"I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus Joh.14:6
"Except HIM there's no salvation, because no other name has been given on the earth that man can be saved through it."
Petrus Apo.4:12
The Prayer of Salvation
Dear Lord Jesus,
I believe You are the Son of God.
I believe You came to earth 2,000 years ago.
I believe you died for me on the cross and shed Your blood for my salvation.
I believe you rose from the dead and ascended on high.
I believe You are coming back again to earth.
Dear Jesus, I am a sinner. Forgive my sin. Cleanse me now with Your precious blood. Come into my heart. Save my soul right now. I give you my life. I receive You now as my Savior, my Lord, and my God.
I am Yours forever, and I will serve You and follow You the rest of my days. From this moment on, I belong to You only. I no longer belong to this world, nor to the enemy of my soul. I belong to You, and I am born again.Amen!
Who are the children of Abraham?
1. God's promise to Abraham
And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” Gen.17:18- 21
Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” Gen.21:10-13
2. The promise of God to
Hagar
Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Gen.16: 9-12
3. Who are the children
of Abraham?
Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” Rom.9:7- 9
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. Gal.4, 21-31
4. The background of
Islam
There was a relationship between the Arabs and the Jews by origin and
language.The Arabs were the descendants of Ismail, the son of Abraham and
Isaac's half-brother. There were still many
Jews living in Arab countries. From pursuing the only
municipality, to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, and until
the time of the Roman Empire, because of the relationships of the ancestor of
the Arabs felt connected with the Jews and permitted them peacefully in their
midst Arabia to live.
Arabia, the country where Mohammed grew, is a large peninsula between the
Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Arabs were an
idolatrous people. They believed in many
evil spirits like the Canaanites in the days of Joshua and Judges. After the rise of
Christianity, had a lot of Jews who had lived for centuries throughout Arabia,
already exerted their influence on the Arab communities. In 500, for example,
were the king of Yemen Jews and all his subjects. This shows how deep
had influenced the faith of the Jewish people among whom they lived.
5. The emergence of Islam
Mohammad Abdullah Iben, a merchant, was born around the year 571 in the old
trading city of Mecca where is now called Saudi Arabia. Mohammed himself was
exposed to Jewish influences and ideas, which were reflected in his
thoughts.Become an uncle of Mohammed, who was a Jew, taught him the principles
of the Torah. As Muhammad grew up,
he came into contact with other Jews and with their faith in a God of truth and
justice. He was also deeply
impressed by the contents of the Torah, the book that guides the Jews in their
daily lives. Mohammed therefore
called the Jews "the people of the book." He often thought how
nice it would be for the Arabs, though they had their own "book" to
lead their lives.
Mohammed had plenty of time to reflect on the content of the Jewish
faith. As the caravan leader
who led his camel through the burning sand in the solitude of the desert,
Mohammed thought more and more to a new religion for his people, the Arabs. Mohammed started in
one God, whom he called Allah to believe. He considered himself
to be Allah's prophet, whose mission was to spread the name of Allah, and to
teach. The idea of one God,
the basic idea of the Jewish faith, was the basis of Mohammed's thought and
teaching, which he represented, and others announced. To save his life,
Muhammad had made his own birthplace, flee the city of Mecca, because their
citizens were planning an attack against him. It was in 622 when
Muhammad fled to Medina. This year is the
Mohammedans or Muslims as the beginning of their religion, and is counted as the
year 1 of the Muslim calendar. Mohammed was convinced
that the Jews would accept him as the prophet of Allah. But the Jews refused
to recognize Muhammad as a prophet, and were consequently not in Islam. The followers of Islam
believed they could force the dissenters by the sword for approval. Their battle cry was:
"For Allah, and Muhammad There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his
prophet!"
6. The teachings of Islam Islam = submission Muslim = who devoted.
6.1. The God image
"Allah" means in Arabic "not believing". "And your God is
one God, there is no god but He, the Beneficent, the Merciful in the creation
of heavens and the earth. In the succession of night and day, the ships
sailing on the sea with that what benefits the
people, in the water, coming down from heaven that God can ... (in all of this)
there are signs for people who are intelligent. " (Surah 2.163 to 164)
"[...] Verily, Allah does what He wants." (The Koran, Sura 22:14)
"[...] And Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He pleases; [...] "(The Koran, Sura 14:4)
6.2. Idolatry
"... Behold,
the idolaters are unclean. Why they should be approached after this year is not
the Masjid mosque ..." (Surat at-Tawba: 28)
6.3. The image of man
"None in the heavens and the earth itself may otherwise close the
All-Merciful as a slave." (The Koran, Sura 19.93). The Muslim Allah is
delivered unconditionally, totally dependent on his will. His fate (Kismet), he
can not escape. Therefore
characteristic of Islam is the submission to the will and the power of Allah in
Islam is it always the man who has fallen to his God, whether through strict
observance of the law or by a philosophical and mystical approach coined as in
Sufism.
6.4. The human relationship
The relationship between God and man in Islam is transferred onto the relationship
between man and woman: "Men are superior to women [...] The righteous
women are obedient, careful in the absence (her husband), as Allah cared for
her. But those on whose
part you fear - banish them to warn them in the bed chambers and beat
them.[...]. "(The Koran, Sura 4:34).
In Islamic law marriage, the man is clearly preferred. Marriage is a private
purchase contract, which can dissolve the man's discretion. Of the worship events,
the woman is impossible.
6.5. The salvation
According to Islam, every person is to be expected with his sin. The sin is not
forgiven. The blame of every
person to be judged and condemned. Islam is a strict
religious law, which governs the life to the details inside. Only those who fulfill
their religious duties exactly, has chances to get into the otherworldly
paradise. The core of this
religious duties, the "five pillars of Islamic faith."
6.6. Statement about the
Jews and Christianity
In the Koran, the Jews, in addition to the pagans as the true enemies of
Muhammad still enjoy them as "the Book of the protection of Muslims. O
People of the Book, why dispute ye about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel
Were not revealed Till after him? Have ye do not mind? Sura 3,
Verse 65
He has sent down to thee the Book in truth, confirming what went before it. And He sent down the
Torah and the Gospel before as a conduit for people and sent the distinction
now. Sura 3, Verse 3
... And you'll find that
the believers are those of the kindest, who say: "We are Christians"
because amongst them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. (Surat al-Ma'ida: 82)
6.7. The history between
Islam and the Jews
After the emergence of Islam in the 7JH. Until 1917 the Jews
were more than 13 centuries under the rule of Islam. Both the Jews in Judea
and the Jews in Arabia, countries were ruled by Arabs. In contrast to the
situation in medieval Europe was the situation of Jews in Islam in general, not
bad. It often came with
them to cultural prosperity and economic prosperity. Were large Jewish
communities in Spain, Morocco, Tunisia (Djerba), Cairo, Baghdad, Yemen, and
Iran (Isfahan).
As an idyllic, almost mythical excessive time Jewish historians marked the
19thCentury experience of the Jews of the Middle Ages under Islamic rule. It was believed that
the Jews of the Arab world, especially in Muslim Spain, had lived in a golden
age, if not in an "interfaith utopia". Since the founding of
Israel, most Arab Jews left their homeland. The Palestinian
conflict has strained relations between Islam and the Jews and led to a strong
revival of the early Islamic antagonism. The holy land of Israel
has seen a lot of blood.
7. The promise of God to Abraham's descendants
7.1. All Israel will be
saved
I do not behave yourselves, brethren, this secret (so that you may not proud):
Blindness is happened to Israel part, until the fullness of the Gentiles had
been received, and so all Israel will be blessed, as it is written: "It will come out
of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is
my will with them when I take away their sins." After the gospel they
are enemies for your sakes: but after the election they are beloved for the
fathers. The gifts and calling
of God can not repent it.
7.2. Peaceful life in
Middle East
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance. Isaiah 19, 23-25
7.3. No fulfillment by law, but solely through faith in Jesus Christ can a man
be righteous
Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Gal.5, 3-6
Author: Sulamit Z. Liang-Grimm
