Watch as Len Finn unpacks Genesis 21:22-34 and shows us the Gospel in the life of Abraham.
Living in the World
Being a child of the promise doesn’t involve abandoning the world. We are called to live in the world, but in the light of the Gospel. We know something that the rest of the world doesn’t. In Christ, everything that was wrong between us and our maker has been made right again.
The Gospel’s Freedom
We become the light of the world because we live in the light of the Gospel’s freedom; freedom from judgment; freedom from needing other people’s approval; freedom from needing worldly status.
To live in the light of the Gospel in meaningful relationships in the world, simply means to love and care for the people who God has put in your path, without strings attached, and without ulterior motives.
A Blessing to the World
The people of God are intended to be a blessing to the world. God’s promises are made to the church, but they are for the world. We are the way God intends to bless the world, even if the world resents it. To be a Christian in the world is to live self-sacrificially blessing those who are not yet part of Christ’s body.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And because of the great love of Christ for us, we actually have some love to spare.
Real Love
Real love, the one-way kind, the kind that even loves the unlovable in others, that kind that has no expectations, no conditions, no strings – that kind of love never comes from inside you; you are not the origin of that kind of love; that love only comes from the experience of being perfectly loved.
Every child of the promise was once outside the promise. You were once far off, but have been brought near by the blood of Christ. You were so far gone in your selfishness, brokenness and self-righteousness, that only the blood of God’s son could bring you back. God loves you so much that even Christ’s blood was not too high a price to bring you back to Him.
You are blessing to the world, not because of how smart, winsome, and talented you are, but because you have been blessed yourself immeasurably. In the blood of Christ Jesus you have seen to depths of God’s love for you and the world. When we know, live and exude that kind of love, we can’t help but be a blessing to those people we encounter.
