Title: Let's Live Obedience
Contents
Today's text is the story of Abraham, the father of faith.
Abraham is a representative person who always lived a life of obedience before God.
It is said that everyone who believes in God deserves to live a life of obedience.
However, if you look at your actual life, you will see that there are more lives of disobedience than obedience. Then, we will look at who obeys and who is disobedient.
1. The obedient acknowledge God as God, but the disobedient do not acknowledge God as God.
That's right. Because I believe in God, I go to church and worship.
But does it mean that everyone who comes to church acknowledges God as God?
There are people who may acknowledge God as a God, but do not acknowledge God as God. As a result, even though they say they believe in God, at the beginning of the year, they go to a fortune teller to see their fortunes for the year. And there are many people who claim to believe in God but do not listen to God's words and live their lives according to their own will.
To whom did God give the Ten Commandments? It is not a commandment given to unbelievers.
Obviously, it was given to God's chosen people, the people who serve God.
One of the Ten Commandments is that you shall have no other gods before me.
The second commandment is that you shall not make for yourself a carved image, or make any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. Do not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Why did God give these commandments?
It is to acknowledge God as God because we do not acknowledge God as God.
Although the Israelites received the great grace of God in the Exodus, they lived by worshiping other gods besides God.
They disobeyed God's will by not acknowledging God as God.
Recognizing God as God means knowing who God is, thinking about the grace God has given us, and living according to His Word.
Everyone! Who is God? He is the one who not only created the heavens and the earth, and is still operating, but also insists on the life and death of our lives. Also, while we were in our sins, He loved us so much that He saved us by dying His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross, saving us from slavery to sin, from slavery to the devil, from slavery to the devil, from slavery to the kingdom of heaven, to eternal life He is the one who brought you to life.
We became servants of God because He bought us with the blood of Jesus. So, we must acknowledge God as our Lord.
Do you know why people disobey God's commands even when they go to church?
It is because I cannot fully acknowledge God as my master. I still cannot obey because I am the master of life and the material things of the world are the master. We cannot obey God because we have too many things that are more important than God.
The people of the world are loyal to their masters. And he absolutely obeys his master.
why? Because it's the owner!
Everyone! Do you believe that God is the master of the world who created heaven and earth?
Do you believe that you are the one who advocates for life and death in our lives? Also, do you believe that Jesus is the savior who saved us from our sins by dying on the cross?
But why? Do you not obey God?
Is it possible that God does not acknowledge God as God?
1 Samuel 2:30 “Therefore, says the LORD, the God of Israel, I used to say that your house and the house of your fathers will walk before me forever, says the LORD; but it will never be so, says the LORD. Those who despise me I will despise.”
On the other hand, Abraham, who appears in the text, obeyed because he acknowledged God as God.
The command to go to the mountain in the land of Moriah and sacrifice his son Isaac, who was born at the age of 100, as a burnt offering is impossible. However, according to the Bible, Abraham obeyed as soon as he heard it.
How can this be? It is found in Genesis 22:12, "The angel said to him, "Do not lay your hand on the boy, do nothing to him, for you have not withheld me, your son, your only son, and now I know that you fear God."
I thought you feared God. In other words, it means acknowledging God as God.
Because Abraham acknowledged God as God, he became obedient even in situations where he could not obey.
“The LORD gave and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). Abraham had the belief that God was the master of his life. So, because the owner is giving it, it is giving. It was impossible for the father, but from the servant's point of view it was natural to give.
When we acknowledge God, we are obedient.
Just because you go to church does not mean that everyone acknowledges God as God. Not everyone admits that they know God. Only those who completely obey the will of God acknowledge God as God.
Recognize God as God and live.
2. Those who obey God believe in the Word, but those who disobey do not believe in the Word.
What was the reason that Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden sinned and were expelled from the Garden of God's grace?
“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). In A 3:6, they do not believe in God's word about death and eat of the forbidden fruit.
If you do not believe in God's Word, you will become disobedient. As a result, sin entered the world, and as a result of sin, physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death came to the human world.
King Saul is a representative figure who did not believe in the Word of God.
It happened when he was at war with Amalek. God commanded that the Amalekites be destroyed, but not leave any possessions, but men and women, children, infants, and all livestock.
But Saul spared Agag and all the best of his sheep and cattle and all the fat ones. In the end, they despised the Word of God. The prophet Samuel went to Saul and said,
1 Samuel 15:17-19.
"Samuel said, "Were you not the head of the tribes of Israel at a time when you were small in your sight? The LORD anointed you king over Israel, and sent you by way, saying, Go and destroy the sinners of the Amalekites. “Strike until it is destroyed.” But why did you not obey the voice of the LORD, and rush to plunder, and do what the LORD considers evil?”
When he said this, a wise man would have fallen on his face and repented. But Saul is in a hurry to make excuses. “I did this to make a sacrifice to God.” So Samuel said.
1 Samuel 15:22,23 is a message we must listen to.
"Samuel said to him, "Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and other sacrifices, as his voice loves obedience? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and hearing is better than the fat of rams, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft; is like a sin; for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has also rejected you from being king."
God says that he loves obedience more than sacrifices and sacrifices, and that he loves hearing God's words.
In a word, Saul did not believe the word of God as the word of God. You have forsaken the word of God. I mean, it was despised. Saul was rejected by God in this way.
The cause of Saul's failure was that he did not believe and disobey God's Word. We must not forget this.
On the contrary, Abraham is a representative person who believed the word of God well. Abraham obeyed and obeyed God's word unconditionally. God commands you to leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house.
It is unconditional to leave the town of idols, the hometown of crime. In fact, how difficult is this? It is not easy to leave the homeland where you live and where all blood and blood live together.
Abraham did not leave because he deserved to leave his hometown. I didn't leave because I couldn't live there. But he left because God said it. That is why the Bible records, "...Abraham followed the word of the Lord..." (Genesis 12:4). This is the great thing about Abraham.
God also honored Abraham, who always valued, believed, and followed God's Word more than recognition, more than blood, more than emotions.
In the text, God is telling us to offer his precious son, who was born at the age of 100, as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah.
This is also a very difficult test to bear. But Abraham carried out the command as soon as it was given. He woke his son, prepared firewood and fire for his servants, and left early for Mount Moriah. and tied up. I raised my sword high.
The reason I was able to do all these things is in Genesis 15:4-5
“And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body will be your heir. ”
Abraham was able to obey God's word by believing that it would surely come true.
Everyone! See James says:
“In the same way, faith without works is dead. Some say, ‘You have faith and I have deeds; show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works’” (James 2:16-17).
In other words, if you believe the Word of God, you will live according to the Word. It means to be humble and obey the Word.
Dear all!
I pray that you acknowledge God as God and believe in His Word and obey Him.