Communion With the Christ:: The Lenten Season: God's Faithfulness

"The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ." Gal: 3:16

The Lenten season, which many of our more liturgical Christians observer , emerged in the early years of the Christian Church as a time of reflection prior to receiving the sacrament of baptism and the transformation to the life of a person who comes to believe in Jesus Christ.

Lent is far more than a season of legalistic performance based religious self-examination, it is rather a time of fully embracing the grace of God and the reality of the risen Christ and the Season of Easter.

Lent, however is in many ways a sweeping overview of the plan of salvation which God himself has inaugurated for each and all of humanity, if they will but freely receive it.

Lent speaks to us as well of the faithfulness of God to bring to pass all that he has promised in his Holy Word, the Bible.

Lent takes us from the promises and covenant made to Abraham down through the ages to the very coming of the one who is the crux of all that God has decreed, his Son Jesus Christ.

"Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Gen: 17:1-2

What God was blessing Abraham with was transformational, making him in many ways and all new person, Abraham 's life would and could never be the same when he heard the call of God and his acceptance of that calling.

Representing this transformation in changing his name from Abram (father) to Abraham (father of many). This tells us that what God would do in Abraham's life would impact generations yet to come, that is, each and all of us.

"Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations" .(3-9)

Faith in God's Faithfulness

Abraham had received the promises that the Great God, the very Creator of all things, extended to him. These promises which spanned the centuries yet Abraham received and embraced them without ever fully realizing them within his own life time all because Abraham knew that God who had made these promises was faithful to fulfill them.

Abraham recognized that he of his own self could not bring all this to pass, but knew he would need to trust in his God to be faithful. Knowing that God was faithful to him enabled Abraham to have faith in God, therefore they were given and received all through faith.

"For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") --in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." Rm: 4:13-17

What this meant for Abraham, and means for each and all who will but freely receive it, is that, it is truly dependent upon who God is and his perfect faithfulness to us. Our God is faithful even when we are faithless.

"if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."2Tim:2:13

We of our own selves could not bear the great weight of accomplishing salvation, our faith is vacillating and imperfect, but God himself is true to himself. Therefore, God has brought to pass what he has promised to the Patriarch Abraham and has sent his Son to do and be what he nor we could never be or accomplish.

Promised Seed

God, in his promise to Abraham, gives Abraham the hope that his "seed" will be great, and that it is this "seed" to whom all the promises truly belong and by whom they are conveyed.

The Apostle St. Paul address and identifies this seed as God's own Holy Son Jesus Christ, and that through Jesus, all the promises of God are shared with us, if we freely receive them.

"The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ." Gal: 3:16

Jesus is that one seed that demonstrates the faithfulness of the Creator God to fulfill his covenants and promises. God sent his own Son so that we through Jesus might be the recipients of these exceedingly great blessing. Jesus also is the evidence that God was, and is, faithful to his word given to Abraham and fully justifies the Patriarch's trust in God.

Father of the Many

St. Paul expounds to us that the promise received by us does not come through our performance but by trusting in God's faithfulness to bless us and to share in all that God has for us in and by his Son Jesus.

"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless," Rm:4:13-14a

Abraham did not "earn" what God offered, he simply put his trust in the trustworthiness of God to give it, and Jesus is the certainty and confirmation that God has done what he said he will do even giving us eternal life.

"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." (16-17)

The promise of God is for peoples from all nations to receive eternal life in and through his Son Jesus. The Lenten season speaks to us and focuses our hearts and minds upon the truth that God is faithful to us all and desires that each and all people will but freely receive what is already theirs in Jesus.

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God."2Cor:1:20

God is faithful to fulfill all his promises, not just to Abraham, but each and all us as well.

Benediction: May we each and all during the Lenten Season, trust in the faithfulness of God, who has given us great promises, as he did for Abraham through the promised seed, our Lord Jesus, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen!