Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
CHRISTMAS PROMISES
When Abraham was alone in the land of Palestine, far away from the land of his father and brothers, God came to him with a promise. Abraham was among strangers, owned no property, had no children. Yet God promised him continual care and a child through whom all nations of the earth would be blessed.
Abraham believed the promise in spite of his outward situation. In spite of the fact that Abraham was not pure and deserving of all these promises, he believed that God would keep His promises. Even though Abraham's faith was not perfect (in Egypt or in the land of Abimelech), still Abraham knew that the God who promised a Savior for all nations w a s perfect!
Now, God kept His promise, and that is the first thing that we celebrate at Christmas. Life, peace, and eternal joy are all ours through the forgiveness that the Savior won for us. But the eternal part of it is still a promise for us. We do not yet see the eternal results of Jesus' doing and dying, so we are spiritual children of Abraham, even while part of the "all nations" who are blessed through his offspring.
We, too, do not deserve it by our lives. Our faith too is less than it should be. But we are all children of God by His promise and not by our performance. And the God who promises every blessing in connection with His Son-- He d o e s perform perfectly! He has kept His promise in Christ and we will see it when He comes again!
Watchman, tell us of the night, what its signs of promise are.
Traveler, o'er yon mountain's height, See that glory-beaming star!
