July 19 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

By God’s Word and Spirit the world was made, and he uses the same tools to rebuild the creaking cosmos. God does not save some souls from the wreckage of the planet; instead, the whole groaning creation must be delivered from bondage by the love and power of God.

Bible Reading:

Genesis 12:1–4

Bible Text:

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham (Gal. 3:8).

Devotional:

Two thousand years before the birth of Christ, God called Abram (Gen. 12) and made a covenant with him (Gen. 15). From this time on, the Bible records God's dealings with Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites. The Israelites are the focus of the Scriptures until Jesus' resurrection. After that the gospel is proclaimed to all nations.

Some may find it unfair that God seemed to forget about the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Sumerians, and the North and South American Indians when God chose Abraham. The Book of Mormon even tries to make up for this "unfairness." The Bible, however, is not a history of peoples; it's a history of salvation. And Genesis 12:1-4 records a crucial event in salvation history.

Yet God was thinking of "all peoples on earth" when he called Abraham. "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen. 12:3). Much later, in his letter to the Galatians, Paul explained that God had the Gentiles in mind when he "announced the gospel in advance" to Abraham.

There was no "gospel" yet in Abraham's time. The gospel is the good news that Jesus died for our sins and that God receives and blesses all who believe. Paul helps us see that Abraham and the Israelites did not exist for themselves. God loved, punished, and protected them for two millennia because they carried the hope for all nations.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.