J.A. Matteson
Living before the face of God the children of promise walk in time enroute to eternity with Him. "Abraham said to God, 'Oh that Ishmael might live before You!' But God said, 'No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him" (Gen. 17:18-19). It is God's prerogative to choose who will live before Him. As father of Ishmael, Abraham interceded for his son, unaware of the grand design of God's redemptive ways and plan. The birth of Isaac was miraculous, defying the normal pattern of procreation. That the covenant of life should be established through him bares witness as a type to the supernatural necessity of the new birth as a predicate for any to live before the LORD and call upon His name. The initiative for Isaac's existence resided with God, and no less is this true of those born of the Spirit. Those so born are passive recipients of grace and, as with Isaac, God foreknew and mercifully called them as His own possession in accordance to His covenant. It is good and right to intercede for all that they might live before the LORD. At that point the saints release their petitions to the eternal wisdom and redemptive plan of God, who alone is righteous and just and holy.
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