God's Faithfulness In Our Sin
- We like to boil sin down to a few activities we don't participate in. It makes us feel better about ourselves when we can say we don't cuss, smoke, or go to bars.
- The reality is we all sin everyday in dozens of ways. Scripture teaches us that "everything we do that is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Every time we take our eyes off Jesus and make decisions in our own strength we "miss the mark."
- God has just renewed His covenant with Abram (15:18). However, in the first six verses of this chapter we see Abram and Sarai taking God's promise into their own hands and trying to work it out in their timeline.
- We see Hagar treating her blessing as a means to belittle Sarai. We see Sarai respond harshly to Hagar as a result.
- Lastly, we see Abram throw his hands up and abdicate his responsibility in the matter.
- Our sin is ever present. By God's grace, so is His faithfulness!
The Angel of The Lord
- The "angel of the Lord" is a mysterious figure that appears around 60 times in the Old Testament.
- Almost all theologians believe this figure to be much more than a special kind of angelic messenger. Rather, it is believed this figure is a "theophany" or "a physical appearance of God Himself."
- This is the best understanding to accept as this messenger speaks as if He is God and is referred to as God by those He visits.
- Further, He disappears from Scripture after the incarnation of Christ (God perfectly revealed in physical/human form).
You Are A God of Seeing
- Hagar is Egyptian and not part of the chosen line of Abram that will bring the Savior into the world.
- Yet, God still sees her and comes to her in her distress.
- What makes this visitation and comfort even more compelling is that God comes to her after her sin has wrecked her life.
- As God loved and cared for Hagar, understand He loves and cares for you He sees you right now!
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