“Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.” Isaiah 51:2
Dear Ones:
In one sense, the whole of the history of Israel, and God’s dealings with her, has its essence and basis in the person of Abraham. Why? It is primarily that God called Abraham to be a “father” to His people, one that exercised his faith in God in a most singular, and complete manner. God chose Abraham to be an example, and a “trail blazer.” Few people have come so far, so fast, as Abraham in understanding what the relationship is to be between God and man. Few have there been also who, like him with his faults and failures, have truly lived a life of faith, finishing well their course. Like the Apostle Paul, Abraham could declare: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) However, unlike the Apostle Paul, Abraham did not have the Old Testament Scriptures, nor the New Testament gospels and epistles. How then did he become a “father of nations,” in whom the whole world would be blessed? Basically, it would be because of one thing that God worked in him, a singular perspective, that being God’s perspective as opposed to sinful man. Increasingly, with every manifestation or revelation of God to his heart, and Abraham’s faithful response to the specific call to obey Him, God would reward him by taking him further, and higher, in his knowledge of God. Eventually, through the experiences of life, and God’s dealings with him, he would be brought to the place in his heart and mind where he would trust God implicitly, in spite of ALL that he saw, or even thought, which might be in opposition to the truth of God. God had found his man in Abraham, a man that was teachable, responsive to the revelation of God according to His word, and humble enough to walk with God, always seeking His perspective.
We find this idea of a singular perspective mentioned in the New Testament also. Jesus told his disciples: “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33) In the book of proverbs, we read that we are not to lean unto our own understanding. Even Jesus did not judge matters according to what he “saw,” or “heard,” but by an absolute dependence upon the Spirit of God, He always sought the perspective of His Father above all else. This is seen so clearly, when in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed: “…not My will, but Thine be done.” Here is the ultimate choice of the perspective of God, infinitely greater and more important than that of men.
There were several times in the life of David when the matter of choosing the perspective of God over that of himself, and men, proved to be the best choice. Many a time, when faced with an enemy in battle, David would enquire of the Lord, and the Lord would give him an answer that God honored, and blessed. When Gideon faced the multitude of Midianites with only three hundred men, according to God’s command, the obedience of faith resulted in a resounding victory. When God spoke to and through His prophets in the Old Testament concerning coming judgment upon Israel and Judah, that perspective was not received very kindly. God did what He said that He would do. However, in almost the same breath of pronouncing judgment against the land, God spoke hope and assurance concerning a new beginning, where all old sins are washed away, and a new perspective is given to the people. It is as the perspective, and will of God, are embraced, that His blessing is revealed. The result of such blessing is the reaching of the entire world for Christ.
What then is God’s perspective for Christ’s church? It is that the church is IN Christ, in living union with the Son of God, that she might live by His victorious life, for others.
Dear Father, Give us Thy dominant perspective in all things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad