Acts 7:2-4 “…The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, “Come out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land which I will show you.” Then he came forth from the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, after his father died, He removed him into this land, in which you now dwell.”
It is very significant that the God who all the three major religions in the world worship is the God of a single person, the God of Abraham. There are many edifices and tombs built for kings and great heroes in the history, but there is not even one edifice built for Abraham.
This man, Abraham, was just one man who lived in history a long time ago, yet the God of the universe chose to call Himself, the God of Abraham. This shows us that God did a lot of work in and with Abraham so that He would be called, the God of Abraham.
There are many gods that people had and have such as the sun-god (Baal), the fertility god (Asherah), the god of cities, etc, but you cannot find anywhere a god who is of a single person – only in the Bible!
The God whom we worship today is not the God of big cities or great natural phenomenons but the God of a person, a personal God. Since our God is a personal God, can you say that the God of Abraham is your God?
If you read Abraham’s story in Genesis you will realize that his life was an experience of his God. The God whom you worship may be the God of your father or your grandfather, but one day you need to realize that this One is your God!
The God that Abraham experienced is the same God that we need to experience today. The Lord Jesus Himself said on the day of His resurrection, Go and tell My brothers, I ascend to My father and Your father, to MY GOD and YOUR GOD (John 20:17). May we see who the God of Abraham is, and may we be those who can say as Abraham and the Lord Jesus said, He is MY GOD!
Four Major Things Related to the God of Abraham
From the history of Abraham and based on the fact that God calls Himself again and again, the God of Abraham, we can see four major things:
1. The God of Abraham has to do with humanity. He is not merely the God of the heavens, the God of the universe, the God whom all the angels worship, and the God in the spiritual world – He is a God who has to do with humanity.
2. The God of Abraham has to do with individual persons. He was called, The God of Abraham because Abraham experienced God. The extent to which we experience God is the extent to which God is our God. One day we need to be able to say that this God is our God.
God is not merely the God of the universe but the God of persons, a God who can be experienced by man to become a personal God. He was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and He became the God of Jacob, the One who shepherded him all the days of his life.
As we experience God day by day, as He is working Himself into us and doing things in our life, we can boldly say, He is our God!
3. The God of Abraham has to do with history. This God reveals Himself through history. In the Old Testament we see a lot of stories, and through these stories God reveals Himself and speaks to us (Heb. 1:1; John 1). God speaks through history, through His works, and through His moves, and God’s will is accomplished through history.
Do you have a history with God? Is God’s history intertwined with your history? As we are writing our history, God is writing His history – it all depends on whether we write our history in union with God or apart from God.
We need to know God’s history because it has to do everything with us. God’s history has become our history because He has made Himself one with us (1 Cor. 6:17).
Do you have a spiritual history? Merely being saved for many years doesn’t mean you have a history with God. How many days do you have before God?
4. The God of Abraham is the God who has to do with the way He deals with His people. He is not merely “watching over us”, taking care of us, and bringing us to fulfill His purpose; God deals with us and is experienced by us in both an individual and a corporate way so that He may accomplish His purpose. Our God is a God of dealings.
Our God is a God who reveals Himself and writes history not only through His direct speaking but also through His indirect working. Sometimes He speaks to us, He appears to us, and He infuses us with His element; at other times, He works indirectly and secretly behind the scenes to speak to us something through what He is working.
The God of Abraham is the God of Glory
The first aspect of the God of Abraham in his dealings with Abraham is the God of glory. The God of glory appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him,
Our God is the God of Glory!
Come out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land which I will show you (Acts 7:2-4).
God’s appearing to Abraham as the God of glory was a vast magnet and a great motivation to Abraham that moved him to come OUT of the country of satanic idolatry and INTO the country God was about to give to him and to his seed (see Gen. 11:31).
The God of glory is the God who is expressed in His glory, implying a kind of splendor, bright and shining. God didn’t force Abraham out of his country; He appeared to Abraham as the God of glory again and again, and His appearing infused Abraham with His element to be able to believe God and move out of his country and come into the country God showed him.
Many Christians have a wrong concept about Abraham, thinking he was a “giant of faith”; actually, the only giant in faith is God Himself. After God appeared to Abraham the first time (Gen. 12:1-3), he didn’t move out right away; his father took him and his family and moved to Ur in Chaldea, and after his father died, God appeared to him again (Gen. 12:7-8).
Then, Abraham moved out of his father’s house and country and into the land of Canaan. Through God’s repeated appearing to Abraham, God transfused Himself into him causing Abraham to experience a spiritual infusion (see Gen. 12:1-3, 7-8; 13:14-17; 15:1-7; Rom. 4:3; Gen. 18:17-19; cf. Acts 26:16; 22:14-15).
Abraham was able to reach Canaan because God was persistent in His appearing to him; God holds His people fast, and He would not let go (see John 10:28-30; Jude 24). As God appeared to Abraham as the God of glory, Abraham was infused with God’s element and he reacted to God by believing. Abraham’s believing was a reaction to God’s immense attraction.
God didn’t just “appear and disappear” from Abraham; He appeared to him and spent time with him, staying with him and conversing with him. God appeared to Abraham five times, and after the fifth time Abraham was so richly infused with God that he “believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3; Gen. 15:6).
It is one thing to know the glory of God and it is a different thing to know the God of glory. In Gen. 1 we see the glory of God in His creation, but in Gen. 12-18 we see a person who knows the God of glory.
We need to have God’s appearing as the God of glory, and this One will be infused into us to cause us to believe and be justified before Him. He is an immense magnet, not “chasing us” but attracting us by His glory.
God of glory, appear to us again and again! Infuse us with Your element and magnetize us by appearing to us day after day! Cause us to experience a spiritual infusion with the element of God. We love Your appearing as the God of glory. Your appearing causes us to be infused with Your very element that we may believe You and be justified by You! Lord, as You appeared to our father Abraham, appear to us and hold us fast! Don’t let us go! Infuse us, transfuse Yourself into us, and cause us to personally know You as the God of glory!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Andrew Yu’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Romans (msg. 8), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (2), week 8 / msg 8, The God of Abraham seen in His dealings with Abraham.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Praise the Lord! The God of glory / Who appeared to Abraham / Has appeared to us in spirit / For His purpose and His plan! / God of glory, God of glory, / Do appear to us today, / Saturate and permeate us / Till You fully have Your way. (New Song on God’s Appearing)
# In Your appearing, Lord, we have Your speaking clear; / Your word empowers us and drives away all fear. / So, Lord, keep calling us, Your voice we need to hear. / O Lord, do speak to us, we pray. / O Lord, do speak in us today; / You know the words You need to say. / To open all our heart, / Your very Self impart. / O Lord, do speak in us today. (Hymns #1190)
# O God of glory, / You’ve changed my destiny. / Oh Lord, Your mercy / In love appeared to me. / O God of glory, / You have attracted me! / My heart responds to Thee / And turns spontaneously. (Howard Higashi song, O God of Glory)
About aGodMan
