Genesis 12:01-03 – Faith of Abraham – powerpoint – audio

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Text: Genesis 12:1-3 ESV

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

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Introduction

Many tributes deservedly can be paid to the patriarch Abraham. He is the source of several nations including the nation God called His own people.

• Peoples who trace their origin to Abraham still have a vigorous existence 4000 years after his death and still maintain their identity.
• He was the father of kings and the father of persons who influenced the thinking and the course of the world.
• Three world religions trace their origin to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
• Of all the tributes that justly can be bestowed upon Abraham, no tribute equals the one conferred upon him by God. This nomad who lived a primitive existence as he wandered among foreign cultures was capable of having a faith which God declared to be the Christian’s model for faith.

The Christian’s understanding of God’s promise to produce a universal blessing through Abraham far exceeds Abraham’s understanding. The Christian knows the full meaning of the promise, knows the ultimate fulfillment of that promise was achieved in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and knows the ultimate objective was the opportunity for all people to have salvation in Christ. He has the written Word. He can see God working through history to keep that promise.

Yet, the best any Christian can hope to do is to equal the faith of Abraham. God’s purpose began to take its earliest earthly form in Abraham because he was capable of having a faith which God could reckon for righteousness. It is that same faith which will allow the Christian to be righteous before God.

The New Testament pays great tribute to Abraham, the man of faith. His name appears 30 times in the gospels, 8 times in Acts (5 in one sermon), and 32 times in the epistles.

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Body

I. Abraham: A True Man of Faith.

Perhaps no one, except Christ, embodies the full meaning of faith more than the patriarch Abraham. The Bible quickly identifies Abraham, then called Abram, as a man of faith.

Genesis 15:6 ESV – And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Throughout the history of Israel, Abraham is viewed as the “father of the faithful”. He is central to the story of God’s people.

Isaiah calls Abraham, “the rock” from which Israel was hewn, and “the quarry” from which they were dug (Isaiah 51:1 ESV).

It was the covenant that God made with Abraham that anticipated and promised the coming of Christ (the offspring through which the world would be blessed – Gal. 3:16 ESV).

Christians today are described in the New Testament as the spiritual heirs of the promise made to Abraham.

The Faith of Abraham as a type:

A. Both Paul and James reference the faith of Abraham as typical of the faith God has always desired and expected of His people. His faith was comprehensive, and thus was accounted to him for righteousness.

1. To those who wanted to find their salvation in the law of Moses, and return to that law as a means of justification, Paul references Abraham as an example of justification by faith, not perfect law keeping:

Rom 4:16 ESV – That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring – not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, … All men, like Abraham are justified by trusting in God.

2. To those who would define faith as just believing apart from obedience, James references Abraham’s faith as the classic example of faith that obeys God:

James 2:19-22 ESV – You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

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B. Abraham was reared in the city of Ur (Genesis 11:27-31 ESV), in the land of the Chaldeans. The city of Ur was located in Mesopotamia at the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates River. It was dedicated to Nannar, the moon god. Nannar’s temple was in the center of the city, along with a colossal Ziggurat that was dedicated to her honor. Nannar was considered the queen and the landlord of the people. In the book Archaeology and the Old Testament by Unger, it is said that the moon god “owned their farms, their shops and their wealth.”

The scriptures tell us in Joshua 24:2 ESV that Abraham’s father, Terah, “served other gods.” It is unusual to find children that do not follow their parents in the course of their religion. Although Abraham was born in a city of idolaters and was raised by an idolater, he chose to serve Jehovah.

(slide 5)

II. God’s Call

According to Stephen, God called Abraham to leave his family while he was still living in Ur.

Acts 7:2-4 ESV – And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.”

We might be able to reason why God did not want Abraham to stay in Ur. God was calling him away from the wickedness that surrounded him and his family. But God’s sanctifying purposes are deeper than just Abraham’s environment. This call was a test of faith.

After the death of his father, God called Abraham again.

Genesis 12:1 ESV – Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

God’s requests represented major challenges to Abraham’s faith.

A. First, he must sever his ties with his kinsmen. There are many today who will not leave family ties for any reason.

B. Second, he had to sever his tie to the place he had settled, to familiar things and customs, and with his roots. There are many today who have such a powerful bond to the place they live that they will not sever that bond for any reason.

C. Third, he had to leave the known for the unknown. God gave him no description of his destination. Abraham knew nothing about where he would be or how long he would be there. There are few who would make a move today with so little information.

D. Fourth, he had to trust God’s ability to protect him among strange peoples. In that time it was not safe for a man of wealth to live as a foreigner among strange peoples. Most people today would be hesitant to place their security solely in the hands of God.

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III. Abraham’s Response

How did Abraham respond?

Hebrews 11:8 ESV – By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

This verse describes a faith that obeys God even when it does not know where it is going. Abraham was walking by faith, not by sight. The writer of Hebrews cannot teach us about faith without a close look at Abraham. He walked by faith, was justified by faith, and died in faith. What can we learn from Hebrews 11 ESV about the faith of Abraham?

A. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out… ” (Heb. 11:8 ESV)

How do we know that Abraham believed God? That is an easy question. He obeyed. Obedience is a recurring concept in Hebrews 11 ESV, and an inescapable characteristic of true faith.

1. In the Greek language, “he was called” is a present participle, and thus could be translated, “as he was called”. When did Abraham obey? As soon as he was called. He was packing to go at the first words of God. There was no reluctance or hesitation. There was no arguing or rationalizing.

a. This type of implicit obedience does not appear out of nowhere.

Abraham had absolute confidence in God’s words. Implicit and complete obedience is born out of real faith. Abraham did not just agree with God; he trusted God.

b. In the same way, disobedience is the fruit of disbelief.

What was the first thing that Satan ever attempted to get men and women to do?

Gen 3:1-5 ESV – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Satan wanted Eve to doubt God’s word – To disbelieve the full truthfulness of God’s commandment. Satan understood, and still does, that sinful conduct begins in disbelief. Adam and Eve could be led to sin if they were convinced that God did not speak the truth.

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c. The effort to strengthen our faith or confidence in God’s words is not just an intellectual pursuit. We must learn to live by faith, or we will fall through disobedience.

Heb 3:12-14 ESV – …Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Heb 3:18-19 ESV – … And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

B. “he went out, not knowing where he was going.” – Abraham was not motivated to leave Ur or Haran because it appeared to be the most logical thing to do. He did not have a well ordered plan of his own. He was simply following the directions of God – not knowing what was ahead.

1. Was his faith blind? He was not blind to the reality of God, or His character. He knew God, and he believed Him. We must trust in God to lead – As a child trusts in his father and mother to provide.

Prov 3:5-7 ESV – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

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C. Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house. He was called to leave Ur behind. The call of God in Gen. 12 ESV was specific:

Genesis 12:1 ESV – “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. How difficult was this?

1. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be enrolled in a witness protection program? How could you leave your family and never contact them again? It would be difficult to be convinced that I had to completely sever the relationship.

a. Abraham was called to leave behind what he was most familiar with, and trust God to show him a new way. Every person who comes to God in faith is called to leave behind his past lifestyle through genuine repentance and follow God. God calls us to a commitment to leave sin behind and not return.

1. Rom 6:2-7 ESV – …How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

2. This pilgrimage of demands that we live in this world without becoming like it.

Rom. 12:2 ESV – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

2 Cor. 6:14 ESV – Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Paul tells us that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” Gal. 1:4 ESV.

a. The pressure to conform to the world around us and settle in here is sometimes called “worldliness”. There are certain activities that characterize worldliness, but it is primarily an attitude. It is the desire to stop sojourning and begin to take up residency here. It is giving into the flesh and living by the desires that characterize the world around us.

3. The apostle John presents an undeniable dichotomy. He tells us that we cannot “love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15 ESV) There is no point of compromise, ever. The world we live in will always oppose Christ, and thus His people.

a. The challenge for us is to retain our “pilgrim status” and not be enamored with what this world offers. To defeat worldliness we must grow spiritually to the point where we do not desire the world. The things of the world lose their attraction.

b. Abraham’s faith is impressive because he was not a poor man who had nothing to leave behind, or nothing to become attached to. He fully participated in the world, and did it successfully. But he lived detached from the world around him because of his faith in God’s promises. He still considered himself a stranger and longed to go somewhere else.

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IV. Lessons from the Life of Abraham

A. Abraham was a man of sacrificial selflessness.

In view of the vast wealth the gentleman possessed (Genesis 13:2 ESV), one can only imagine the property holdings he must have surrendered when he yielded to the Lord’s command and left his native Ur.

He lived the balance of his life – a full century – as a wanderer, abiding in tents along the way (Hebrews 11:9 ESV).

His vision of, and dedication to, the concept of the coming Messiah made all other considerations subordinate (John 8:56 ESV).

B. Abraham was a man of conviction.

Though his forbearers had been idolaters (Joshua 24:2 ESV), he was unswayed by family ties; rather, he cast his lot with the one who created him. How unlike so many today who measure their religious activity by what father or mother believed.

To Abraham, truth was more important than a genealogical connection. Faith was thicker than blood! This makes sense only in the light of an eternal reality.

C. Abraham was a man of faith, or trust.

Frequently the term “faith” suggests the idea of trust, and this aspect of the word aptly describes Abram. Because of his trust in Jehovah, the patriarch left his homeland and kinsmen, he journeyed close to a thousand miles (“not knowing where he went” – Hebrews 11:8 ESV), pursuing the will of the Lord, with only the promise of arriving at a destination that God would show him (Acts 7:3 ESV). No map, no radar was available – only the benevolent hand of his Maker.

D. Abraham provides a magnificent example of what constitutes true loyalty to God.

His path was charted generally by a course of unwavering obedience. His was not a “faith-only” philosophy. When he was called by Jehovah, he obeyed, walking by faith and not by sight (Hebrews 11:8 ESV).

The word “obeyed” in the text literally means to “hear under.” It implies a recognition of the authority of the speaker, and reflects a willingness to submit thereto.

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Conclusion

The life of Abraham abounds with lessons from which the sincere child of God can profit.

If we learn from these valuable truths, we too can be characterized as “the friend of God” – as the prophet was (James 2:23 ESV).

We are encouraged to walk by faith ever growing in our friendship with God. Let us thus “walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham” (Romans 4:12 ESV).

And we hold on to our hope in Jesus Christ as we trust in God’s promises to us. We are men and women of the promise! We are fully persuaded, even as Abraham was, that God will give us an eternal victory far more marvelous and grand than we can now imagine. For this victory we patiently wait as we walk by faith.