#DailyDevotion How Do Live In The Foreign Land As Christians?
Heb. 11 9By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to leave home and go to a place he would receive as an inheritance, and he left without knowing where he was going. 9By faith he lived as a stranger in the promised land, as though it belonged to someone else, and lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had the same promise he had. 10He was looking for the city with foundations, the one God built and made.
So we may remember the account, here it is from Gen. 12: The LORD said to Abram, “Leave your land, your relatives, and your father’s home, and go to a land I will show you. 2“I will make you a great nation. 3I will bless you and give you a great name, and you will be a blessing. “I will bless those who bless you, and curse anyone who curses you, and in you all the peoples on the earth will be blessed.” 4Abram went as the LORD told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 when he left Haran.
What did Abraham have that moved him to leave his family, friends and country? He had a promise from the LORD. Faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ and that Word is always a promise aka Gospel, Good News. The promise the LORD made Abram was pretty big and important for all the people of the world. He would be blessed and his name made great. Looky here, we are talking about him right now. A great nation would be made through him. God fulfilled that when Israel crossed the Red Sea. But on top of that, we see God blessed all the children of Abraham and made nations of them as well, Ishmael and the children Abraham had by his second wife, namely the nation of the Midianites. The Edomites were the grandchildren of Abraham through his grandson Esau. On top of that, God increased the population of Israel but uniting us to Israel through faith in Christ Jesus as Paul says in Romans 9, 7Not all who are descended from Israel are the real Israel, 8and not all who are descended from Abraham are for that reason his real children. No, “Isaac’s children will be called your descendants.” “9This means children born in a natural way are not God’s children. 10Only the children he had because God promised them are counted his descendants.”
Now Abraham did not see all the descendants the LORD would give him. He also lived as a foreigner among the people his descendants would eventually receive from the LORD as their own country. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived among them as aliens in a foreign land. They did not receive the promise.They lived there by faith. They lived their daily lives trusting in the promise of the LORD the Savior.
Abraham was looking for a city whose foundation was built and made by God. He was not just looking to inherit a piece of real estate as the eastern end of the Mediterranean. He was looking to inherit the New Jerusalem in the New Heavens and New Earth. We, who are his children through the promise we received from Christ Jesus are also looking to receive this same city. We also have to live our lives in this world as foreigners, aliens, illegal immigrants if you will. How will we do that? We do that by faith in the promise of God our Savior, Jesus Christ. He has promised eternal life. He has promised to prepare a place for us to live and be with Him forever. We just have to live as Abraham our father lived, by faith.
Gracious Father in Heaven, give us faith through Your promise in Christ Jesus to live out our lives in this world, not as its citizens, but as people who are hoping to dwell in our own land, in the New Jerusalem prepared by Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.