Author's Bias | Interpretation: conservative

Print Study
Helpmewithbiblestudy.org

God Chose to be God to Abraham and his Descendants

God choses to be the God of Abraham

The earliest record of God choosing something involving a human being is found in the covenant that God makes with Abraham. This unilateral unconditional covenant that God makes with Abraham is of great significance. Here the omnipotent God of the universe has chosen to commit Himself to be God to Abraham and his descendants, because of Abraham’s faith in Him:

"I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Gen 17:7-8)

In choosing to be God to Abraham's descendants, God makes the conditional Mosaic covenant with the children of Israel to teach them how to be a people of God – to learn what sin is and how to atone for it. If He is to be God to Abraham's descendants, His own possession among all the peoples, then the children of Israel must be a sanctified people, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation in God's holy land (Ex 19:4-6).

When speaking to Gentiles, the apostle Paul alludes to the covenant God made to be God to Abraham and his descendants:

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Eph 2:12)


For deeper study:

God Chose to be God to the Descendants of Abraham



Next>
Series: The Doctrine on Salvation
Examples of Election - Mediators of the Covenant

<Back
Series: The Doctrine on Salvation
Election - A Definition


Copyright © 2014 Helpmewithbiblestudy.org. All rights to this material are reserved. We encourage you to print the material for personal and non-profit use or link to this site. If you find this article to be a blessing, please share the link so that it may rise in search engine rankings.