‘By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and he was offering his unique son’ (Heb. 11:17 HCSB)
Although this verse is short, it holds many important truths that we as Christians can take and apply to our own lives. Abraham here shows the unconditional obedience that we should display as Christians. When presented with a seemingly unthinkable task, just as we may experience, he followed the Lord without hesitation or question. We should learn from this and follow God’s teachings in the Bible and ultimately set a noticeable example to those around us.
Rewarded
Abraham was rewarded for his obedience to the Lord, and we too will be rewarded for following the Bible’s teachings. We should not, however, follow the teachings solely because of the reward we will receive, but rather with the intention of pleasing the Lord and becoming a strong and faithful Christian.
Finally, we can deduce that this verse is in fact a picture of the coming of Christ as God’s perfect ‘unique son’ to be offered, just as God asked Abraham to offer Isaac. As Abraham was seen as righteous for his trust in God’s ability to fulfil his promises to him (Gal. 3:6), we are also seen as righteous having put our trust in Christ, and are given a place in heaven.
Joshua Boyce, The Church of God in Birmingham
In Joshua’s article on Abraham’s faith, the important words in the verse that Joshua quotes at the start of his article (Hebrews 11:17) are , “when he was tested”. The episode of Abraham being commanded by God to offer up Isaac were a test of his faith in God. It might be aligned with our faith lived out daily as Christians. Saving faith (ie faith that justifies us before God) is demonstrated by Abraham in Genesis 15:5-6. Here God instructed Abraham to look at the skies, and number them and promised that so would Abraham’s offspring be. Abraham believed God and “God counted it unto him for righteousness” That’s the verse quoted in Galatians 3:6 that Joshua refers to at the end of his article. That is saving faith. So two types of faith are seen in Abraham’s life, saving faith and active or living faith that is worked out day by day. In my case, it often shows up how weak my faith is, especially when led to act sacrificially like Abraham was asked (I..E time or possessions|)
Please congratulate Joshua on his writing skills.