Abraham's Reward (Genesis 22:15-19)

Yesterday, we looked at the heart-wrenching depth of Abraham’s faith. He was willing to sacrifice even his own son, because that’s what God commanded of him. I love my children so much that I don’t care to think of this much. But Abraham loved God more than anything else in this world, and he demonstrated his faith in God by being willing to give up that which he loved second most. Today, we will see how God rewards his faithfulness.

Please read Genesis 22:15-19.

God has already promised incredible blessings on Abraham because of his faith. Earlier in his life, Abraham believed God and this was counted as righteousness. Now, Abraham is demonstrating his faith by being willing to obey God no matter what the sacrifice, which leads to God reiterating His holy promises. There isn’t much difference between what He promises Abraham here, and what He has already promised him in chapters 12, 15, and 18. God promising Abraham numerous offspring, from whom “all the nations of the earth will be blessed” is nothing new. God does not promise this to Abraham because Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac. God promised this to Abraham before Abraham even had any children!

So what’s different now? Abraham has been given the promises of God before he did anything to deserve them. Abraham received those promises through faith many years earlier. But now, Abraham has demonstrated his faith through action. This doesn’t earn God promises—those were already freely given! But it does confirm them to Abraham.

God promises us many things through Christ Jesus: salvation, freedom, grace, adoption, mercy, peace, love, security, and more. There is nothing that we can do to earn these things—they are a free gift from God. But, when we live out our faith in Christ, we become more assured of our salvation; more assured of our freedom in Christ; more assured of our eternal security. When we live out our faith, we experience more of the love, grace, and mercy of God; we understand more fully what it means to be a child of God.

Salvation is a free gift of God, but it is only when we live out our faith that we begin to fully understand just how incredible that gift is.