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God has brought us Laughter

His name had been selected months earlier, but appropriately, his parents kept it a secret.

But when my first grandchild Isaac was born yesterday, I reflected on just what an extraordinary person his biblical namesake was.

Isaac means Laughter.

The biblical Isaac was not like his powerful father, who his entire life risked everything to respond to the call of God. And so all those of faith today are called the children of Abraham.

Neither was the biblical Isaac like his powerful son, Jacob, who was emblematic of human conniving ... and hence endures as the greatest object lesson of the need for all men to be sanctified -- made holy -- by the disciplines of God.

But right in the middle of Calling and Sanctification is, ...

Laughter.

It is the laughter of Justification.

You can't say God -- the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- doesn't have a sense of humor.

Logos2Go

Genesis 18.10-15
Then the Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Genesis 21.5-6 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

Romans 8.30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

1 Corinthians 6.11 But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

2 comments:

Daniel Leslie Peterson March 29, 2010 at 8:58 PM  

And having to now say "Grandpa and Grandma Wang" no doubt brings another smile to some of us! Congratulations.

Ellen March 29, 2010 at 10:22 PM  

Congratulations on becoming a grandfather--how do you say "grandfather" in Chinese? Laughter--yes! I pray that Isaac causes you to laugh! As I think about what we name our children, I think about Matthew and the choice of his name. "Gift of God" was significant to us, as well as a non-spiritual reason--I am sure you have never seen Anne of Green Gables; however, the character of Matthew reminded me so much of Rick that I wanted to name our child with thoughts of Matthew from Anne of Green Gables. What do think I saw in the "movie Matthew" that reminded me of Rick?

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