One Starry Night

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Picture yourself standing in an open field at midnight. The sky is filled with stars overhead—more stars than you could count.

And there stands Abraham, one of the Old Testament’s earliest, brightest stars, the man who has been called “Father Abraham” by both Israel and Arab nations. But at that moment, Abraham and his wife had no children, frustrated by a lifetime of infertility. God told him that night that his family would be as numberless as the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky. And Abraham believed what He said, and that made him right with God (3:6; Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3). God said, “I’m going to do it,” and Abraham literally said, “Amen.”

This happened long before God gave Moses the Law and long before God told anyone to be circumcised. Abraham’s salvation required nothing but faith.

Years after that starry night, Abraham reminded the Lord, “I don’t have a son, and You told me I would.” So that night, God made a covenant with Abraham.

In that day, a contract between parties was made by cutting an animal sacrifice in half, laying half on one side and half on the other. To seal the contract, they would join hands and walk between the two halves.

So Abraham prepared the sacrifices and waited—all day. At sundown, God put Abraham to sleep, and God passed between those two halves alone. He did all the promising; Abraham’s part was only to believe God.

God is still asking us to believe Him. When Jesus Christ paid for our sins on the cross, He alone made the contract to save you. God made it right between them. You don’t have to do anything but believe.

This covenant with God was at the beginning of Abraham’s life of faith. Years later, when Abraham had the son God promised, God told him to sacrifice him on an altar. “What? Kill the miracle baby? The son born under an impossible situation?” But Abraham believed God could raise Isaac, his son, from the dead to complete His promise. So at the last moment, God stopped him from killing Isaac. Abraham had proven he believed God (see Hebrews 11:19). Although God spared Abraham’s son, He did not spare His own Son, Jesus, but delivered Him up for us all.

The purpose of the Law was to keep sinful people in the way of salvation until Jesus Christ (the descendant) came. God made a way to take away sins: Jesus Christ, through His blood on the cross, paid the penalty for your sin. Your trust in Jesus saves you; nothing else can.

But the Law did a glorious thing—it made a place for mercy. When people brought sacrifices for sin, they admitted they needed forgiveness. And mercy could be found on the mercy seat. All the sacrifices for sin taught us we needed Jesus Christ.

Your faith in Jesus gives you things you could never get under the Law:

It gives you a new nature and makes you God’s legitimate son (3:26).

It gives you the power (the authority, the right) to become God’s child (see John 1:12) simply by trusting Him.

It gives us unity with other believers (3:28). No racial lines. No cultural or sexist lines. Any person in Christ is your brother or sister.

It takes us back to that starry night with Abraham. Because Abraham was saved by faith, we can be saved by faith.

God blessed Abraham to make him a blessing. And He did—Abraham’s descendent, Jesus Christ, brought salvation to the world.

1. What does it tell us about God that believers today are saved the same way Abraham was saved thousands of years ago?

2. Why do you think Abraham obeyed God before God had even kept His promises to him?

3. Imagine you had lived during the time when committing a sin meant needing to offer a sacrifice. What would it feel like to constantly be thinking about the cost of your own sins?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee's complete audio teachings of Galatians 3:4-7, Galatians 3:8-17, Galatians 3:13-22 and Galatians 3:19-29.