Walk in love, by faith

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. The Holy Spirit had something else to say about Abraham, which honored God above everything else he had done in his life. Abraham demonstrated his love for God by showing He loved Him more than his only son. God was a greater treasure to Abraham than Isaac or his reputation. Because God had said to Abraham, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called,” Abraham offered up Isaac to God. Do you get it? Abraham believed God’s word about Isaac, so he offered him up by faith. Where did the faith come from? It came from the Holy Spirit when God promised that his descendants would come through Isaac. Since faith comes from God and Abraham believed God, he had the assurance that even if he killed Isaac, God would raise him up from the dead. This is one of those Bible stories that earth-blinded people cite as a reason not to believe in God. The story is too strange, too weird, too unthinkable. What kind of a god would ask a man to kill his only son as an act of worship? From an earthly point of view, we get it. There’s no earthly explanation that makes sense because they don’t understand God’s purposes or supernatural faith. It’s strange to them. We see Abraham’s faith in two statements found in Gen. 22:5. “Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.’” And vs. 8 when Isaac asked about a lamb for the offering. “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’” God provided the ram as a substitute for Isaac according to Abraham’s faith, and Abraham received his son back, just as God received His Son back after resurrecting Him to life. We can see the type, can’t we? From God’s viewpoint, He purposed in eternity to glorify Himself in Abraham, Isaac, and in Jesus, His Son. God prepared a prophetic testimony to His offering up His only Son as a sacrifice for the sins of those of whom He is not ashamed to be called their God. God is not ashamed to be the God of Abraham, who, by faith and love, offered up his only son, or the God of Isaac, who willingly gave himself to be sacrificed out of honor to his father. God is also not ashamed to be called the God of Jesus, who willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice for the honor and glory of His Father. For Abraham, Isaac, and Jesus to do what God commanded them made them all strangers and exiles on the earth. They did what they did because they believed in God and believed He was a rewarder of those who love, obey, and seek Him. God has made us strangers and exiles on the earth through what He has commanded us to do. Glorify Him by giving up our lives in this world to live to love with Jesus, His Son. The only way this is possible is by faith. Walk today in love, by faith.