December 5th and 6th

December 5:                                                 
Ornament with star

Today’s ornament is the star.  I bet you can think of several different Bible stories that involve stars, but today we are going to talk about God’s promise to Abraham.

We live way out in the country in Mississippi.  There are no street lights or city lights, and when we turn off our house lights and go outside on a clear night, the stars are AMAZING.  We can see so many more than when we are in town, and we would not even dream of trying to count them all!  

Let’s think about Abram (whose name was changed to Abraham).  There was no electricity in his day, and so at night everything for miles and miles was dark.  It’s easy to imagine what the sky might have looked like on the evening when the Lord spoke to Abram.    

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

2 Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Abram was old.  His wife Sarah was old.  They had not yet had any children, and there were a LOT of stars.  The promise of descendants numbering the stars seemed incredible.  YET ABRAM BELIEVED GOD, and God counted him righteous.  

There are two things going on here.  On one level, there is the amazing power of God and the granting of a child to Abram and Sarah against all odds.  Now childless Abram would have an heir, and Abram would become Abraham; he would be known as one of the patriarchs- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob- and the 12 tribes of Israel would be born directly through him.   

That’s great- and even miraculous- but why would we put this star on the Jesse Tree as we expectantly wait for the celebration of the birth of Christ?  

On another level, there is the promise of the coming of Christ through Abraham’s family line. We can look to Galatians Chapter 3 in the New Testament for a little explanation.  

6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer...

16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ...

29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:6-9, 16, 29)

Galatians tells us that Abrahams’s descendants are not only those who are directly related to him.  All who are in Christ are the offspring of Abraham, and therefore heirs.

When we look up at the stars on a clear night, we quickly realize that it is impossible to count them all. When God told Abram to “count the stars, if you are able to count them”, He knew it would be impossible for Abram also. Yet even small children can count to one, and there is one Star on which we can continuously gaze.

The wise men actually saw a star in the sky which guided them to Jesus. We have much better than that. We have the Word of God and the Spirit of God to guide us to Christ, the only Star really worth gazing upon. It is those who follow that Star who are the real descendants of Abraham.

December 6:                                                
Ornament with ram

Today’s ornament is the ram, and we will be talking about Abraham again.  God always keeps His promises, and he did indeed bless Abraham and Sarah with a son named Isaac.  This is where we pick up the story, and it is one of FAITH and SACRIFICE.

Our reading comes from Genesis 22:1-18:

 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”  15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

“What a demand God made! But Abraham did not withhold his only son of promise. What God wanted was Abraham’s heart, not Isaac’s life. So when the knife was raised to slay Isaac, a provided substitute appeared.”*

Abraham was ready to give up his son for a sacrifice to honor God, and on that occasion, God promised to give His Son as a sacrifice for the Salvation of man.  God provided a lamb for Abraham, and at the same time, God promised to provide another Lamb through Abraham.  

This promised Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world, is Jesus.  God sent his Son Jesus to be THE sacrifice for our sins.  1 Peter tells us that we are redeemed “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Christ came to earth and took flesh and blood, that he might obey and suffer as a man.  He kept the whole law for his people, and he never sinned.  He was holy, blameless, and undefiled, and he lived a life of perfect obedience to the law of God.  Not only did he live a perfect life while He was here on earth, but also He satisfied divine justice by his sufferings and death in the place of sinners.  So He lived a life without sin, AND he suffered all of the punishment that our sins deserve.  

Through the years, godly people were saved by believing in this Savior to come, and they offered sacrifices to show their faith.  These sacrifices represented Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners.  But now, we no longer need to make sacrifices.  Hebrews chapter 10 tells us, “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God... For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified....”  God’s saving work is complete through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, and that is exactly why we are waiting expectantly during this season of celebrating Christ’s birth!

• From Biblegateway.com resource, “All Men of the Bible”