Abraham and the Law of the Spirit of Life

One thing about cold, rainy, windy weather is that it makes me take a break from all the outdoor work required in preparation for the coming winter. So with that I can move on to the next group of patriarchs and the lessons we can learn from them about the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. So far, in Abel, Enoch and Noah there has been a common thread in the message of their lives. They all looked to something beyond themselves and this world. Faith in Him ( His Blood, His Word and His resurrecting power that delivers and saves us), and renouncing the world system in which we live is a working out of that common thread. In other words, Abel speaks of the Blood, Enoch speaks of walking in the power of agreement with God (trust in His Word), and Noah speaks of resurrection power. However, as we have seen in the Scripture accounts, these three are not recorded as having had a significant impact on the world around them. They still have the mark of infancy. They themselves are saved (in Noah's case his family is also), but there is no record of fruitfulness beyond that. Now we must go on to maturing in our Life in God.

Then we come to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham is called the Father of our Faith. His story begins with a common element found in Noah's story. He is called to come out of his natural life. Abraham was born in and living in the midst of a pagan society. We also are called to come out from a life of idolatry and unbelief and stand on resurrection ground in a new Life. We go on to learn that not only is this new life from God, but it is also for God. The Law of the Spirit of Life working in Abraham resulted in Abraham learning to lay down his natural expectations. So many times we mix the two. Especially today. We come into this new life full of faith; but must be careful not to use our faith with our goal being that of having our natural life enhanced and our own dreams fulfilled. We see Abraham leaving his father's land and coming into the land which God showed him, only to experience famine. We see that God promised Abraham an heir, yet he was 100 years old before Isaac was born. As one author (Gerald Schroeder) puts it, divine delay seems to be a normal part of the way God deals with us. Jesus knew to wait for God's timing. Remember when Lazarus died? Jesus waited four days before going to meet Mary and Martha. It did not seem to be good timing to Mary and Martha - we see Mary saying to him, "If you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:32). In John 7:6 he tells his brothers, "My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready." There is the parable that Jesus told in Luke 12:42-46 in which He tells us that God's timing is not our timing: "But if that servant says in his heart, My lord delays his coming, and begins to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and be drunk; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him and at an hour when he is not aware." Aabraham and Sarah did not understand this divine delay and took matters into their own hands, producing an offspring of the flesh. But later they had to acknowledge that Ishmael was not the heir that God had promised and had to send Ishmael away. In his book, "God According to God" author Gerald Schroeder speaking about Abraham accepting God's word that his posterity would suffer 400 years in Egypt writes, "Abraham could accept the package of a harsh exile followed generations later by reward only because. . . Abraham's encounter at the covenant (Gen. 15:17-18) took him behind the veil of our temporal world." Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was finally born. Abraham confessed that he was a sojourner in the land. He looked beyond this world to a world yet to come. He learned to trust God's Word regardless of his personal circumstances. He "believed God" even when he didn't immediately receive the manifestation of God's promise. Our Life in Christ Jesus is not measured by our circumstances. The Law of the Spirit of Life requires us to understand that this Life is a life hidden in God, and we live for Him, not for ourselves. We learn to trust HIM regardless of circumstances and regardless of what seems to be delay on His part, knowing that He has a greater purpose than we may be able to discern at the time. We begin to understand that it is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises, and begin to desire that His Will be done rather than ours. Our Life in Him is a hidden inward Life lived for Him; and the source of this life is hidden behind the veil of this outward life we see. It is hidden from the world. It is a life lived with the Cross of Christ as our foundation. Speaking of Abraham, Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56). We understand what Paul meant when he wrote in Colossians 3:2,3 "Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

Because of Abraham's deep faith and trust in God, God promises him that he will be a father of many nations (Gen. 17:4). Kings would come from Abraham (and Sarah too!) Genesis 17:6,16). God also told Abraham that in him "shall all the families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 12:3) So we can understand that living according to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (a hidden life of deep abiding faith in God alone) brings richness to not only our own lives but also to many others.

All of these things from Abel through Abraham are outworkings of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. That Law is one law. That law flows out of the Cross of Christ. The blood shed in Abel's offering, the Word Enoch had faith in that allowed him to "walk with God" because "faith pleases God", the Ark of Noah taking him through the flood onto resurrection ground, and the "day" of Jesus that Abraham saw and was glad when God allowed him to see beyond the veil of this life all point to the Cross of Christ and Him crucified. Even the offering up of Isaac by Abraham speaks of God offering His Son upon the Cross. It is the Cross - Jesus's shed blood - not the offering of our own hands as Cain but a blood offering as Abel gave, reconciling us so we can "walk with God" as Enoch did. The Cross is our Ark taking us over to resurrection ground. Life in Christ Jesus comes by way of the Cross alone.