In Genesis 15:5-6, God took Abraham outside and said, “‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
In a huge Middle Eastern sky that stretched from horizon to horizon, there was no way Abraham could count the stars. It was like God was saying, “Abraham, I know you don’t have a son. I know you don’t have an heir. But I want you to trust me on this. You are going to become a great nation. There will be more people who come from you than you’ll ever know and that will ever be counted.”
And then something amazing happened.
It’s just a statement, and yet, it has such incredibly profound implications for every one of us because in this statement, God reveals the nature of the relationship between God and man. It’s as if someone said, “How can we know we have a relationship with almighty God?”
And in this next statement, God defines the terms of relationship between God and man, and he answers a question we have all asked, in our own way, at some point. Can a person truly know where they stand with an invisible God?
Even though all of the major faith traditions come together around Abraham, this is where all of them begin to go in different directions. This is so unbelievably simple. It sounds too good to be true. Abraham believed the Lord, and God credited it to him as righteousness. Abraham believed the Lord.
It is like Abraham said, “Even though I have no children and even though I am an old man and even though my wife is getting up there in years, God, I do believe. I trust you. I believe the words you have spoken.”
In that single expression of faith, trust and confidence, in one amazing, solitary expression of faith, God said to Abraham, “I am giving you the gift of a right standing with me.” It is as if God said, “Abraham, I accept you because you believed and trusted in me.”
At that moment, Abraham was considered righteous. Trust in God resulted in right standing with God. We can all have a right standing with God. It happens as a result of faith and trust in God.
You may read Steve Greene’s blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or you can email him at [email protected].