- Last week we contemplated that agency comes through Grace, God’s grace, and that He would be graceful enough to pass down His sovereignty to us
- All responsibilities are given to us by grace and so the question last week was whether we viewed that as a blessing or a burden
- The world understands agency as synonymous with conquer
- But for us, agency under God is more synonymous with sacrifice
- Matthew 20: 18
- Ephesians 1: 19
- Abram (Abraham) demonstrated well that his agency came through much sacrifice
- Remember that he came from a pretty booming city (Ur) … a prosperous place to live for the common person. A pagan culture, but economically prosperous nonetheless.
- His journey and life after Ur was far from prosperous. Famine, life threatened in Egypt, etc. Abram had not yet counted the fullness of the sacrifice that God called him to
- Genesis 12: 6-8
- Through a series of bad choices and a lack of faith in God’s covenant promise, he ended up back in a place where he was supposed to be.
- At this point Abram makes a choice to return to God and live in the truth of God’s promise to him
- Where have we set up an “altar” to God?
- Abram ended back up in a place that was set up as a dedicated reminder of who God is and what God did for him
- Genesis 13: 1-13
- His relationship with his nephew Lot is a further example of how Abram understood this sort of sacrificial agency. We see this in the way that he took care of him and gave up what was his.
- For the world, even the silliest things are argued over instinctual insecurity. A tit-for-tat worldview rather than trusting in God and caring for another person truly
- In our agency, how freely do we trust God to do right in the moment rather than try take control of the future?
- This gets harder and harder as decisions and their outcomes become bigger and bigger, but does that mean we shouldn’t live in the same faith as when choices are perhaps less consequential?
- Genesis 22
- Faith is knowing who God is and how He provides rather than insisting on knowing all the details
- Abraham was prepared to do even the most drastic of things in the faith and hope that God would be and do exactly what was good for Abraham
- In his readiness to give up his own son, we see this extreme example of faithful and sacrificial agency
- It’s important to recognize Isaac’s implied willing role in this sacrifice to God
- Abraham was acting in faith when he was prepared to sacrifice his son, but Isaac seems to have been equally ready in submitting to this
- Moloch was a pagan god, detestable to YHWH, because of the child sacrifices regularly made to this false god
- God wasn’t being hypocritical when He had this extreme experience with Abraham. It was always God’s hope that it was through this story/person that God would set up the means in which we come to Him … faith.
- We are drawn into this story so we can feel the weight of the sacrificial agency that is required by us when we commit ourselves to the Lord
- This story helps us build on our own faith. To trust the same God that Abraham trusted
- Do we believe these things in truth and action? When we operate within our sphere of agency do we think about how our actions point to Christ?
- Sacrifice for the believer is not for a specific or selfish gain. Though sacrifice may at times yield a beneficial return, it is motivated primarily by our dedication to the Lord
- Jeremiah 17: 5-7
- Like Abraham, we can move to the most fertile valley and still be stunted. It’s about trusting in the Lord even in the most barren land
- This takes a measure of faith to understand and cultivate this in our own lives
- Be encouraged, stay faithful to God’s parameters when you are tested. Direct all things to Christ in these moments
- Take example from the lessons of Abraham
- QUESTIONS:
- WHAT DOES A “FAMINE” LOOK LIKE FOR YOU? WHERE DO YOU RUN WHEN A FAMINE HITS?
- HOW CAN YOU HAVE THAT “HERE I AM, GOD” ATTITUDE OF FAITH THAT ABRAHAM HAD?
- HOW CAN YOUR TEAMWORK OF SACRIFICE MORE CLOSELY RESEMBLE THAT OF THE FATHER/SON, OF ABRAHAM/ISAAC?
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