Father Abraham...Had Many Sons....

Perhaps you have poked around in the web-based product, ancestry.com.  It is wildly popular, mainly because people want to know their parentage, heritage, ethnic make-up, etc.  Some even send a DNA sample off to be tested, so that their own unique combination of ethnicities can be revealed.  And, some have been surprised at the results!

As mysterious as our physical genealogy may be, the spiritual genealogy of the Christian is revealed in Romans 4.  In this chapter, Paul is continuing to teach the Jews, newly converted to Christianity, about the centrality of "salvation by faith", as opposed to "salvation by good works" (such as circumcision).  In so doing, he uses Abraham as an example.  You may or may not have realized that Abraham was not circumcised at the time God asserted that his faith in God had made him right with God (Gen. 15:6, 22).

11And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 12And he is also the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.

Romans 4:11-12 (NET)

Because Abraham believed God, he became the "father of all who believe".  In a way similar to how Abraham believed, we Christians believe in Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation.  Therefore, we are sons and daughters of Abraham.  It reminds me of the folksy camp song we used to sing at Bible camp:

Father Abraham had many sons

Had many sons had Father Abraham

I am one of them

And so are you

So let's just praise the Lord

And, then, there is some strange choreography that supposedly accompanies the singing of it; but, we won't go into that!

It is a beautiful thing, how Paul weaves the Old Testament into the New in the book of Romans (and elsewhere).  He was a famous Old Testament scholar in his day, before becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, and this expertise he brought into the infant Christian world.  The Holy Spirit used his gifts to shape early Church theology, as well as to spread the gospel.

Many Christians want to disparage the Jewish people.  This is a grave mistake.  My own pastor pointed out yesterday that God WILL keep all of His promise to the Jews. In Hosea 3:4-5, we read about this.  In Romans 11, we will see Paul talk about a "partial hardening" of the hearts of Jewish hearts to the gospel, during this present Church age.  But, that will change, once God's complete number of Gentile believers has been reached.  More about that in a few days!

Some people, in the past, have actually persecuted the Jews because they "blamed" God's chosen people for Christ's death.  How foolish!  It is plainly stated in the Bible that Jesus coming to earth, for the express purpose of sacrificing His life (laying it down of His own free will), was God's plan all along.  These misguided people have not represented Jesus Christ when they have either actively persecuted the Jews or (just as bad) stood by silently and allowed them to be slaughtered.

I've always admired the Jewish people, even secretly wishing I had some Jewish heritage flowing thorough my veins.  (Maybe I should check out that ancestry.com!)  But, more importantly, I have Father Abraham's spiritual heritage, and that is better than any human cultural or ethnic combination.

Heavenly Father, Your family tree is gloriously beautiful.  Thank you for grafting me in (Rom. 11), for allowing me to have a part in Your amazing grace!  In Jesus' name, amen.