upon the altar” (James 2:21). Abraham obeyed God because he believed God! This is the obedience of faith.

Thus, a person is justified by faith plus works—justified before God by his faith, and justified before men by his works. God looks on the heart, but the world must look on the life. Abraham could not even know that his own faith was genuine until it was tested in the crucible of obedience, and the same is true for us today. A person is saved by grace “through faith . . . not of works” (Ephesians 2:8,9), but that saving faith is “unto good works” (Ephesians 2:10), and the one inevitably produces the other, if it is real.
--ICR/HMM

--JESUS CHRIST-- / THE I AM

--“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).--

--In the third chapter of Exodus we read that God spoke to Moses and told him that He had chosen this time to liberate the Jews from their slavery in Egypt, and He had chosen Moses to demand their freedom from Pharaoh and to lead them out of Egypt. Moses then asked God, when the people of Israel asked him for the name of the God of their fathers who had sent him, what he should say to them. (Exodus 3:13). “God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14). In this saying, God, using the first person, names Himself—the one and only God, eternal, self-existent, and self-maintaining.

Nearly 1500 years later God sent His Son in the person of Jesus Christ to preach the good news of the gospel and to proclaim that He was the Christ, the Savior, the Son of God. The Jewish authorities with few exceptions refused to believe, and constantly sought reasons to condemn Him. To these unbelieving Jews Christ told them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). These Jews ridiculed His claim, stating that Jesus, being less than 50 years old, could not have seen Abraham. Then Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Here he appropriated the exact words to Himself that God had spoken to Moses, thus asserting that He was eternal, self-existent, self-maintaining and equal with God. These Jews understood exactly what Jesus meant and began to stone Him for blasphemy.

Today, those who deny the deity of Christ are guilty of the same crime, for we have those accounts as well as reports of those who were eyewitnesses of His resurrection.

--/ICR/DTG
[JESUS SAID, "I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE." --(JOHN 10:30]--

----UNWAVERING FAITH~~

-"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him,
-"So shall your offspring be." --(ROMANS 4:18)--

--WHEN Abraham was a young man, God invited him to leave his home and travel to the land God said He would show him. Inexplicably, Abraham packed up and moved. Decades came and went, and Abraham and Sarah still had not had the children God had promised them. God said, "I will see that My promise is worked out in your life," and Abraham believed Him.

It's one thing to talk about faith when your life seems to be heading toward the conclusion you want. But to trust God when your life seems to be headed in the other direction is a difficult place. Unwavering faith does not just happen. It is built up in us as we consistently exercise faith in God's promises.~

-"Heavenly Father, I want to be absolutely unwavering in my belief in Your power to accomplish Your purposes in my life. Help me to stand firmly on the fact that You do not move, that Your love for me is constant, that You have the power to do everything You have promised. Even as Your promises were to Abraham, You never change. Thank You, Lord, that You are the same yesterday and today and forever. In Jesus Name. amen~ " ~~
---- (Hebrews 13:8) ~~--"Lord God of Abraham" / Paul Wilbur -- <https://youtu.be/D0VpSr5JX6U>
----------------

---QUESTION: "How many sons did Abraham have?"

**ANSWER: All total, Abraham had eight sons.

---Abraham’s first son was Ishmael through Hagar, his wife’s Egyptian maid (Genesis 16:1–4).--

Abraham’s second son was Isaac through Sarah, his wife (Genesis 21:1–3). Isaac was the son God had promised Abraham (Genesis 15:4–5).--

--[After Sarah died, Abraham had six sons through Keturah, another concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah (Genesis 25:1, 6). Keturah’s sons became the fathers of Arabian tribes living east of Israel. (Not sons of the Promise from Jehovah God.)]

Some people claim that the Bible makes an error in regards to the number of Abraham’s sons. In Genesis 22:2, God speaks to Abraham after the birth of Ishmael, referring to Isaac as “your son, your only son, whom you love.” Then Hebrews 11:17 identifies Isaac as Abraham’s “one and only son.” And Galatians 4:22 mentions only Isaac and Ishmael: “It is written that Abraham had two sons.” How could Abraham be said to have an “only son” and “two sons,” when in reality he had eight sons?

There is no true contradiction in the above passages. Isaac was the only son who was promised to Abraham and through whom Abraham would become the father of many nations (Genesis 12:1–3; 17:1–8; 21:12). Also, Isaac was the only son of Sarah and Abraham—Sarah being specifically mentioned in the prophecies of Genesis 17:16–21 and 18:10. In addition, Isaac is the only son born in an official marriage: Hagar and Keturah were both concubines. While God blessed the concubines’ sons for Abraham’s sake, those sons had no part in the inheritance. Isaac was the one and only rightful heir to the promise (Genesis 15:4–5; 25:5).

Genesis 22:2 and Hebrews 11:17 both refer to Isaac as Abraham’s “only son” because those passages concern God’s promise and covenant. Since Abraham’s other seven sons are not part of the covenant, they are irrelevant to the issue and not mentioned as sons. Abraham had other sons, but only one son of promise.

--The main theme in Galatians is justification by faith, apart from the Law. Galatians 4:22 mentions only two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, in an allegory to highlight the contrast between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace. The former leads to bondage while the latter to freedom and life. Paul’s reasoning is as follows: Ishmael was the son of Hagar, a slave, and thus symbolizes bondage and slavery to the Law. Ishmael was the product of a human effort to bring about God’s blessing; Ishmael equals the works of the Law. Isaac was born to the free woman, Sarah, and thus symbolizes freedom and life. Isaac was born in God’s time, according to God’s promise, without the scheming or interference of man; Isaac equals the gift of grace. This passage in Galatians 4 is meant to teach a spiritual lesson (verse 24), not to give a detailed account of Abraham’s life and how many actual sons he had. Mentioning the other six sons would not have served any meaningful purpose in Paul’s allegory.

-- Spiritually speaking, Abraham has many, many sons. The Bible points to the faith of Abraham (Genesis 15:6) and states that “those who have faith are children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7; cf. verse 9). Those who exercise the same faith that Abraham had are showing themselves to be like him, spiritually, and so can be rightly called his “children.” All who trust in Christ, as Zacchaeus did, become true sons of Abraham (Luke 19:9). “The promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring . . . to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).

---JESUS SAID, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

---

--JOHN CHAPTER 8 --(JESUS'S WORDS / IN RED)
--[Jesus's conversation with the Pharisees. = Please read ALL of JOHN Chapter 8 ]--

(VS 12-30 selected verses) Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
.
"You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me, [are One].

"Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me testifies about Me."

You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also."

I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.

"You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
"Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

[So they were asking to Him "Who are You?"] Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning?
"I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world."

[They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.]
So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
"And He who sent Me is with Me; and He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to My Father."

(VS.30) 'As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.'

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, (Vs. 31-32) - "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
----------
**If you are reading this and have not yet received Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, please say a prayer of repentance and confession. Ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart (life). He never turns away a sincere seeker. Jesus loves you. No matter what you may have done in your life, if you ask Jesus to forgive you and repent, He will forgive and accept you.
"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. "Whoever will call on the Name of the LORD will be saved." --[Romans Chapter 10: 9,10,13]
-[JESUS IS IN THE LINEAGE OF ABRAHAM-(See Matthew Chapter 1]

---THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM
--ICR/HMM III, D.MIN.

--"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
-----(Genesis 12:3)--

The apostle Paul referred to this event as "the blessing of Abraham" (Galatians 3:14) that has been conferred on the nations through the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. When that promise was given to Abraham, two major thoughts were clear. First, multitudes of people and many nations would come from Abraham. And second, a special "seed" would come through Abraham (Galatians 3:16) who would make possible the blessing of all men.

Later, when God revealed to Abraham that his "seed" would be as innumerable as the sand of the seashore and the stars of heaven (Genesis 13:16; 15:5), he "believed God" (Romans 4:3), even though there was no evidence that these promises would come to pass. Today we can see the results of G-D's blessing on Abraham.

--- What is still somewhat difficult to grasp are the uncounted millions of "they which are of faith" who are "Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:7, 29). That is the main fulfillment of God’s "blessing of Abraham." We who believe God as Abraham did "have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:2) and will "receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15).

That promised inheritance is "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:4-5). May these "great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) be a constant encouragement in our lives.
---ICR/HMM III

---BEFORE ABRAHAM ~~

-'Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
--(John 8:57-58 / NKJV)

--IN TODAY'S verses, Jesus makes the ultimate claim. He uses the phrase "I AM"--a phrase the Jews would have been familiar with as meaning, "Even from everlasting to everlasting," This is a direct answer to the objection of the Jews, and shows how much greater He was than Abraham."

You've probably encountered political correctness in your office or at school. If so, you've heard coworkers or classmates make the claim that all paths lead to Heaven, no matter the belief system. But as soon as you point out that Jesus claims to be God in the flesh, many will accuse you of being intolerant. Proclaim it anyway. Be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves as you do so.

Jesus has indeed always existed, distinct from yet one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And He is the only way to Heaven (John 14:6). Hold on to those truths. ~~

--"LORD, many people are resistant to the Gospel, so what I encounter on a regular basis is nothing new. I believe that Jesus is the great I AM, and I'm willing to continue to push against a culture that believes otherwise. Help me, to point others to You, the only Faithful One, in the Name above all other names, JESUS CHRIST." ~~
--ODB/Daily Wisdom~ ----"ZION" / Aaron Shust--(Please click on the link, be blessed!) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv3d0FgiXqo>

--BOASTING IN CHRIST ~~

[-Living Light Daily Devotional - /--Pastor James Merritt]

--“If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about – but not before God. What does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
---- (Romans 4:2-5)--

There is perhaps no person of the Bible who is well known and beloved, other than Christ himself, more than Abraham. He transcends many different cultures and religions, and is known throughout most of the world. What is believed about Abraham varies among people of different backgrounds and religious beliefs, but most agree he was a faithful man who was in right standing with God.

It is no surprise that the Apostle Paul, a Jew himself, used Abraham as an example in his letter to the Roman church. After hundreds of years living under the law, the Jews could not comprehend salvation through faith. They had been raised to observe feasts and do rituals…this is the only way they knew to approach such a holy God. Yet Paul proclaimed another way…the so-called Gospel of Christ. How could a well-educated Jew dare say such things about God Almighty?

Paul understood their confusion and deeply longed for his people to understand the truth – salvation had always been through faith and not works. And he had just the man to prove it – Abraham. In Romans 4, Paul wrote that even beloved Abraham was declared righteous because of his faith, not his good works (though he had those, too). God credited Abraham’s faith as righteousness (Genesis 15) years before the law was even given to Moses, and before He commanded Abraham to be circumcised or to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. His righteousness was based solely on two things: grace and faith. The same is true of all Christians.

If Abraham, or any of us, worked for our salvation it wouldn’t be a gift, but an obligation, Paul explained in verse four. Yet when we realize we can never work hard enough or be good enough to earn salvation, and instead trust in Christ’s work on our behalf, that faith is credited to us as righteousness. In other words, it is a gift, not something we have a right to or deserve.

We must remember that God alone deserves all the glory for our salvation. If we boast, let us boast, like Paul, only in the cross of Christ.

"Father, All praise, glory and honor belong to You for saving me. Each day Your Spirit leads me, teaches me, and corrects me so that I shine Your light to those around me. Thank You, Father, for the gift of salvation. Please use me to draw others to Your gospel. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
["For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works so that no one may boasts. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." --(Ephesians 2 verses 8-10 NASB)]

-THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH~~
-[Please read all of Hebrews Chapter 11]

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
For by it the men of old gained approval.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made
out of things which are visible.--

"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance;
and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
"By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow
heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God.

"By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him
faithful who had promised.
Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of Heaven
in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
"[All] of these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the
earth.
For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking
of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

"But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He
has prepared a city for them.
"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only
begotten son;
It was he to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." -(Genesis 21:12)

He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
And [all these], having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided
something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."
--[selected verses/Hebrews Chapter 11/ NASB]--]--'El Shaddai/ GOD ALMIGHTY' ['Through your love and through
the Lamb you saved the Son of Abraham. Your most awesome work was done through the frailty of Your Son.' ]
"El Shaddai" / Amy Grant ~~<https://youtu.be/MPhazt4hfxg>
-------------

-[Matthew 1:1] "The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah (Jesus), fourteen generation.--[VS. 17] -

--'What Does It Mean that Jesus is the Son of David?'

**Answer: Seventeen verses in the New Testament describe Jesus as the “son of David.” But the question arises, how could Jesus be the son of David if David lived approximately 1,000 years before Jesus? The answer is that Christ (the Messiah) was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the seed of David (2 Samuel 7:12–16). Jesus is the promised Messiah, which means He had to be of the lineage of David. Matthew 1 gives the genealogical proof that Jesus, in His humanity, was a direct descendant of Abraham and David through Joseph, Jesus’ legal father. The genealogy in Luke 3 traces Jesus’ lineage through His mother, Mary. Jesus is a descendant of David by adoption through Joseph and by blood through Mary. “As to his earthly life [Christ Jesus] was a descendant of David” (Romans 1:3).

Primarily, the title “Son of David” is more than a statement of physical genealogy. It is a Messianic title. When people referred to Jesus as the Son of David, they meant that He was the long-awaited Deliverer, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

Jesus was addressed as “Lord, thou son of David” several times by people who, by faith, were seeking mercy or healing. The woman whose daughter was being tormented by a demon (Matthew 15:22) and the two blind men by the wayside (Matthew 20:30) all cried out to the Son of David for help. The titles of honor they gave Him declared their faith in Him. Calling Him “Lord” expressed their sense of His deity, dominion, and power, and calling Him “Son of David,” expressed their faith that He was the Messiah.

The Pharisees understood exactly what the people meant when they called Jesus “Son of David.” But, unlike those who cried out in faith, the Pharisees were so blinded by their own pride that they couldn’t see what the blind beggars could see—that here was the Messiah they had supposedly been waiting for all their lives. They hated Jesus because He wouldn’t give them the honor they thought they deserved, so when they heard the people hailing Jesus as the Savior, they became enraged (Matthew 21:15) and plotted to destroy Him (Luke 19:47).

Jesus further confounded the scribes and Pharisees by asking them to explain the meaning of this very title: how could it be that the Messiah is the son of David when David himself refers to Him as “my Lord” (Mark 12:35–37; cf. Psalm 110:1)? The teachers of the Law couldn’t answer the question. Jesus thereby exposed the Jewish leaders’ ineptitude as teachers and their ignorance of what the Old Testament taught as to the true nature of the Messiah, further alienating them from Him.

Jesus’ point in asking the question of Mark 12:35 was that the Messiah is more than the physical son of David. If He is David’s Lord, He must be greater than David. As Jesus says in Revelation 22:16, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David.” That is, He is both the Creator of David and the Descendant of David. Only the Son of God made flesh could say that.
[As we read on in [Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-6] - Jesus being born of the Virgin Mary. Mary had not been with a man. The Holy Spirit had overshadowed Mary and she bear the Son of God, Jesus. (Read Luke 1:26-38).~~ "For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)]