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Genesis 22:1-2, John 3:16

A Test of True Love

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 25, 2025

There is much to be said about Abraham’s maturing faith. But I’m convinced the story of Abraham is not so much about Abraham as it is about God. God called Abraham. He initiated the personal relationship. He stayed with Abraham through all his numerous trials and failures along the way. God made an unconditional promise to Abraham, explaining that it wasn’t about Abraham, but about God and God’s word to him. The ultimate experience in Abraham’s life came in Genesis 22. It begins by saying, “God tested Abraham…” Tests are always designed to reveal some important truth that cannot be clearly seen otherwise. This is the “test” that was given to Abraham, “God said, take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:1-2) What was this test designed to reveal?

Kent Hughes writes about Abraham’s response to this trial. He says, “Immediate horror fell on Abraham’s soul, and revulsion repeatedly welled up in dark waves of emotional nausea. God was calling him to put Isaac to death with his own hand and to then incinerate the remains as a burnt offering to God. This divine command was contrary to everything in Abraham—his common sense, his natural affections, his lifelong dream. He had no natural interest and no natural sympathy for this word from God. The only thing natural was his utter revulsion!” Hughes goes on, as most commentators do, to exhort their readers to have that kind of blind faith in God. Trust Him even in times when He demands huge sacrifices in our lives. They usually end with something like “we must learn to trust God like Abraham did.”

As noble as this exhortation is, I truly believe that this story is not designed to teach us to sacrifice our own children or whatever is most precious to us in this life to demonstrate our faith and love for God. It’s a test designed, not to expose our love for God, but a test designed to expose God’s love for us. The “Horror” that Hughes writes about, was not Abraham’s but God’s! He, the only true Heavenly Father, did that very thing on Calvary. God stopped Abraham’s sacrifice and provided one Himself – a lamb caught in the thorns. The name of that place became “God will Provide.” Abraham, whose name includes the word for “father,” is a perfect picture of our Heavenly Father’s love for sinners. It was on this same mountain that God offered His only Son, crowned with a thicket of thorns, as the sacrifice for our sins. Romans 8:5 says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” And of course, we must not overlook the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

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Genesis 17:10-11, Ephesians 4:30

Marked By God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 24, 2025

God put a mark on Cain. This mark would identify him as the murderer yet would also serve to protect him from the vengeance of others. It served as a sign of God’s promise that no vengeance would be taken on Cain. God put a rainbow in the sky after the flood as a sign that the world would never be destroyed by a flood again. God called Abraham to “mark” himself and all the males of his household as a sign that they, too, were part of God’s covenant with Abraham. It’s recorded in Genesis 17:10-11. It says, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” The mark would be the sign that they are God’s people.

The “mark” was a guarantee. In Ephesians 1:14, Paul says, “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.” When Paul addresses his first letter to the believers in Corinth, he says (1 Corinthians 1:2), “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” In his commentary on this passage Richard Hays says, “This does not mean that the Corinthians have some special vocation that sets them apart from other Christians; rather, they—along with all other Christians—are set apart from a confused and perishing world, marked by God as God’s people. Paul regards all the members of all his churches as “the saints,” the elect of God.”

In Ephesians 4:30, Paul exhorts his readers not to grieve the Holy Spirit. It’s possible for true believers to live contrary to their calling as saints, but that does not jeopardize their status as saints. He exhorts believers to live lives worthy of their calling, not by threatening to remove them from God’s favor, but by reminding them of their secure status. He says, “Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” Louis Berkhoff says, “…the fact that they are said to be sealed unto the day of redemption clearly indicates that the sealing of God secures their safety that they are thereby rendered sure of their final salvation.” John Stott explains the significance of this for us. He writes, “What the Christian life is not, is a bondage to the law, as if our salvation hung in the balance and depended on our meticulous and slavish obedience to the letter of the law. As it is, our salvation rests upon the finished work of Christ, on His sin-bearing, curse-bearing death, embraced by faith.”

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Genesis 15:1-8, Hebrews 11:19

Secured by God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 23, 2025

Abraham is the father of all those who believe. Yet, in his life, there were many occasions during which he had his doubts. Just like you and me! But God gave him a promise. Then, God confirmed his promise with an illustration that made it clear that God would not let anything stop His plan. This illustration came in a “night dream” or a “vision” to Abraham. The story begins for us in Genesis 15:1-2. It tells us, “After these things, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus?” You can see that even though God had already promised him a physical heir through Sarah, he wasn’t so sure! It’s even clearer from what he said in Genesis 15:8. God promised him many descendants that would possess the Promised Land: “But he said, O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

I love what God said to Him in Genesis 15:13 (ESV): “Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Know for certain’…” God then performed a ceremony that was common in that culture. It was the same as signing a contract. The biblical language for a contract between God and man is a “Covenant.” The Abrahamic Covenant, or the promise, the contract, that God gave Abraham was one sided. In that culture when treaties were signed, or contracts made the two parties would sacrifice an animal and separate the parts. Usually, the size and number of the sacrifices signified its importance. Here God called Abraham to sacrifice numerous sacrifices of all kinds and then caused a deep sleep to fall on him while God, alone, passed through the divided parts of the bloody sacrifices. This signified that God was responsible for carrying out the promise. It would not depend on anything Abraham would do. It was unconditional.

Those are the kinds of promises God gives us. Through faith in Jesus, all who believe will have eternal life. That’s his unconditional promise signed in the blood of His only Son. He walked that bloody path alone, sealing our pardon, and securing our eternal destiny. He will bring it about because He said He would. Our eternal security has been established once and for all on Calvary. Now, eternal security is not the same as our personal assurance. Abraham had God’s promises, but he still had doubts. It took many years of walking with God and listening to God and getting to witness God’s faithfulness in life that brought about personal assurance for Abraham. After many years, we see Abraham assured of God’s promises beyond the grave when he brought Isaac to Mt. Moriah. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that Abraham “was assured that God was able even to raise Isaac from the dead…” As the reality of our eternal security sinks in, we gain assurance in God’s promises.

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Ephesians 1:3-4, 1 Peter 2:9

A Chosen People

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 22, 2025

When Isaiah reviewed Israel’s history, he called on Abraham. Isaiah 51:2 says, “God chose Abraham and Sarah to be your ancestors. The LORD blessed Abraham, and from that one man came many descendants.” There has been much debate over the basis of God’s selection of Abraham. Did God look down and see someone who was better than all the others around? Did God choose Abraham and Sarah because they were special? In my opinion, it was quite the opposite. Abraham and Sarah, humble and living in the plains of Shinar in the city of Ur, were surrounded by pagan idolatry. The idols from Ur went with them from Ur to Haran and show up again when Jacob attempts to leave Haran running from his father-in-law. No, Abraham and Sarah were sinners, just like everyone else. God did not choose them because they were special, but they became special because God chose them.

You see when God closed the gates to the Garden of Eden he also closed the gates to intimacy with himself. Mankind has looked longingly with burning hearts at the closed gates to paradise from that moment on. The void in every human life is the loss of intimacy with God that was the consequence of sin. There was no more walking with God in the cool of the evening in Paradise. But God, in His personal and intimate way, chooses people. He chose Noah. It made Noah special, however, because God spoke to him. The same is true for Abraham. God’s choice is made when God opens up an intimate conversation with people. Noah, Abraham, and God’s chosen nation, Israel, are all special because God spoke to them.

Nobody is special today either. But we become special because God has chosen to speak to us. He has opened up an avenue of true communion with Him to us. Through Christ we’ve been chosen. Paul says in Ephesians 1:3-4 that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in that He has chosen us in Christ. In 1 Peter 2:9, we are actually called “a chosen people.” No, we are not special in and of ourselves, but we certainly become as special as Noah and Abraham and Israel itself because God chose to speak to us, as the author of Hebrews tells us, “through His Son.” Maxie Dunnam says, “How we perceive ourselves, who we think ourselves to be, determines the direction of our lives and shapes our relationships. To accept at the depth of our being that we are chosen by God is the antidote for our insecurity, our neurotic fears, our striving to be accepted, and our self-depreciation.”

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Genesis 22:14

On A Hill Far Away

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 21, 2025

We had to show our passports when we checked in at the Airport for our flight to Israel. They wanted a solid photo ID to prove we were who we said we were. The airlines won’t take us at our word; they want some proof. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day understood his claims and asked for proof. They wanted signs and wonders. But, even when they got them, they didn’t believe Him. But Jesus’ best answer to them to prove His identity came in John 5:46. He told them that His portrait, photo ID, was on every page of the Old Testament and especially in the books of Moses. He said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.”

I’ve studied the book of Genesis many times. It is one of my favorite books. The last time I went through it in detail, looking for Jesus.  I found Him in creation, the fall, the flood, even at Babel, and in Abraham’s call. However, one of the clearest photos of Jesus is seen in the life of Isaac, the promised seed of Abraham. Isaac is a prototype of Jesus in too many ways to cover in this short devotional thought. Everything about Isaac really points to Jesus Christ. Isaac was the promised seed of the woman, just as Jesus was. The miracle birth of a 90-year-old woman sets the stage for the miracle birth of a virgin according to Old Testament prophecies.

But the most beautiful observation about the two is that both Isaac and Jesus had fathers who were willing to sacrifice their sons “on a hill far away.” The hill was named in Genesis 22:14. It’s Mount Moriah. That verse says that Abraham named that mountain a more meaningful name. It says, “So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The LORD will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’” According to 2 Chronicles 3:1, Mount Moriah is in Jerusalem. The range of mountains where Abraham built his altar would later become the very spot where Christ would die for the sins of the world. That’s why Genesis 22 keeps emphasizing the particular site of the mountain chosen by God (vv. 2, 3, 9, 14). “On the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” Two millennia later and two millennia ago, God became a man, went to the cross, and there, shedding His blood, bridged the gulf between His own holiness on the one hand, and you and me on the other. On the mountain of the Lord, it was provided.

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Genesis 15:6

Faith = Righteousness!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 20, 2025

Peter called Lot “righteous” even though he lived among the wicked and came to a very bitter end. God called Noah Righteous even though he also came to a disgraceful end. Abraham is another man that God calls righteous. He’s righteous not because he’s perfect (thank you, Lord) but because he trusted God. Genesis 15:6 says, “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

Abraham was far from perfect. The story in Genesis chapter 20 is a perfect example. He lies to Abimelech about Sarah and lets him take her for his wife. But God intercedes and protects Abimelech from Abraham’s lie. Then, he blesses Abimelech, and Abimelech responds by blessing Abraham with great wealth. Clearly, we see the truth of Romans 8:28, “God works all things together for good, to those who love Him.” He even uses our sins for His own purposes. God doesn’t love us for what we can do for Him. His love for us is unconditional. But this is not a license to sin; it is confidence in spite of our falling into sin. We’ve all sinned in the past, and we’ll all sin in the future, and if the truth be shared, we are all sinning at the moment. There are sins of commission and sins of omission, as James instructed.

Most of you have heard the children’s hymn, “Jesus loves me. This I know for the bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, I am weak, but he is strong, yes, Jesus loves me.” There’s another verse that we don’t sing very often. It says, “Jesus loves me when I’m good, when I do the things that I should. Jesus loves me when I’m bad, even though it makes him sad.” Yes, Jesus loves me and you even when we’re bad also. Kent Hughes writes, “It is so common to think that God will love us more if we perform some great work, some external achievement. But the Bible (and here the story of Abraham and Abimelech) focuses on making a great heart. Here God was working in Abraham to create an unusual dependence upon him, because (Kent quotes Oswald Chambers here) ‘He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.’” It is faith that pleases God. Without faith “it’s impossible to please God.”

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Genesis 12:1-3

Semper Fi!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 19, 2025

Abraham is the most significant figure in the Bible, with the exception being Jesus Himself. It might come as a shock to learn that God’s choice of Abraham has nothing to do with Abraham’s worthiness. One commentator added, “God does not look down from heaven to find a person who has a bit of saving faith or a bit of righteousness and then say, ‘Oh, isn’t this wonderful! I’ve found somebody with a little bit of true faith! That makes it possible for me to save him. I think I will.’” No, not at all. According to Genesis 6:5, when God looks down from heaven upon the sons of man, he sees only evil in our hearts. Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Abraham is no exception! We know that his father worshiped the moon god of Ur and trafficked in idols. That trait was handed down to his great-grandchildren. Jacob still maintained household idols. He was told to leave his family and their household. He took many of them with him! Abram was called from Ur to go to the Promised Land but only went halfway to Haran and stayed there for 20 years. These chapters are not about Abraham’s faithfulness to God, but it’s about God’s faithfulness to him. God’s promises to Abraham had to do with the promise of Genesis 3:15. The seed of the woman that would crush Satan’s head would come through him and his wife Sarah. He lied about his wife to Pharaoh and Abimelech to protect himself – putting the promised seed of the woman in jeopardy. God had to miraculously intervene in both cases. He doubted God and called Eleazar his heir! He doubted God and called Lot his heir! He doubted God and took Hagar to produce Ishmael as his heir.

Yes, Abraham, the great patriarch of faith, had his own hang ups and was anything but perfect. But God was faithful. Abraham was on a faith journey, and like Abraham our future rests upon God’s faithfulness not our own. All along the way we are learning that we can trust God and even if it takes a miracle, He’ll ensure our safe arrival. One commentator said, “God is always dependable, while we may not be at times. When we face setbacks, God is faithful. When we face guilt, God is faithful. When the bank account goes, God is faithful. When a loved one dies, God is faithful. When we know we have been faithless, God is faithful.” God is the only real marine; Always faithful!

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Genesis 15:6, Hebrews 11:6

God’s Man

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 18, 2025

There’s no questioning the fact that Abraham was God’s man. The whole creation account, followed by the fall of man, the death of Abel, the call of Noah, the judgment of the flood, and the tower of Babel, is covered in just 11 chapters. Fourteen chapters are devoted to the life of the Patriarch, Abraham. Actually, the rest of the Old Testament is about him and his descendants. And Paul, in the New Testament, looked back to Abram as the greatest of all examples of how God’s people are to be justified by faith and not works.

J. M. Boice rightly points out, “The Old Testament is incomprehensible without understanding Abram, as the history of redemption commences with God’s call to him. The record of Abram’s life marks the Bible’s first mention of God’s righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Matthew, in his Gospel, includes Jesus’ genealogy to trace the origins of salvation back to Abram (Matt. 1:1). Luke, too, includes Zechariah’s declaration that Jesus’ birth fulfills God’s promise to Abram…” Indeed, Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish Nation, the Islamic nations, and all Christians, stands as the central human figure in the Bible, deeply rooted in history.

Boice goes on, “Great sections of the New Testament explain the significance of Abram. To support the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, an entire chapter of Romans refers to God’s dealing with Abram. Two chapters of Galatians refer to Abram’s life to prove that salvation is given apart from good works. One of the longest paragraphs in Hebrews 11 is devoted to the growth of faith in the life of this Hebrew patriarch.” Further, Abraham is referred to as “God’s friend” twice in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8) and once in the New Testament (James 2:23). What was it that made Abraham God’s man? Was it his good works? Was it his obedience? Wasn’t it simply because he believed God? If Job speaks to us of hope beyond the grave and if Hosea speaks to us of divine love in-spite of our spiritual adulteries, Abraham’s life teaches us that it’s only by faith that we can have intimacy with God. As the writer of Hebrews says, “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

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