Genesis 15:3-6. 3And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6And [Abraham] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
We come now to what is possibly the most comforting, hope filled, verse in the entire Old Testament. It explains our relationship with God. It defines our salvation. It clarifies our justification. It removes all doubts as to how we obtain God’s good life. But let’s back up a minute shall we?
In Genesis 12, following the Tower of Babel debacle, God called a man named Abraham to leave his home behind and go to a new “Promised Land.” In that calling, God made promises to Abraham, including the promise that he would be the father of a great nation and that all nations would be blessed through him. It was all of God’s grace, and Abraham obeyed by faith.
But by time we get to Genesis 15, we have seen Abraham experience all kinds of ups and downs in his relationship with God. If we were keeping score it might look like this:
Abraham goes to the Promised Land (+1). Abraham endangers Sarah and lies to Pharaoh in Egypt (-1). Abraham shares his land with Lot (+1).
And if we keep scoring Abraham after Genesis 15 it would look the same:
Abraham sleeps with his slave Hagar (-1). Abraham circumcises his son Isaac (+1). Abraham lies about Sarah again (-1). Abraham offers Isaac to God on Mount Moriah (+2).
But here’s the glorious truth of Genesis 15:6 – GOD DOESN’T KEEP SCORE.
When Abraham believed God, his score instantly went from 0 to 100. In that moment his faith was counted as righteousness (Rom. 4:3). He who was imperfect was credited with a perfect score.
Do you know what this means? It means God is offering us an entirely different way to relate to him that is different from every other god and every other religion – by faith. Not by earning or deserving, but by faith. God offers us a life of unconditional love as a promise, not a reward for our performance. A life of freedom beyond score keeping. A life in Christ.
What about our scoring of God? Prayers answered = God gets an A? Tribulation ended = God passes the test. Things get increasingly difficult, temptation grows, trials thwart your plans, God is slow to respond = God gets a D+? God is in detention?
But what if today we gave God the same freedom that he gives to us. The freedom from scoring. The freedom from expectation. What if we accepted God’s ancient answer to Abraham? The answer to all of life’s questions is the promised son. Jesus. His death and resurrection as our own. What if that was answer enough? What if the life of Christ credits you with a perfect score, and it credits God with a perfect score too? What if we could live in the freedom of a life free from score keeping and simply walk by faith with God in his never ending grace and love?
What if to live was Christ?
You: How have you been scorekeeping yourself? How have you been score keeping God?
You in Christ: Do you believe that in Christ you have the righteousness of God? What makes this difficult? Easy?
Christ in you: How can you live FROM your righteousness today instead of living FOR righteousness?
To Live is Christ 