A New Beginning with Abram
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto
a land that I will shew thee.
Genesis 12:1
Read Acts 7:1-7
Hundreds of years after the great Flood, the Lord makes a new beginning
with Abram. In the meantime, evil has multiplied in the world. During the
time of Noah, one could speak of God-fearing ancestors, and Noah himself
was a righteous man. This was all of grace.
In Abram’s lifetime it had become much worse. Joshua tells us that Abraham
and his father served other gods (Joshua 24:2). They were heathens.
Even though they were descendants of Shem, faith in God as the Creator of
heaven and earth had disappeared. Abram was a worshiper of idols, a child
of Adam and a child of wrath that could not enter into the kingdom of God
except he was born again. Yet the Lord makes a covenant with Abram. When
the sacrament of baptism is administered to children in church, we sing,
“The word of grace which He commands, to thousand generations stands.”
(Psalter 425:5) But all those children are children of wrath, just as Abram
was. So when God called Abram, it was merely of grace.
But how did Abram know that the Lord was not an idol? The deacon Stephen
tells us this in Acts 7:2, “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham
when he was in Mesopotamia.” The Lord revealed Himself to Abram, and he
saw something of God’s glory. He understood that it was the Lord who was
calling him. This was a call he could not refuse. We are reminded here of an
important truth: God calls man. He does so through His Word, by means of
the preaching and sometimes through providence. How imperative it is to
know that God calls us. Do you also know this in your life? Is your answer,
“Speak Lord?”
Thought: When God makes a new beginning, sinners forsake their idols.
Psalter 125:4, 5 (based on Psalm 45)
Enthroned in royal state, All glorious thou shalt dwell,
With garments fair, in-wrought with gold, The Church He loveth well.
And they that honor Thee, Shall in Thy train attend;
And to the palace of the King, Shall joyfully ascend.
