Abraham
The Father of Faith
30 December 2018
From End to Beginning, God is Faithful
Genesis 25:1-18
by Wong Yan
Gen 25:1-18 marks the ending, or the “denouement” of the story of Abraham. God has proven himself faithful to Abraham by fulfilling various promises he made to Abraham since Gen 12. What does God’s faithfulness to Abraham mean to us today? And where does Abraham’s story fit in with the story of the whole bible?
16 December 2018
Bringing Back the Bride
Genesis 24
by Lim Soon Beng
Abraham’s servant is sent on a mission – to bring a bride back for Isaac. He succeeds because the hand of God is with him. In the same way, the faithful servants of God today are working to bring the bride of Christ to him, and the angel of God goes before them to ensure their success.
09 December 2018
A Promise Beyond Death
Genesis 23
by Tan Huai Tze
Sarah dies in Canaan without God’s covenant promises having been fulfilled. Abraham mourns, but not without hope. By faith, he purchases a piece of land in Canaan for her burial. This was Abraham, continuing to stake his claim on God’s promises in spite of death. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God’s promise of land will one day be fulfilled when the dead in Christ are raised and the whole earth is restored and renewed. In the mean time, we weep with those who weep and we shape our lives according to this coming future.
02 December 2018
The Sacrifice of God
Genesis 22
by Tan Huai Tze
God tests Abraham by asking him to give up the child of promise, Isaac. Abraham obeys but is stopped at the last minute. God himself provides a ram to be sacrificed in the place of Isaac. In response to Abraham’s obedience God swears an oath confirming that he will surely fulfil his promises to Abraham and his descendants. Abraham’s obedience and the ram that God gave points forward to Jesus’ obedience for us, and his sacrifice in our place as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
25 November 2018
Just as God Said
Genesis 21
by Tan Huai Tze
At long last, God fulfills his promise to Abraham and Sarah. Isaac is born, and they respond in joyful obedience. Soon after Isaac’s birth, his role as God’s chosen heir is threatened by Ishmael, and then later by possible conflict with Abimelech’s descendants. God preserves and advances his promise nonetheless, firmly yet mercifully.
18 November 2018
Righteous Pagan, Unrighteous Prophet
Genesis 20
by Tan Huai Tze
This passage contrasts Abraham and the Philistine king Abimelech, and ironically shows Abraham in a bad light, and Abimelech in a good light. Yet ultimately, both stand guilty before God, and just as Abimelech needed Abraham to pray for him, we all need a mediator to make us right with God. This is fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25).
11 November 2018
Living in the Light of God’s Promises
Genesis 18,19
by Aaron Akins
In Genesis 18, Abraham meets God with humility and generosity, as God confirms his promise of a son to his wife Sarah. The promise is so astonishing that like her husband before her, she struggles to believe. God is merciful to her in her unbelief, just as He is to us in ours. In Genesis 19, God’s mercy continues as He saves Lot from a terrible judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but Lot still suffers terrible consequences for his compromises with sin.
04 November 2018
The Covenant Sign
Genesis 17
by Tan Huai Tze
Abram is weak in faith and compromised at the end of Genesis 16. In Genesis 17, God works in Abram to call him to faithfulness: he confirms his promise, he gives circumcision as a sign of the Covenant, and he clarifies that his way of salvation is indeed by grace. This side of the Cross, God has replaced circumcision with baptism. By applying this new sign to ourselves and our children, God marks us out as his own people, saved by grace through faith.
28 October 2018
The God Who Sees and Hears
Genesis 16
by Tan Huai Tze
What happens when we fail in spectacular fashion? Does God disappear? How do we pick ourselves up? Genesis 16 shows God’s chosen family failing to trust his promises and plunging themselves into a terrible mess. Yet, God intervenes: he is the God who sees them and hears them, and will not let them go.
21 October 2018
God’s Covenant with Abram
Genesis 15
by Tan Huai Tze
God confirms that he will fulfill the promises made to Abram in Genesis 12 by making a Covenant with him in Genesis 15. Abram responds by simply believing. In Christ, we have an even greater reason to believe. Through his death on the cross, Christ fulfills for us all the conditions of God’s Covenant.
14 October 2018
Looking to the City of God
Genesis 13,14
by Tim Lim
Abram and Lot, his nephew choose different places to dwell in. Lot chooses Sodom, which is materially rich, but morally decadent. Abram chooses to dwell in tents, trusting in the promises of God. Lot’s choice proves disastrous when he is carried away by invading armies. Abram continues to follow God, living by faith in the promises of God, which enables him to rescue his nephew Lot.
07 October 2018
God’s Promises: Threatened but Unshaken
Genesis 12:10-13:2
by Tan Huai Tze
God’s promises to Abram for land, people and blessing are threatened by external threats, and the internal character flaws of Abram: his fear and selfishness. Yet God delivers and sets him on track again in spite of all these threats.
30 September 2018
From Adam to Abram, From Abram to Christ
Genesis 12:1-9
by Julian Wu
Because of Adam’s sin, the world is under a curse. Genesis 12 marks a turning point in history where God explicitly promises to bless Abram, and through him the world. This is a reversal of the curse of the fall (Galatians 3:7-9). Abram’s response is to obey God, and to build an altar, staking his claim to God’s promises. We too stake our claim by being living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).