NOT STRANGERS BUT SONS!!!

 SONS OF THE LIVING GOD!

God gave a promise to Abraham in which He said to him,” In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3). This promise was fulfilled  in the gospel blessing of justification  through Christ and the  accompanying gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:8,14) “ And the Scriptures foreseeing that God  would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying,  “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”  This is a clear evident that not only the children of promise would receive the blessings but also the Gentiles who will turn to the Living God. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the future when the Gentile nations would come to know God and worship Him.  Egypt is one of these nations for which there is future mercy. The Egyptians will swear allegiance to the true God and will institute public worship of God. In Isaiah 19:18-24, Truly Our God is a Merciful God and full with Goodness and Love. “In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts: Those that were abhorrent before God and a disaster and strangers became as son ship as the children of promise as well. What a wonder God we serve? “v 19 In that day there will be an alter to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. And it will be for a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. v23 in that day, there will be a high way from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.

And in that day, Israel will be one of the three with Egypt and Assyria- a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hand, And Israel My inheritance.  This takes me back to the Book of 2 Chronicles, 6, 7 when king Solomon raised his hands to the heavens and prayed  to God saying, (6:32)” Moreover concerning a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your Mighty hand and Your outstretched  arm, when they come and pray in the  temple;  he had built for the Lord; then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all people of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that the temple he had built was called  by God’s name.  God is a God of no partiality as long as one humbles himself before Him and repent, certainly he will have the tittle of son ship.  And in (7:14) clearly states that,” If My people who are  called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land."  This is assurerity that God does hear our prayers, forgive sins and heal our land indeed.

The worship the Egyptians were to offer God will be extensive; it will be found in the midst of Egypt as well as along the border. Assyria and Egypt previously mortal enemies will be reconciled and become partners in worshipping the Lord. Egypt will become an equal partner in the community of believers. Like Egypt, all of us were strangers to the saving grace of Christ, but now we have been brought new by His blood.  Apostle Paul tells us in (Rom. 9:26) “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”

GOD AS FATHER OF EVERYONE

God is the Father of all who  believe, trust Him and convinced that He  does Exist, because on the other hand ,there is also Satan as a Father to the Anti-Christ; for they choose to rebel against God . And as Joshua  challenged  the children of  Israel to choose whom they shall serve and obey.( Josh. 24:14-15) “Now therefore, fear the Lord , serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your Fathers served on the other sides of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose lands you dwell. But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Truly God is our Father very humble in personality, unlike the devil who has a cunning spirit as a serpent or a hare to manipulate withal. Malachi asked why brethren deal treacherously with one another yet we have one Father who created us? (Malachi 2:10). And in Acts of the Apostles (17:28-28) says, “For in Him  we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.

GOD AS FATHER OF HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE

This was prophet Isaiah declaring and proclaiming that doubtless God is our Father (63:16), Doubtless You are our Father, and Though Abraham was ignorant of us. You O Lord, are our Father, Our Redeemer, from Everlasting is Your name.  Prophet Jeremiah encourages the Ephriamites that a day will come when they will be led by the Lord as their Father (Jer. 31:9)”They shall come with weeping, And with Supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel And Ephraim is My firstborn.”

AS ADOPTED SONS OF GOD

Far more important is the image of adoption as a picture of our relationship with God the Father. Adoption is rooted in the eternal love of God (Hos.11:1) “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. The three scenarios dominates the Biblical canvas: (a) Israel becoming God’s adopted son in old Testament times; ( Exod 4:22) Here we see God sending Moses And Aaron his brother to Pharaoh king of the Egyptians to let His people go and serve Him, and refusing to let him go; there would be a consequence to be faced. “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord; “Israel is My son,, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me, But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn, (b) All who believe in Jesus Christ taking their place in God’s family as children and heirs (Eph. 1:5) “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will”; the Spirit is the one who leads them to become children of God and confirms that reality within them(Rom.8:14)”For as many are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God, For we did not receive the Spirit of Bondage again to fear, but we received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God  and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together; (c) Believers looking for their full adoption at the resurrection of the dead.( 1 John 3:2)Beloved now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. See also Rom.8: 19, 23.

GOD’S PROMISE TO BE A FATHER

God promised David His servant, a man after His own heart to set a seed after him, who will come from his body and establish his kingdom forever, be a Father to his son. (2 Sam. 12:14) “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be His Father, and he shall be My son.  If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.”  Jesus received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory at Baptism saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Here, we see God Himself with His Son Jesus Christ, and promised to be His Father (2 Peter 1:17), (Luke 3:22). “God has fulfilled this for us His children, in that He raised up Jesus. As it is also written in second Psalms: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’(Act 13:33).

Righteous Father , I thank You for redeeming us from the law to receive the adoption as Thy sons; Thank You for  sending forth the Spirit of Your Son into our hearts, crying out Abba, Father, making us no longer slaves but sons, and if sons then Your heirs through Your Son Jesus Christ Amen.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen, and Amen, and Amen."