The God of our Ancestors (part II)

By Odon Bulamba

Acts 7:32

Who is Abraham? Abraham is the father of our faith; it means that God is the God of the faith, and to know how powerful God is you must know faith. To do anything great or receive anything from God you must have faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God even if you have good deeds. If your deeds are done by faith God will manifest Himself in your life.

God is the God of Isaac. Isaac was a young man born from an old mum, and with human thinking this is not possible, but our God can do anything. Young people only want to pray when they are old, and old people only want to pray when they are old because they know death is around the corner. What does Isaac mean? Laughter. When Sarah had Isaac she said that everyone will laugh when they see my son (Genesis 21:6). How many times do people laugh when they see you? How many times do people look at you in anger? Because God is the God of Isaac people must laugh when they see us, and God will help us to walk as Isaac did. Isaac was proud of his old mum, but many people today are not grateful for being spiritually breast fed, and this is a shame. Isaac was a good man and he loved Ishmael, even though his mother despised Ishmael, Isaac loved his presence. How many times do we flee from those who aren’t good enough? How many times do we talk behind people’s backs?

As Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, Isaac asked his dad, “I see the fire and wood, but where is the sacrifice”? Isaac was a clever man and observed things around him, and this is what the church doesn’t do today. The church today doesn’t take the time to observe or count those who are missing, but Isaac observed and knew that his father had everything he needed for a sacrifice except the sacrifice itself. This is missing in the church today, you can say that you are going to heaven, you can show people that you are on fire for God, but if your soul and spirit is not ready to be sacrificed your work is useless because all God asks of us is to give Him our lives.

Abraham told his son that he was to be the sacrifice, the God of Abraham was to sacrifice his son, and this is how we must love our God more than anything else. Abraham understood that Isaac didn’t belong to him and considered himself like a caregiver, so what would you say if the owner was to ask you for the child you manage? You have to give the child back, and this is what Abraham did, but as Christians today we don’t do this.

A brother got married but one day his father-in-law said that he wanted to take back his daughter, and the brother said “no, why can’t you take my old mother”? As Christians today we don’t want God to take things away from us, and when God does we think He is unjust, but Abraham didn’t hesitate to give his son, although his heart was burning he still handed him over to God.

Will you be able to sacrifice the things you love in your life? Maybe you won’t sacrifice your child but you can sacrifice your sins, and if you do this God will regard you as worthy.

Isaac respected his father’s voice by lying down on the altar, “father, here I am, you can kill me now”. How many times do we humiliate ourselves to the point where we give our lives? How many times have we been on the altar? What would your reaction be if you were Isaac? Could you walk back with your father if he tied you up knowing that he was going to kill you? I think not, especially with our human nature, maybe if you had the grace but we lack this today because we don’t respect God’s voice and authority. When God tells us to humiliate ourselves we say, “no God, I am not a slave”, and when the preacher tells us to give up our sins we condemn him, and in the end we refuse to sacrifice ourselves.

Everything that Isaac did would please people, if someone was in distress Isaac was there to comfort, if someone was sad when Isaac was around joy would come. God is a God of joy, and joy means Isaac, which is a fruit of the spirit. Each fruit of the spirit has a man’s name in the Bible, and Isaac represents joy. How many times do you show your joy around others? Are people afraid of you when they see you?

Why do you show people that you’re angry when God is a God of joy? Isaac also means humility and respect (especially God’s voice). How many times do you respect God’s voice? Abraham means father of our faith, and when faith talks to joy, joy humiliates itself. When the father of our faith speaks, joy accepts everything that faith speaks about and humiliates itself. If you have the gift of joy, which is a fruit of the spirit, everything that the gospel tells you, you will put your soul on the divine altar, and when this happens you will be ready to sacrifice your body. But if you don’t have joy in your life it will be hard for you to accept the word of faith, it will be difficult for you to accept what God has to tell you because faith is always the father of joy, and what happens if we don’t respect our father or mother? The Bible says that your days will be short (fourth commandment).

When you have the fruit of joy in you but don’t respect God’s message (which is our foundation of faith) your days in the Lord will be short. So what does the day of the Lord mean? What does the day in the Lord mean? Think about it.

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