The Summons To Faith-Activity

"Some time later God tested Abraham."  Gen. 22:1

The foundation of Faith is trust in God.  It is not that we claim to always understand the ways of God because we cannot make such an absurd claim. This word 'Faith' is not found in the Old Testament Literature.  It was imposed upon the Old Testament Writings by well meaning translators.  Please don't misunderstand me because the Old Testament does speak of 'Faith' but not in the western tradition of a lexical definition.

In the Old Testament Literature 'Faith' is activity. That is, Faith is demonstrated by what one does, and not by what one says.  Actions are primary in the Old Testament.  Actions reveal character or the essence of who people really are under pressure or otherwise.  The above statement is about a relationship that has a mature foundation.

God has cultivated the faith-activity of Abraham and brought him to this point.  God knew that the faith-activity of Abraham was ready for this crisis.  God was going to break up the foundation of the current relationship with Abraham, or so it would seem to observers.

God was not breaking up the old, he was revealing the new relationship that he possessed with Abraham.  Indeed, the change of his name from Abram to Abraham bespoke of a new relationship with God.  God is always serious about those who fight the good fight of faith.  God tested Abraham.

In this verse God is the grammatical subject and Abraham is the object of the verb 'tested' as we too are tested by God, but not in the way that Abraham was tested.  The verb 'tested' indicates intentional or intensive action.  This event in Abraham's testing was to create a rent within the very fabric of his faith walk.  It was to indicate a new destiny and therefore a decisively new walk with God.

It is interesting that Abraham's test is about love.  In the following verses love is balanced by sacrifice.  Love is always about sacrifice.  Herein is the real definition of love.  What one is willing to place upon the altar of complete surrender.  Love and sacrifice are powerful realities.  Abraham was given the gift of Isaac by God, and now Abraham is required to give back his gift of Isaac to God.

Just as Love and Sacrifice are powerful realities so are Love and Unselfishness.  Abraham did not test God by interrogating Him.  There is no fear between Abraham and his relationship with God.  Again, this is the test of a mature believer.  Abraham had conquered fear in his soul through a lifetime of trust in God.  Abraham had come to know God.  This type of awareness is only derived by constancy and devotion to God.   Abraham is revealing to the world that though he walked in time he was not bound by the constraints of time.

Abraham is free.  Both God and Abraham are free.  The freedom of God is qualitatively unlike the freedom of Abraham.  The freedom of God is related to his essence, and for us it means "who can say what doest thou?"  But the freedom of Abraham is the freedom to positively respond to the divine will.  As we respond to God our freedom increases in God.  We come to know what it means to be in the world but not out of the world as a source.

The most precious is gift is asked of Abraham.  God asks for Isaac.  Abraham is willing to give the gift back to the Giver without question.  Thy will be done is Abraham's desire.  Abraham is taken up into the divine will.  He is spiritually suspended between heaven and earth.  Abraham's knowledge of God is not brokered by a third party.  It is an immediate and direct encounter with the irresistible will of God.

Isaac was given to God by Abraham, and Isaac was given back to Abraham in a new way.  Herein is the power of resurrection.  God's summon to Abraham was to rise out of the ordinary to become extraordinary. Abraham's story for us is a timeless message to repent of the well cultivated road and and take the extraordinary road of trust in God.  Notice, that the way of trust in God leads to the cross of Calvary and God's extraordinary gift of Iesous.

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