Do you want confirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that He died on a cross to redeem man? You can see it in the story of Abraham if you listen to Jesus tell that story. We have all heard or read that story before but we were reading, or listening to others read, what Moses wrote when he wrote the book of Genesis. This time, let's listen to Jesus tell the story. What's that! You don't remember Jesus telling the story of Abraham in the gospel accounts? Jesus did not tell the story of Abraham in a direct way. He told it in another way.
He told it as the word of God as He spoke through Moses:
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. - - - -
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us - - - -
John tells us that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and that He existed with God and was God from the beginning. It all came into being through Him. He, the Word, is the creator ("By the word of the LORD the heavens were made", Psalms, chapter 33). The Father spoke everything into existence through Jesus. Jesus is the Word of the Old Testament and when we read what Moses wrote, Jesus is the one telling us the story of Abraham. Moses wrote exactly as Jesus was directing him when he wrote about Abraham and the things that he said.
Peter tells us how Jesus spoke through the prophets. Peter spoke of our salvation and said that when the prophets prophesied of the grace that was to come to us, they made searches and were, "seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11). The Spirit of Jesus spoke through the prophets when they spoke of the cross and the glories that it brought. He spoke through the prophets, Moses and Abraham.
In this "Introduction", I will include some things about Abraham and his test and how it foretells Jesus and the cross but it will be covered in more detail in the book. If you read the book and the scriptural evidence referenced there, you will see more of how Abraham and Isaac were actually telling of the cross to come. As we read those scriptures, if we listen to Jesus as He is telling us the story of Abraham and his test (through the writings of the prophet, Moses), then we can know that, "JESUS IS LORD".
Remember what Jesus told the Jews about Abraham, in John, chapter 8? He said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad" (verse 56). When they questioned that statement, Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am" (verse 58). When Abraham was born, Jesus was already there. After God began speaking to Abraham, he began to hear and see Jesus. When we read what Moses wrote about Abraham, Jesus is the one telling the story through Moses. Abraham was also a prophet and when Moses recorded what he spoke, the Spirit of Jesus was then speaking through both Moses and Abraham.
You remember how God appeared to Abraham and commanded him to take his son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering. The story is found in Genesis, chapter 22. The story has not changed but if we remember that Jesus is really telling the story, not Moses, we may see more in that story. When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering Abraham obeyed God and went because he knew that something like the cross was coming. He may not have seen it clearly but he saw it. When he saw Jesus, Abraham saw the cross. That is the title of our book. Listen to that story and see what Jesus is saying about the cross.
Part of the story of Abraham's test:
Genesis 22
1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."
Think about the fact that Abraham has already been declared righteous because of his faith and God has promised that through his seed, all families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3 and 15:6). God made His everlasting covenant with him ten or fifteen years before the test (Genesis, chapter 17) and in that covenant He promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. During the same visit God told him that Isaac would be born through Sarah and that Isaac was the one through whom God would establish His covenant.
At the time of the test, Abraham has met all of God's requirements and Isaac was born as promised. Isaac had been circumcised as required by the covenant but God is asking Abraham to kill that son of promise. Isaac was the one through whom the covenant was to be fulfilled. Was God changing His mind and deciding not to keep His promise? No, God keeps promises and Abraham knew that. Abraham was a believer in God and His promises and that is why God had given him credit for righteousness many years before the test.
Let us now look at the test of Abraham. I will not copy all of the verses of scripture that tell us this story but you may wish to open your Bible and read along (I will be using the NASB translation) as we read and discuss it here. It will be expanded in more detail with more scripture in the book.
After God commanded the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham does not hesitate. The scripture says that Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He split the wood that he would need and took his son and two young men and began his journey to the place selected by God for the sacrifice of Isaac. They traveled for two full days and into the third day when Abraham looked up and saw that place in the distance. He said to the young men traveling with them, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you" (verse 5). He said "we will return", not "I will return". Abraham knew that God was asking for Isaac's life but he also knew that God would somehow keep His promise through Isaac.
As Abraham was traveling toward that mountain, he was considering some things. What he was thinking about can be seen in what the scriptures have to say in the New Testament book of Hebrews. These verses are looking back at Abraham's test two thousand years before.
The Hebrew writer referred to God's test of Abraham:
Hebrews 11
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
Abraham was considering God's commandment that he sacrifice his beloved son Isaac as a burnt offering. He was considering that God is awesome and he feared that God but he also believed in Him. He believed God's promises. He was considering that God is able to raise the dead. If he thought about the possibility that God had changed His mind and was backing out of His covenant promise, he quickly rejected that possibility. Abraham believed that Isaac would die but God would resurrect him from the dead. How is that for an example of faith?
The Hebrew writer tells us that Abraham considered that God had the power to raise the dead from which he received Isaac back as a, "type". The original Greek word used for the word, "type", in the above scripture is, "parabole". In every instance when that Greek word was used in the gospels, it was translated as "parable". Why did our modern translators not translate it that way in this verse (not in any of the modern translations)? The likely reason is because our definition of a parable usually includes the statement that the created earthly story is fiction. A parable is a created earthy story that parallels and teaches spiritual truths. Man's definition says that the story is fiction. We get the same general definition whether it is from a Bible dictionary or from Webster's dictionary. The story of Abraham is not fiction; it really happened. How could it be translated as, "parable"?
Should God be limited by man's definitions? The scriptures never tell us what God's definition of a parable is. Or do they?? Is God giving us His definition of a parable in the story of Abraham's test? Does God also create true-life stories so as to parallel and teach us about His spiritual truths? Did God make this story happen for us?
When we read that Peter said it was the Spirit of Jesus within those prophets speaking of the cross to come, he said something else. He continued by saying, "It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you". As Moses wrote the story of Abraham and as Abraham lived the story, they were doing it for us as Jesus directed them.
Scripture tells us that Abraham received Isaac back as a "parabole". As we read and listen to the story of the sacrifice of Isaac taking place and we hear Jesus tell the story, is Jesus speaking to us in a parable? He taught that way when He was on earth. Is He teaching that way through the prophets?
God spoke through Hosea to tell us how He spoke to the prophets, "And I gave numerous visions, And through the prophets I gave parables" (Hosea 12:10). Jesus is the Word spoken through the prophets. He gave them visions and He spoke through them with parables. When we read from the prophets, Jesus is speaking to us and at least some of what He is saying is spoken in parables. Is Jesus speaking through the life of Abraham, as Moses recorded his life, in a parable? We know the story of Abraham is a true story. Did God cause it to happen for our instruction?
Does the scripture say anything about how God causes earthly stories to happen? When Paul wrote to the church in Rome, he told them, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). God is involved in every aspect of our lives and He makes everything in our life work together for our good if we love Him. In other words, He is creating our life story. He did the same with Abraham.
Having a good life story does not assure good earthly things, it assures good spiritual things. Paul is the one who recorded this scripture and he did not receive great earthly things. From an earthly prospective Paul lived a life of suffering but he tells us that, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
The scriptures are full of statements about God causing things to happen in people's lives. God hardened Pharaoh's heart to cause the old salvation story to happen like it did. His story was not good for Pharaoh because he did not love God. God used Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to punish His unfaithful people. God scattered His old covenant people among the nations because they did not love Him. We must believe that God is involved in the creation of our life story because we pray daily for God to make something happen for us or for others near to us. We pray for success in things. We pray for healing. We pray for about everything and, when we pray and God answers our prayers, we are involved in the creation of our life story.
God knows our heart and He knew it before we were born. The Psalmist said, "Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all" (Psalms, chapter 139). God hears us speak the day before we spoke and He heard us speak six thousand years before that. Did God hear and answer our prayers before we could talk? Did God see our faith and love before the foundation of the world?
Is that why the Psalmist will speak of his days having been ordained before he was born ("Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them") just a few verses later in chapter 139? Is that why Paul spoke of how God chose us and predestined us before the foundation of the world (“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” – Ephesians 1:4-5)?
We heard Paul tell us how God causes all things to work together for good for us if we love Him. He then said it was to those He foreknew and "He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren". God’s promise of good things to come is promised to those who love Him. He will not make us love Him. He wants us to choose to love Him and believe in Him. That can be seen when we hear Peter tell us of God's patience and how He does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God’s freedom in time allowed Him to see us make the choice and for those that He foresaw choosing to love Him, He has predestined to become sons of God.
God's freedom in time helps us to understand how He knew that hundreds of prophecies would be fulfilled in Jesus. Those things all happened in time when time began. Jesus is the creator and He saw all of His creation work when He began that work. It included His new creation works and it would be foretold in the life of Abraham. Did Jesus create Abraham's life story before he was born? Did He see Abraham choose to live a life of faith and then cause his story to happen as it did? Did God call Abraham and predestined him to become the father of the faithful because He foresaw his faith and love? Did He cause Abraham's story to come about as it did for our instruction?
Notice what Paul said about Abraham's faith:
Romans 4
20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
When Jesus spoke through Moses and had him record the story of how Abraham was made righteous by faith, He did it for us as well as for Abraham. He is telling us about the kind of faith that we need to bring us credit for righteousness. Abraham was given credit for righteousness because of his faith in God and faith in His word. Abraham knew that God would keep His promise. He knew that God would not lie about His promises and he knew that God was able to do whatever was necessary to keep His word. Remember what the Hebrew writer said. Speaking of Abraham's faith, he said that he considered that God could raise Isaac from the dead.
The statement about Abraham having been given credit for righteousness because of his faith was first recorded by Moses in Genesis 15:6. God promised that he would have descendants like the stars in the heavens. He was an old man, but he knew that God could make it happen. Paul said it was written for our sake. It was written to show us how we can receive credit for righteousness by belief in God. Abraham had full assurance in God's word. Jesus is the Word that Abraham believed and he was, therefore, justified by faith in Jesus.
God's covenant with Abraham included both the old and new covenant promises. The old covenant promise was for Abraham's earthly descendants to receive an earthly Canaan. The new covenant promise is the true promise. It is the promise of an everlasting Canaan to Abraham and all of his descendants by faith. We know that the true promise was the heavenly promise because the promise was made to Abraham and to his descendants and Abraham never received that earthly land. He lived there but he never inherited it. As Stephen said, when he spoke of Abraham and that promise (He was defending himself before the Jews), "But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that HE WOULD GIVE IT TO HIM AS A POSSESSION, AND TO HIS DESCENDANTS AFTER HIM" (Acts 7:5).
God promised that land to Abraham, as well as to his descendants. Abraham never received an part of that land as a gift. Abraham lived in that earthly land as an alien. He never inherited any part of that earthly land of Canaan. The only ground that Abraham ever owned there was the small plot of ground that he purchased as a burial place for his wife, Sarah. He did not inherit it; he had to purchase it.
When the Hebrew writer spoke of the faith of Abraham he said that, when he was called, he "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" (Hebrews 11:8). Abraham obeyed God and went to the land that had been promised to him as an inheritance. The Hebrew writer tells us that he lived in that land with Isaac and Jacob, "fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:9-10).
Abraham heard God say that the covenant was an everlasting covenant and it included possessing the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession (Genesis, chapter 17). He knew what that meant. Abraham obeyed God and went to the earthly land but he understood that the real promise was the promise for a city built by God. None of those fathers (Abraham, Isaac or Jacob), ever received that earthly land because it was never the real promise.
The commandment for Abraham to sacrifice his son of promise after all of those years of waiting, seems to be the most outlandish thing that God ever required of anyone, with one exception. That would be the outlandish requirement that God made of Himself to sacrifice His Son so that He could keep His covenant promise to Abraham. Because of God's sacrifice, Abraham and all of his descendants by faith could have their everlasting heavenly land.
Fulfillment of that everlasting promise to Abraham and his descendants would require that God make that perfect sacrifice. God would be required to make the perfect sacrifice in order to make them perfect. Under the new covenant for that everlasting Canaan, God would provide the perfect Lamb as that sacrifice. Just as the heavenly Father would offer His Son, Jesus, father Abraham was being asked to offer his son, Isaac. Did the sacrifice of Isaac have earthly components that foretold the cross? Remember, it was done as a "type".
Just as God knew that His Son would live even if He had to die on the altar of the cross, Abraham knew (by faith) that his son would also live even though his body was (he thought) to be consumed in the fires of that altar. God did not require that Abraham complete his sacrifice, only that he show his willingness to do so. God could foresee Himself having to complete His sacrifice and He only required Abraham to show the earthly copy.
God's covenant commitment would require the sacrifice of His Son and He demanded that Abraham be willing to do the earthly copy. God made Abraham suffer through the test to show true covenant belief and obedience and to let us see, in Abraham, a copy of the pain that God would experience when He perfected the everlasting covenant by making His sacrifice. It shows us an earthly copy of God's sacrifice.
Remember what Matthew said about Jesus teaching with parables? He said, "All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable" (Matthew 13:34). Two verses later we see Jesus explaining the parable of the tares privately to His disciples. When Mark wrote about it, he wrote, "He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples" (Mark 4:34).
Did Jesus cause the Old Testament story of Abraham and his test to come about as a true story parable of what He would do and state plainly to His disciples in the New Testament? If Jesus really did make that story come about as a true story parable, the earthly story components will parallel the spiritual. Let's see how it parallels the story of the cross. The story said that, as Abraham and Isaac went to the place of sacrifice, "Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son" (Genesis 22:6).
When Isaac carried his altar wood, did it copy what Jesus would do? Did not God lay the wood for His burnt offering on His Son when Jesus "went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha" (John 19:17)? Jesus carried His altar wood just as Isaac had done two thousand years before. The load that Jesus carried was heavy enough to cause Him to stumble. The amount of wood needed for a burnt offering as large as Isaac would have been very heavy. I wonder if Isaac stumbled under that heavy load?
As Abraham and Isaac were walking together toward the place of sacrifice, Isaac asked his father, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering"? Abraham responded, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son" (verse 8). After the angel stopped Abraham, he saw the ram caught in a thicket and he offered the ram as a sacrifice in the place of his son, Isaac.
Abraham's prophesy statement said that God would provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. After the sacrifice was stopped, a ram was provided by God. The ram provided that day was not the Lamb of prophecy. A ram is not a lamb. Was the ram only a temporary sacrifice, substituted for Isaac? Did that ram foretell the everlasting substitute sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God and did not God, Him-Self provide that sacrifice?
The scripture says that Abraham "bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood". Did it copy what God would do when He bound His Son and laid Him on top of the wood? Was the cross laid flat for Jesus to be bound before it was lifted up? Did they use ropes in addition to the nails? History tells us that ropes were sometimes used. The use of ropes would help prevent the body of one being crucified from pulling loose from the nails.
When Isaac carried his wood to the place of sacrifice, did he go to the same place where Jesus would take the wood for His sacrifice? We don't know exactly where Golgotha was located (some people think they know) but can the sacrifice of Isaac help tell us?
Notice the place where he was to make the sacrifice. Abraham was told to go to the land of Moriah, to a mountain there to make his sacrifice. The only other place in scripture where that name is mentioned is found in 2 Chronicles 3:1, where it says that Solomon began to build the temple on Mount Moriah. That mountain was the, "Mount of the LORD".
Solomon was required to erect an earthly temple on that mountain. It was the house where God would place His name. After it was constructed, it would be the only place on earth for sacrifices to be made under that old covenant. The Hebrew altar of burnt offering would stand before the earthly temple on that mountain. No other place was acceptable for their sacrifices but before that temple doorway.
Did God send Abraham on that long journey to tell where his future covenant sacrifices would be made? Did Isaac's altar foretell the place where burnt offerings would be required of man under the old covenant? Was Isaac placed on an altar that was before the future temple location just as the altar of burnt offering stood there? Did the sacrifice of Isaac also foretell where a sacrifice would be offered under the everlasting covenant? Was it where a burnt offering would be required of God and where He would raise up His true temple, the house where He would place His name forever? That house is the body of Christ. Did the copies burn on a part of the mountain where the true sacrifice would burn?
Did the cross stand before the temple and outside the east gate? Is that why the Hebrew writer referred to the old sin offering (where blood was brought into the holy place) being burned outside the camp, saying, "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate" (Hebrews 13:12). The Hebrew writer did not say which gate. Did God specify the gate when He gave the Law of Moses? When the Law specified where the sacrifices were to be offered, God knew exactly where He would place His temple.
Remember, as those old covenant priests went about their worship they were serving a copy and shadow of heavenly things (Hebrews 8:1-5). As they were burning that sin offering body on the ash heap (the Law required them to burn the body outside the camp where the altar ashes were poured out), it was just a copy and shadow of what was to come. The true sin offering of all time was the body of Jesus. Did God cause those priests to take the bodies that were only copies of the true sin offering and burn them where the true offering would burn? Is that why scripture says that Jesus, "Therefore", suffered outside the gate?
Outside that gate one could look out over the Kidron valley, a valley of graveyards. Was that ash heap located near the altar and just outside the east gate at the drop-off into the Kidron valley? Jeremiah had said of that valley, "the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:40).
The dead bodies were those in that valley graveyard. Were there tombs near the top, outside the east gate? The west side of that valley was holy to the LORD. Did ashes from the clean place for ashes wash down among the graves? Did the true sin sacrifice of all time burn on the ash heap and was it located outside the east gate? Did His blood make that valley holy? Is there anything that could be more holy than His blood?
After Abraham was restrained by the angel from killing his son, he named that place. Abraham "called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide". Scripture continued by saying, "as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided" (Genesis 22:14). God will provide there, not man. Remember, Abraham told Isaac that God will provide for Himself the Lamb for the burnt offering. Moses wrote this book, including the account of Abraham naming that place. The Spirit of Jesus was guiding him as he wrote. When Abraham named the place where he offered Isaac, "The LORD Will Provide", was he telling us that it was the place where God would provide the Lamb for the burnt offering?
Abraham told Isaac that God would provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. When Jesus guided Moses to add the statement about how it will be provided, "In the mount of the LORD", was God not telling us that He had selected that place as the Mount of the LORD and the place where He would provide for Himself the Lamb? Did God provide the Lamb, "In the mount of the LORD"?
Jesus was the only righteous one who met the conditions of being a perfect sacrifice. That required Him to live a perfect life. He lived while the old Law was still in effect. Did He comply perfectly with the Law and, "therefore", burn outside the camp at the clean place for ashes? Did He remain perfect under that Law to the very end and burn at that ash heap? Did He offer His sacrifice at the doorway of the tent of meeting (east of the temple) as the Law required (Leviticus 1:3)?
The cross is the most important event of all time. Did the most important event of all time take place at the most holy place on earth, the mountain where the temple stood? Could any one thing be more important for considering that mountaintop for His earthly dwelling place than because He had chosen that place for His sacrifice to be made and the new house of God to be raised up? Did the cross stand outside the east gate overlooking the Kidron valley, a place of ancient graveyards? Was there a garden at that clean place for ashes and a new tomb nearby? Remember, the Law had only a shadow (Hebrews 10:1) of the good things to come.
When God gave Abraham credit for righteousness, He could see ahead in time to Abraham as he was placing Isaac on that altar. That is exactly what James said. Remember what James said about Abraham's faith and works and how God saw Abraham offer Isaac on the altar before it happened? James referred to Abraham offering up Isaac on the altar, saying, "and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God" (James 2:23).
James is telling us how Abraham fulfilled Scripture when he obeyed God and offered Isaac on the altar. He fulfilled Scripture that tells how he was made righteous by faith when he showed his faith by his obedience. The Scripture is the Word and Jesus is the Word. Jesus foresaw Abraham's obedience. Jesus gave Abraham credit for righteousness when He foresaw Abraham obeying God's commandment and proving his faith at the test.
When we listen to Jesus as He speaks through Moses and tells about Abraham's test, He says the same thing that James said. After the test and the angel had stopped Abraham, Moses records what God said to Abraham (through the angel). The angel told Abraham, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore". He would be blessed because he did that thing as God had commanded.
Abraham had been given the same promise (having seed like the stars of the heavens) long before the test. He was given that promise when he was declared righteous by his faith. That promise was later expanded to say that, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED". Abraham believed that promise and it can be seen as Abraham offered Isaac on that altar. He showed his faith with his works.
After telling him he would be blessed because he had done that thing, the angel said, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" (verses 16-18). That promise was first made to Abraham when God called him and told him to leave his father's house and go to the land that God would show him. God promised him that "in you all the families of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). God would keep His promise because Abraham obeyed with his actions. Again, the scripture was fulfilled when Abraham obeyed God's voice.
Paul said that promise was the gospel being preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). It was the gospel promise of salvation to all nations. God promised to bless all nations through him because he believed God and obeyed His voice. That happened some twenty years after God had made the same promise to him because he had believed God.
When Abraham obeyed God and offered Isaac as a burnt offering, he was completing his faith requirements with his actions. James tells us "that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected". When it happened, the Scripture was fulfilled.
That is what Paul was telling us in Romans. We read some of those verses previously. When Paul spoke of how Abraham's faith had given him credit for righteousness and it was written for our sake, it was after Paul said something about how Abraham was not justified by works but by belief in God. He said, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS" and it was credited to him "Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them" (Romans 4:9-11).
Abraham was made righteous by his faith before he was given his covenant requirement of circumcision. His faith caused him to believe what God would say years later when He was given the covenant requirement of circumcision. It was to be a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. God told him that circumcision was an everlasting covenant requirement and that any male who was not circumcised would be cut off from his people (Genesis, chapter 17). Abraham's faith knew that God meant what He said and he and all males in his household were circumcised that day.
Just as God saw Abraham offer Isaac before it happened, God saw Abraham meeting his covenant requirement of circumcision before it happened. Do you suppose that God would have declared him righteous if he had refused to comply with the covenant requirement of circumcision? God had said that any uncircumcised male would be cut off. Abraham knew that God would keep His word that any uncircumcised male would be cut off from his people and he obeyed. God keeps His promises and Abraham knew that he had to obey. When God gave him credit for righteousness because of his faith, God had already foreseen him believing God's word and meeting his covenant requirements with his works of obedience.
God did not cause Abraham to believe in Him but He foresaw Abraham show his faith by his works. When Jesus foresaw it, He gave Abraham credit for righteousness before he did anything. Abraham was given credit for righteousness apart from works but, because of his works, his faith was perfected.
Paul spoke of the Law and works (Romans 3:27-31) saying, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law". The Jews were trying to be justified by works of the Law. They only had a partial belief in God. They did not believe in God's word of grace. Jesus is the Word and they did not believe in Him. They were doing works of the Law outside of faith in Jesus. They failed because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Abraham did his works because of his faith in God's word. He obeyed God's word with his works because He believed in God's Word (Jesus) and he showed his belief by his works.
Righteousness will be credited to us by faith in Christ if we believe like Abraham believed. It must be a faith that will believe in and keep God's Word. We must keep His word because Jesus tells us "if anyone keeps My word he will never see death" (John 8:51).
God sees our obedience before it happens. That is how we are predestined. If He foresees us having a life of obedient faith, we will be predestined for eternal life. It is not because God chose to make us believe and obey. He sees us make the choice and He sees it long before it happens. It can be seen in the life of Abraham. He was given credit for righteousness before his faith became obedient. The scripture was fulfilled when it happened. We must be like Abraham and obey God when He speaks.
Abraham knew that God would keep His word regarding his son, Isaac and that is faith that justifies. It appears that it will justify us before we do anything if Jesus foresees us keeping His word before He speaks to us (before we see it in scripture). We must believe in Jesus. We must be like Abraham and believe Him and obey Him each time we hear Him speak. We must keep following Him. If we hear Him speak and refuse to obey, Jesus will have foreseen it and He will not have given us credit for righteousness. We will only have been made righteous by faith if Jesus foresees our future obedience.
We, the saints, are the called and predestined because God foreknew us. When Jeremiah spoke of his calling, he recorded God saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5). If God knew Jeremiah before he was then He foreknows each one of us before we are. If He foreknew me, then He knew if I would have faith in Him.
We are called just as Abraham was called, with one exception. Scripture tells us (Jesus tells us), "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" (Hebrews 11:8). Abraham had no help from the written scriptures because there were none. He could not see where he was going but we can. We can see where he was going and we can see where we are going because the scriptures are telling us about it. We must be like Abraham and believe in Jesus if we wish to be among the ones who are called.
If we are of the faith of Abraham we will be like Abraham and when Jesus calls us, we will obey and do what He commands. Each time Abraham heard Jesus speak, he believed Him and obeyed His voice. Remember, Jesus once said that, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27). For Abraham, following Jesus required him to do that work of splitting the altar wood for the sacrifice of his son and taking it to the place of sacrifice. It caused him to make that offering. We must be like Abraham and take up our cross and follow Jesus.
If we are of the called, we will keep listening to His word (we will keep studying it) and we will meet our covenant requirements. When we hear Him commanding us to follow Him to where we have never been before, we will be like Abraham and go there. If we hear Him speak and refuse to act on His word, then we do not have the faith of Abraham. Jesus knows before we are born whether or not we will have the faith of Abraham. If He sees us having Abraham's faith and He sees us being obedient, then He will give us credit for righteousness when He first calls us. We will have been predestined for eternal life.
It appears that God caused Abraham's story to come about as it did to instruct us regarding the kind of faith that justifies. Paul does tell us how God works in our lives to cause all things to work together for good if we love Him (Romans 8:28). The promise of having God create a good life story for us only applies if we love Him. Jesus made it plain in John, chapters 14 and 15, that loving Him demands obedience to His commandments. He will repeat it several times in those scriptures. He says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him". Having a home (an abode) with God is the promise. That promise is only made to those who love Him. Only those who love Him with obedience will receive the promise.
James included Abraham's example when he spoke of faith and works and said, "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself " (James 2:17). Abraham had a living faith that believed with obedience and, as the angel said, "because you have done this thing", he would be blessed and his seed would be multiplied. As James said, the Scripture was fulfilled. Jesus is speaking to us through James just as He speaks through Abraham. Jesus said that the promise is to those who obey His voice. We must show our love for Him by obeying His voice.
Paul said that we are saved by grace, through faith, but he also said that we have been created in Christ for good works that He has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Works can't save us. We are justified by faith but it must be a faith that believes like Abraham believed. It must be a faith that believes and obeys God's word. Because Abraham obeyed God's voice, God's gospel promise of everlasting life to all nations would come through his Seed. We are saved through a living faith. If our faith does not believe and obey God's word with action then our faith is dead. We can't be justified by a dead faith. When Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him, He expects us to do that work.
When God made His covenant with Abraham, He told him that his everlasting covenant requirement was circumcision. Abraham obeyed and met the covenant conditions that same day (Genesis, chapter 17). If the covenant requirement of circumcision was to be an everlasting requirement, it also applies to the everlasting new covenant. How can it apply to us? Christians are not required to be circumcised, or are they?
The old covenant requirement for that earthly land was physical circumcision. Was God telling Abraham that his covenant requirement for the heavenly land was spiritual circumcision? Are the scriptures telling us that our everlasting covenant requirement is to have a circumcised heart? Paul tells us that circumcision is not one that is outward in the flesh, but "circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter" (Romans 2:29).
That old circumcision was only the earthly copy. True circumcision is the removal of our body of sin. Our everlasting covenant requirement is spiritual circumcision by the "removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him though faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead" (Colossians 2:11). That covenant requirement is for all of God's sons, both male and female (Galatians 3:26-29). We are "sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" when we believe Him and obey His covenant requirements.
When we repent, we make the decision to turn from a life of living for self and live for Jesus. Those who make the choice to follow Him will truly live but they must "no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:15). We must love God enough to carry a cross. Unless we take up our cross and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:38).
The circumcision of Christ requires the removal of our old body of flesh and burying it in baptism so that we can be raised up as a new person with Jesus. If we follow Him in the likeness of His death, we will be in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:1-6). If we have not been crucified in the likeness of His death, we will not be raised up in the likeness of His resurrection and we will not have met God's covenant requirement of spiritual circumcision. God said that "an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant" (Genesis 17:14).
Abraham met the requirement of having a circumcised heart when he offered his best to God. God is telling us the same thing. He is telling us that we must carry our cross and place ourselves on the altar as our spiritual sacrifice to God.
I am not a theologian, just a Christian trying to hear Jesus as He speaks of His cross. As a retired engineer with over a half-century of Bible study, some of it is just beginning to sink in. Those Old Testament stories really were written for our instruction (Romans 15:4). Within the last five years or so, I have come to realize how God caused some Old Testament true stories to happen to show us copies of our spiritual story. He caused them to come about and to be written in the Old Testament scriptures to give us the same lessons that He would state plainly in the New Testament scriptures.
The old stories teach nothing new being required for salvation that we can't read in the New Testament. They give us the same requirements in earthly story form that the New Testament scriptures are telling us about spiritually. If we are confused with the direct statements of the New Testament, we need to study the old earthly stories. We need to study them anyway, so that we can know that, "JESUS IS LORD". Remember, Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables but He explains everything privately (to those who will bother to read it with open hearts) to His disciples.
You will notice that I have used the New American Standard translation for the copied scriptures in this book. You may wish to also read the same scriptures from the translation that you normally use.
Johnny Rogers 8/26/02
Revised 3/17/08
Image of the cross is from FreeFoto.com
Link For cross - http://www.freefoto.com/preview/05-08-10?ffid=05-08-10&k=Cross+at+Sunset