I Tell You The TRUTH,

Hearing the story of how God called a man named Abram and from him bore the chosen nation of Israel sometimes leaves me perplexed. If God chose certain people, then isn't it unfair to the rest of us? Do we not deserve a chance to be chosen, to be called the children of God?

I'm sure that same question has passed through the minds of many. How could a loving God set certain people apart and chose certain people over others? The answer may surprise you.

It is true that the Lord called Abram and changed his name to Abraham and made a promise to him…

1The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2"I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you."

4Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Abraham was promised by God that he would become a great nation, a blessed nation. And not only will his people be blessed, but there will be many, as if a multitude of stars. And Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness. The Lord promises and the Lord keeps His promises. Abraham did have a child, Isaac, who would carry the blessing from God and pass them on to Jacob and then through Joseph. The blessing would continue through the blood of David.

Yet, while we see the blessing of God continue through the lineage, the key to understanding the true blessing the Lord had promised is not revealed until the Son of Man emerges from the womb of a young virgin. It is the birth of Jesus that the blessing comes to be fulfilled. It is through Christ that Abraham's promises are realized, even today.

From the very beginning, God's plan of salvation was meant to be a gift for all nations, all people. Never was it intended to be held onto by a certain family or nationality. Never was it meant to be kept, hidden and hoarded by a family name. The proof of this message is found in Galatians, as Paul continues to convince the Jews that God's gift of salvation is for all…

Galatians 3:

6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:

26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Like my Jewish friends, I am just as much a seed of Abraham as they are. I have received just as much of Abraham's promises from God as they have. I can claim to be a child of God just as they. And in order to accept the salvation from God, it must come through the Messiah, just as it is necessary for them. The message is simple and unchanging - we are all saved by faith through grace, even from the beginning.

Hold onto this encouragement today. You are one of Abraham's seed and an heir to the promises made to Abraham. God did not forsake Abraham and will not forsake you either. The promises and the Promised Land are both our inheritances simply by faith in the same God that spoke to Abraham, that led the captive free from Egypt and spoke through the prophets of old.

You are a child of God simply through faith in Christ. And all who believe are brothers and sister in the same family.