This morning I was studying how God entered covenant with father Abraham in Genesis 15
God and Abraham made a total commitment
There came a time when God called on Abraham to fulfill his commitment and offer Isaac
But God’s commitment was just as total as Abraham’s so 2,000 years later the other side of the covenant came into fulfillment when God gave up His only Son our Lord Jesus Christ
As we pray tonight, let us also self-humble and ask the Spirit of God to reveal to us the areas in our lives that we need to affirm our commitment as He continues to transform us because He has so loved us and made His full commitment to us
Total commitment to God calls for total commitment from God because thats the very essence of covenant so we strive with intention to demonstrate our commitment to Him
Think about this from James 2:21
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God.” ]
Through that covenant commitment and through its outworking in the offering up of Isaac, Abraham was reckoned as God’s friend
That’s a very significant and a very honorable title
My bible commentary states that: covenant is the door to true friendship
Among many wonderful characteristics of Godly friends in the bible, also God’s standard of friendship has not changed
Friendship is also based on covenant commitment
Through covenant commitment, Abraham became a friend of God
Under the new covenant in the dispensation of grace, Jesus wants to bring us into the same relationship with Him, as His friends, that Abraham entered into under the old covenant
In John 15:15, Jesus says to His disciples:
“No longer do I call you servants but I have called you friends”
That’s a promotion, from being a servant to a friend, let us always remember that just as much as it was for Abraham, friendship is not cheap
Our basis is the same as it was for Abraham in the covenant commitment because Jesus laid down His life when He said, “Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friend.”
Also, if we are to be Jesus’ friends, we have to lay down our life for Him. It’s a two-way commitment
[James 4:4 Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.] AMP
It costs something to be a friend of Jesus, and to me everything in the ways of the world is not worth prioritizing above my friendship with Jesus Christ, the glorious Messiah who loves me so much and has given me the gift of His friendship
And tonight, I will spend time with my Friend, my God whom I love with everything I am and have and will serve Him forever and ever
James 2:21 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”
