A Demonstration of God's Grace
Genesis 12:10-20
This is another of those passages where God's response seems a bit odd. Abram instructs Sarai to tell a lie in order to protect his own skin. Even as he trusted in God to keep the promise of making him a great nation, he did not trust God to protect him in Egypt. The Bible does not speak of God dealing with Abram's sin. Instead Abram is blessed with sheep and oxen and donkeys and servants and camels (v 16), and Pharaoh is the one who is cursed because of Abram's lie. A lot of questions are left unanswered in this passage. But we must not let these questions keep us from seeing the grace of God revealed in the life of Abram.
As with the wine incident in Noah's life, we do not know if God spoke to Abram about telling lies. We cannot assume Abram simply got away with sin. In fact this assumption goes against what we know about God. How God dealt with Abram is between God and Abram. What God wants us to know is written in Genesis 12 and it shows how God's grace works. By grace, God gives us what we do not deserve.
God had promised to bless Abram (v 2). He fulfilled this promise while Abram was in Egypt. Abram did nothing to deserve what he received. It was not earned and it was delivered during a time of what can be called a faith crisis in Abram's life. God kept His promise because He wanted to do so. This is the grace God pours out for us.
The grace of God means we do not have to earn blessings. When we teach people to give money so they will be blessed or to demonstrate how they are great Christians just so God will have to move for them, we cause people to miss the wonderful characteristic of God where He bestows grace on an undeserving believer. Does this mean we do not try to live a righteous life? The Bible clearly tells us to strive for righteousness. But our striving should not be a means of getting God to serve us.
God is a God of grace. He pours out His grace on people of imperfect faith like Abram, and like me and you. Grace is not based on what we do. It is based solely on the will of God and His desire to bless His children.
This is another of those passages where God's response seems a bit odd. Abram instructs Sarai to tell a lie in order to protect his own skin. Even as he trusted in God to keep the promise of making him a great nation, he did not trust God to protect him in Egypt. The Bible does not speak of God dealing with Abram's sin. Instead Abram is blessed with sheep and oxen and donkeys and servants and camels (v 16), and Pharaoh is the one who is cursed because of Abram's lie. A lot of questions are left unanswered in this passage. But we must not let these questions keep us from seeing the grace of God revealed in the life of Abram.
As with the wine incident in Noah's life, we do not know if God spoke to Abram about telling lies. We cannot assume Abram simply got away with sin. In fact this assumption goes against what we know about God. How God dealt with Abram is between God and Abram. What God wants us to know is written in Genesis 12 and it shows how God's grace works. By grace, God gives us what we do not deserve.
God had promised to bless Abram (v 2). He fulfilled this promise while Abram was in Egypt. Abram did nothing to deserve what he received. It was not earned and it was delivered during a time of what can be called a faith crisis in Abram's life. God kept His promise because He wanted to do so. This is the grace God pours out for us.
The grace of God means we do not have to earn blessings. When we teach people to give money so they will be blessed or to demonstrate how they are great Christians just so God will have to move for them, we cause people to miss the wonderful characteristic of God where He bestows grace on an undeserving believer. Does this mean we do not try to live a righteous life? The Bible clearly tells us to strive for righteousness. But our striving should not be a means of getting God to serve us.
God is a God of grace. He pours out His grace on people of imperfect faith like Abram, and like me and you. Grace is not based on what we do. It is based solely on the will of God and His desire to bless His children.
posted by Dennis | 7:41 AM
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