Sons of Abraham

The supreme characteristic of the Church should be love, then faith and hope

Foreigner

We saw in a recent article that the sons of Abraham were those that have faith in Jesus-Christ. Abraham was a man who was devoted to God, a foreigner sojourning in the midst of nations that did not believe in Him as the Creator. In the epistle to the Hebrews 11v9-10 we read, "By faith he settled in the promised land as in a foregn land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, the co-heirs of the same promise. For he was waiting for the city that has solid foundations, whose architect and maker is God."

Personally, I know what it means to be a foreigner; I stand out because of the way I speak, dress and think; I do not fit in. It is an encouragement to know that Fathers of the Faith such as Abraham and Moses experienced the same thing. Whilst living with his family-in-law, Moses' first son was born and he called him " Gershom " which means, " I live in a foreign country " !

"Paroikeo "

The word for " foreigner " in ancient Greek is " paroikeo "; the word can be broken down as follows:
" para " next to
" oikia " house
which means simply that we are not at home. "Paroikeo " still exists in modern Greek and in our English word " parish " with its Latin root.

The Language of Love

The Church with a capital "C" (the sons of Abraham) forms one worldwide parish. What is the language of this parish like? The Apostle Paul writes that if he spoke the languages of men and of angels, but did not have love, he would be a clashing cymbal (1 Corinthians 13v1). The supreme characteristic of the Church should therefore be love, then faith and hope. Our lives are mirrors in which our neighbors should see these three characteristics and thereby understand what it really means to be sons of Abraham through our testimony.

The Church of Christ is a foreigner in this world just as the people of Israel were sojourners in Egypt. We are set apart for God who is preparing a city for us that has solid foundations, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12v22).

So, let us live like co-heirs of His promise, filled with the love of God!