SECOND QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #5
MAY 1, 2021
“CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE”

 

One of the key verses from our lesson study today is Genesis15:1, “the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am Thy shield, and Thy exceeding great reward.”  The lesson spends time on God as a “shield” to Abram.  But let’s spend our time considering the “exceeding great reward” aspect of this verse.

 

As seems to be Abram’s, and our, pattern, when God gives Abram a tremendous promise of God as Abram’s shield and reward, Abram doesn’t respond with “amen”, “thank-you”, or “Abram believed God”, but rather Abram appears not to have heard God’s wonderful promise to him, and immediately asks about the promise of having a son.

 

“And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless . . . Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed.” (Genesis15:2-30).  How often is our Christian experience, as was Abram’s, predicated on “what about the stuff I want or need”, rather than an experience founded on an appreciation of God’s promises to us?

 

God had just promised protection and reward to Abram, but without even a word of acknowledgment, to saying nothing of appreciation, Abram moved quickly to his felt need and desire.  How indicative is Abram’s response to God’s promises, as an illustration of our common response to God’s promises.  What percentage of our prayers and requests to God are based on our needs and desires, over and above what God has already promised to us – which we are told is more than we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).  Certainly, the Lord is eager and ready to hear our needs and desires, but how often do we miss His previous wonderful promises to us, as Abram did.

 

It’s incredible to notice in Genesis15:1, that God said to Abram, that He, God, was Abram’s “exceeding great reward.”  Abram’s reward – was God!  And while Abram didn’t seem too enamored with that reward in his quest for offspring, hopefully we can appreciate the incredible blessing, or reward, that God is offering to us!

 

This calls to mind many other verses where the reward for God’s people isn’t about mansions, thrones, crowns, etc., but about receiving God Himself as our reward.  In Deuteronomy, the reward of the Levites, a type of God’s people in the end-time (i.e., kingdom of priests – 1 Peter 2:9), is the Lord Himself.  “Therefore, Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance” (Deuteronomy 10:9).  The LORD is the priest’s inheritance – not land, or territory, etc.  Who do you think received the better reward – the other tribes, or the Levites with the LORD as their reward and inheritance?

 

David seemed to see the value and significance of the Lord as his reward and inheritance.  “O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;” (Psalms 16:5).  When David looked at religion, and said to himself, “why am I doing this Yahweh religion thing”, he concluded that the Lord was his “inheritance” and that seemed to be a cause for joy for David.

Isaiah, the gospel prophet, seemed to catch a glimpse of this reward for God’s people.  “In that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty To the remnant of His people,” (Isaiah 28:5).  “that day” is referring to a time yet future, when the bride of Christ will be looking not for her crown of jewels, or her mansion of gold, but she will see the “LORD of hosts” as her crown and jewel. 

 

Imagine – is it possible – that we could be satisfied with a heaven devoid of golden streets, and crowns, and mansions, etc., but the one thing that would be there is Jesus!  Would we be satisfied with that?  No monetary “stuff”, no fancy homes – just Jesus.  Is that enough for us?

 

As Christian author John Piper posed the questions:

 

“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?”

 

One of my favorite hymns in the SDA Hymnal is #100, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” which quotes from Lamentations 3:22-23.  “Great is Thy faithfulness, morning by morning, new mercies I see”.  But the author, Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, failed to include the next verse in Lamentations 3 – verse 24!  “’The Lord is my portion’ says my soul”.  Jeremiah, as he was lamenting the condition of God’s people, saw the Lord as his true and ultimate reward!

 

Brother Piper is correct.  Or, said another way, heaven without God would be hell – and hell with God is heaven.  What would your honeymoon be like without your husband or wife?  It would be like Christianity without Christ – without God!

 

This is why, when Jesus in His final prayer with His disciples before Gethsemane in John 17 said, “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.” (John 17:3).  Heaven and eternity are all about living with God and Jesus and other holy beings They have created and redeemed!  This is one of the main ways that “eternal life” can begin today – because “knowing God and Jesus Christ” is the essence of what makes eternal life worth experiencing eternally. 

 

Eternity with God is like the happiest, most joyful moments, you have ever experienced, stretching out into eternity.  Maybe it was your wedding day, or holidays with family, or vacations with ones you love, or a mission trip, or a great camp meeting or spiritual conference that fed your soul – but whatever it is – the peace and joy and happiness you experienced in that time is a foretaste of the true beauties and joys of heaven!

 

God is our reward.  Jesus is our reward.  And everything else are just so many trinkets by comparison.  Ultimately, what motivates the “children of promise”, is a love and appreciation for God in Christ, that compels them to live for Him.  May we come to the point where we can see that 80 years of life here with Christ is worth more than an eternity without Christ.  If there were no heaven to gain or hell to shun, we would still be SDA Christians because that enables us to experience Christ to the fullest.

 

Yes there is a beautiful heaven with a gold street, and wonderful mansions.  But God in Christ is the joy and beauty that will make heaven a place to be enjoyed forever.  And the 1888 message was meant to finally shift the motivations of God’s people from a “what’s in it for me” Christianity, to a “I’ll do anything for Jesus so He can be glorified and receive His reward” Christianity.  May we study and understand this most precious message – this everlasting covenant – and be God’s “children of promise”.

 

“It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour's matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.”  {DA 480.3} 

 

~Bob Hunsaker