Shouts of Joy

The Joy of New Life in a World of Sorrow

(Genesis 21:1-7, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, January 4, 2015)

[21:1] The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. [2] And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

God's promises will be fulfilled. The Lord had been speaking to Abraham concerning His descendants for many years. The pathway of patience was very challenging. The elderly couple slipped here and there, but God never faltered.

Most recently, the Lord had given Abraham and Sarah a specific time when Sarah would have a son (Genesis 18:9-15). Now the miracle had taken place. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son. Promise fulfilled. Yet the Lord had so much more, not only for Abraham and Sarah, but for all the people groups on the earth.

[3] Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. [4] And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. [5] Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. [6] And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” [7] And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

In between the specific promise of “this time next year” and the birth of Isaac, other events had transpired. An entire region had been destroyed and a very small remnant from that region had been preserved. Abraham had looked over what had once been a fruitful valley, and now the signs of the Lord's hatred of sin were everywhere. Would a new day dawn?

They named the baby Isaac according to the Word of the Lord in Genesis 17:19-21. Laughter was born in a world of futility and loss. This can only come from the Lord. When we find a way to laugh that is not cynical but full of heavenly joy, it must be the Lord.

Abraham circumcised his son in obedience to the Lord's command (Genesis 17:12). The sign of the Lord's covenant promise was administered to Isaac when he was eight days old. This sign of a promised curse for covenant disobedience could only be sanely administered with the hope of God's provision of a substitute. In due time the Lord would give His perfectly obedient Son who would be cut off for our sake on the cross so that we might live on in the hope of the resurrection. Circumcision was always about justification by faith (Romans 4:9-12).

Sarah's reaction to the birth of their son was not only for her, but for all of us who have been given hope through Jesus. The Lord has given us a great down-payment of a coming day when we will have shouts of joy. But can we live patiently and faithfully as we wait for the Lord?

Put the Word to Work: The celebration of new life in a world under a sentence of death is an act of faith and faithfulness. Only through faith in Jesus can we possess any credible hope of eternal life. Walking in that hope now is a command of God for the believer and a gift of His sustaining heavenly grace. The life of both faith and faithfulness is for those who have been marked by the waters of heaven through the gift of the Spirit of God.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 126:5 – Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 17:14-21 – Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy