Title: Genesis 22:12 Blessed Vessel
Contents
Genesis 22:12 Blessed Vessel
- To celebrate the Chinese New Year in 2010, many saints left to their hometowns to find their families. So today I will not focus on the book of James. Last Wednesday, we learned that the prophet Isaiah had to be a sign and a type to Egypt and Cush while he was naked and barefoot for three years (Isaiah 20:3). Through this, he said that Christians should live a life that shows signs and types as people of the kingdom of heaven in this world. Noah's life of building the ark, John the Baptist's life of poverty... These were the signs and types of life in the world. The signs and types of Christians today will be none other than the life of serving the lowly, the form of worshipers giving up on the greed of this world and longing for the things of the spiritual heavens. If our members live this kind of life everywhere, God's name will be exalted everywhere, and the church will gain strength and prosper. Also, individual Christians will be able to enjoy the happiness of their religious life.
- Today's text is Genesis 22:12. Let's read together. “The angel said to him, “Do not lay your hand on the boy, do nothing to him, for you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Now I know that you fear God.”
- Abraham was 75 years old when he was called by God and began his life of faith. Then God said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).
- After 25 years, when he was 100 years old, he allowed a son (Genesis 21). And one day when his son Isaac was a grown young man, God commanded him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering to test (test) Abraham's faith. At this time, Abraham was ready for this test of faith. Immediately the next day, he took his son Isaac to the mountain God had directed, put him on the altar of burnt offering, and really tried to stab him with a sword. Through the past 40 years of faith life, Abraham learned that nothing in this world is more important than God, and through this test, he proved that his faith was a prepared faith.
- At this moment, an angel of God appeared and stopped Abraham, saying, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son and your only son from me.” And at that very moment, God made an oath with himself that he would fulfill the promise in Genesis 12:2-3 that God had given to Abraham about 40 years ago.
Genesis 22:16 He said, "I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son.
22:17 I will bless you greatly, and I will make your descendants multiply and multiply like the stars in the sky and like the sand on the seashore; and your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
22:18 And in your descendants all peoples under the earth will be blessed, for you have done what I said.
- After making the promise in chapter 12, what is the reason that he promised to fulfill that promise only in chapter 22, 40 years later? This is the message God gives us through this event. Even if God wants to bless us quickly, he cannot pour out the blessing when we are not ready to receive the blessing. It took about 40 years. Now, Abraham had grown into a prepared vessel that he could offer for God without sparing even his own only son. It was only during this time that God was able to give blessings. In other words, Genesis 12 was the promise of the call to prepare to receive the blessing, and chapter 22 confirmed that God would pour out blessings on Abraham who was ready to receive the blessing.
- People have been looking at a flying bird for a long time and have wanted to fly like that bird. So, people like Leonardo da Vinci would attach bird feathers to their bodies and flap their wings to try to fly. Thousands of people have tried to fly in one way or another, but without success. It was only after the Wright brothers discovered the principle of flight that humans could fly. No matter how much we want to fly, if we do not follow the principle of flight, we will never fly. In the same way, no matter how much God wants to bless us, if we are not prepared as vessels to receive blessings, then even God cannot give us.
- There is a journey of the life of faith. In general, our salvation involves the following process. It is the process of "recognition of sin -> repentance -> justification by faith -> sanctification -> glorification". After receiving salvation, they learn the wonderful promises of God and live a life of faith with great expectations. However, the reality is that many people still live in the same way as they did before they were saved. Why? This is because they do not prepare their vessel to receive the promises of God.
- Student life is a time to prepare to enter society. Those who have prepared themselves well at this time will enjoy an abundant life unlike those who did not prepare themselves well. The same goes for spiritual things. The blessing that God has promised is to be poured out only on prepared vessels. He gave Canaan to Israel as a gift. However, when Israel did not prepare themselves as a holy people according to God's word, God took the land of Canaan. The reason God destroyed the inhabitants of Canaan was not because He loved Israel in particular and gave them unconditionally. After waiting for the judgment time to come when their sins were full (that was the time when the people of Israel had to wait 400 years as slaves in Egypt), he used Israel as a rod of judgment and at the same time allowed Israel to take possession of the land. However, the history of Israel after occupying Canaan was not the enjoyment of God's promised blessings, but rather the history of being beaten (Isaiah 1). No matter how much God wanted to bless them, God had no choice but to do it because they did not prepare vessels.
- Yesterday the Vancouver Winter Olympics started. The players participating here are people who have given up everything and prepared for it for the past 4 years. I saw the opening ceremony. I was blown away by its splendor and grandeur. And I thought about it. It was a great preparation for that glory that took less than two hours. Olympians, too, have been gearing up for years to come for just a few minutes of glory. Is it really worth it? When I think about it, I think that life is like this. I realized that life is a process of preparation. Everything on this earth was prepared after all. Even if the glory of gold medals is worse than the glory of flowers in the field, that too is a part of preparation.
- There is an old saying that a soldier prepares for 10 years and uses it for a day. Life is all about preparation. Most of the people who won the lottery and had a windfall of tens of billions of dollars will be ruined within a few years because they did not follow the life principle of preparation. You can only fly by following the principles of flight discovered by the Wright brothers. When you ignore this, no matter how hard you try, you only hurt yourself and you can't fly. The same goes for faith. If I am prepared as a vessel to receive blessings, God will pour out my blessings. The events of Genesis 12 and 22 are God's voice calling us to prepare.
- The year 2010 will be the first year in which God's blessings will surely come to our Seoul Antioch Church. For the past 3 years, I have been studying the Word of God diligently. And I have worked hard to prepare. We learned how to prepare ourselves. Now, believing that the time is near, we need to be a little more patient and prepare well for the last minute You are looking for someone who is ready. This is faith. God blessed Abraham who was ready for this. I sincerely hope that all the members of Seoul Antioch Church will become people who prepare and live like this. Amen.