After Adam rebelled, the world entered into a spiritual and, consequently, a moral crisis. Without the direction of God, mankind became idolatrous, undisciplined and disorderly.
In order to give mankind another chance, the Lord would have to send His Son to die for us. But how could Jesus be born among a generation of idolaters? How could the Holy Son of God be born among sin? So the Lord decided to form a group of people that were set apart from the other pagan people. Abraham was the only one who answered to God’s divine plan. His intelligent faith was adequate for a partnership with God. God is spirit, wisdom, intelligence, reason… A commitment with Him requires an intelligent faith.
Abraham used his reason. He preferred atheism instead of believing in the gods created by a man’s imagination. God chose Abraham because he thought. Instead of using his heart, he used reason to make decisions. Yet, in order to turn him into a great nation, He had to remove him from among his people. Otherwise, he could have been influenced by his family and the pagan customs of that society. He would not have listened to the voice of God. His first test of faith was the sacrifice of leaving that sinful land and his family, giving up leadership of his clan. The same principles that were used in the selection process of the children of God are also used today. Jesus said: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,” Matthew 16.24.
There is no third person in a partnership with God. Either He comes first in your life or He has no part in it. To have the honor of having Him as Lord, He demands to come First – the First in your life… It is like Jesus said: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it,” Matthew 10.37-39.
By: Bishop Edir Macedo