What is justification? God demands perfection, but we all fall short of His glory. As a result, Jesus imputed His righteousness to us to save us. He did not do so on account of our works, but as a gracious gift to those who believe.
Over the years of walking with the Lord, Abraham learned to trust God’s voice and obey it; this chapter records the supreme test to his faith.
Genesis 21 describes the birth of Isaac, Abraham’s growing faith, and the tension that develops between Sarah and Hagar (symbolizing the clash between law and grace).
Three men, including an angel of the Lord (a manifestation of the preincarnate Christ), delivers the news to Abraham and Sarah that they will soon have a son, Isaac, who is the son of the covenant promise God made earlier to Abraham.
In this key chapter in Genesis, God declares Abram/Abraham justified because of his faith in him, not because of any good works he did. We too are declared righteous on the same basis, by grace through faith in Christ.
This crucial chapter records the calling of Abram and God’s threefold covenant with him (involving land, seed, and blessing). God’s promise to bless “all the families of the earth” through Abraham’s seed was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Ken Boa’s 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible series continues with Genesis 12, in which we learn how God did the impossible through a “random nobody who lived in the middle of nowhere.”
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