One road to salvation
by Faye Schmidt
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But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year (Genesis 17:21).
Read Genesis 17:15–27
God blesses all the other children of Abraham (he married a few times after the death of Sarah), and they establish nations and become rulers of tribes. Hagar, the slave woman who gave birth to Abraham’s son Ishmael, was banished, and Ishmael became the leader of the Arab nation. We later read in Genesis 25:8–10: ‘Then Abraham breathed his last and died … His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah … with his wife Sarah.’
The promise by God to Abraham is that it will be his son Isaac, born of Sarah in her old age, who will be blessed, and salvation will come through his descendants. The line of the Messiah, Jesus, stems from Isaac.
None of these kingdoms is the kingdom that God plans through Isaac. The great nation – the kingdom – that God is establishing is not of this world: ‘The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14:17).
There is only one way to salvation – through Christ, the fulfilment of the covenant with Abraham that there would be a kingdom where God’s people would be made right with him and find peace through the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit.
Even though Abraham was often disobedient, doubted God and went his own way, God did not amend, renege on, delay or cancel his covenant with him:
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’. In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’.
We praise and thank you, Heavenly Father, for continuing to bless us through the covenant –promise – of your Son, Jesus Christ, who died for me. May the Holy Spirit keep me faithful to you and obedient to your will. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations within Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
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