Thursday, January 12

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An Offer You Can't Refuse! - Genesis 17:1-2

"When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, I am God Almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly."

Thirteen years after Ishmael's birth, God appeared to Abram for the second time. In these verses God gives Himself a name--El Shaddai--the meaning of which is unknown, but its translation as "God Almighty" is based on a tradition going back more than two thousand years.

The Almighty God invites Abram to live as one who fulfills God's will, His redemptive plan, and if Abram does it God promises to bless him.

That's an offer you can't refuse!

But the offer to live in God's presence and be blameless and the accompanying blessing accepted by Abram finds its eventual and greatest fulfillment through Christ and those in Christ (Christians).

Christ is the baptizer with the Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33), Whom He gives us as a guarantee of our God-promised eternal life: "When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13-15).

Therefore, Jesus by His mighty power not only enables us to be blameless before God by His sacrificial death, He empowers us to live in the immediacy of God's presence by His resurrection through the indwelling Spirit.

"After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).

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