If you study those Christian giants of the Bible and history who seem to loom larger-than-life, you will find they were rather ordinary people who God used to do extraordinary things.
David rose from humble shepherd to become king of Israel. Daniel, the young Hebrew captive, became an advisor to three national regimes. George Mueller was a lazy spendthrift and thief till God radically transformed his life.
One such man is Abraham.
If you study Abraham’s life, you will find that it was characterized by faithful obedience to God. Certainly, he had his shortcomings–the time when he passed off Sarah as his sister, or his relationship with Hagar. Those errors nonetheless, his life is markedly defined by obedience.
Relationship and Obedience
Truly, obedience sums up the Christian life. Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
The more Abraham obeyed God, the stronger his relationship with God became. Inversely, the stronger his relationship with God became, the more he obeyed God.
In four critical moments, Abraham demonstrated his unshakable faith in God, thereby blessing his seed and forever changing the world.
1. Abraham left his native land
In his early life, Abraham was a pagan idolater (Joshua 24:2-3). Yet he forsook his gods, his comfort zone, his friends and his family to pursue the call of God (Genesis 11:27-32, Genesis 12:1-4).
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8).
Abraham left everything he knew, not knowing where he was going, because Abraham knew the God who led him.
Unlike the chief rulers in John 12:42-43, Abraham concerned himself more with what God thought of him than what family and friends thought him.
Abraham turned from idols to serve the living and true God. He was justified, receiving the righteousness of God. As Romans 4:3 says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
From his life we learn that those who follow God will often be misunderstood by others, just like Abraham likely was when he left his homeland.
2. Abraham became circumcised and circumcised his household
At age ninety-nine, God asked Abraham to do something rather bizarre. He was to become circumcised as a token of God’s covenant with him (Genesis 17:1-2, 10, 23-24). Not only that, he was to circumcise all his male employees and children!
Abraham wasn’t too old to obey God. He did what was likely not popular or comfortable in order to please God.
From him we learn that intentional Christianity means joyfully and unquestioningly obeying everything we know God is calling us to do.
3. Abraham sent away his son Ishmael
Ishmael was 14 when Isaac was born, and probably somewhere between 16-19 when Abraham sent him away. Abraham and Ishmael experience a close father-son bond, considering that God’s command to send away Ishmael was “very grievous in Abraham’s sight” (Genesis 21:8-14).
In this episode, Abraham sending away Ishmael represents the Christian who daily sends away the things of the flesh he loves so dearly.
Is there anything in your life you wouldn’t be willing to give up if God asked you to?
4. Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac
Roughly 2,000 years after Abraham, Christ said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).
Called to sacrifice his son, Abraham began the long three-day trek to Mount Moriah, the then-future temple location.
As Abraham stretched forth the knife to slay his son, the angel called out of heaven, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Genesis 22:12).
Because of Abraham’s obedience, God gave this remarkable promise: “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18).
Ultimately, Abraham’s obedience blessed every single Israelite to follow and it blessed the entire world through the coming of Christ the Savior.
Abraham’s sacrifice reminds us that God often asks us to do difficult things in order to test our love for Him.
A Tale of Two Fathers
Abraham, as well as Noah, Moses, Joshua, and all those in Hebrews 11 possessed a faith firmly rooted in God and His promises. It was not a circumstantial faith, but rather a faith bound by duty, the clear commands of scripture, and a deep relationship with God.
In contrast, though a righteous man (2 Peter 2:9), Lot’s faith seemed to have been rooted more in Abraham than in God.
While God knew Abraham would command his children and household after him (Genesis 18:19), He couldn’t say the same about Lot.
In the end, Lot sacrificed his family on the altar of convenience. He gave them up for the comforts, pleasures, riches, status, and applause of Sodom (Genesis 19:1, 8, 12-14)
Abraham’s faithful obedience blessed his family and the entire world. Lot’s faithless disobedience cursed his family, his own grandchildren becoming the progenitors to the pagan nations of Ammon and Moab, perpetual thorns in the side of Abraham’s descendants.
Actions Have Consequences
What we do ultimately affects multiple generations for good or for evil (Exodus 20:5, Psalm 103:17-18). Your choice to accept or reject God’s salvation by grace through faith (Romans 4, Ephesians 2) will unmistakably affect your descendants.
Likewise, your choice to live by faith in God or faith in man will impact future generations. Do you wish your children to emulate the faith you live out?
Today, God is calling visionaries who will, like Abraham, believe God alone, leave the comfort zone, disregard the praise of men, deny their flesh, and sacrifice all for Him.
Those who do so will bless, not only their families, but the entire world, through their obedience.
QUESTION: How can we live out the faith of Abraham in our individual lives and our families? How could God use your family to change the world?
1 Comment
Chad · November 6, 2018 at 9:44 am
Josh,
Loved this!
Point # 2 is insane obedience. Abraham was a hardcore radical devotee of God! Point # 3, is very difficult. I think some males get labeled as “heartless” or “not having emotion” because they are able to to something like this that Father Abraham did. But it’s not true. It hurts. Point # 4, same comment as point #3. But much harder. Can you imagine if God would have let Isaac be sacrificed, what Abraham would have had to deal with and handle on a daily basis, carrying that around with him his whole life while people called him a psychopath to his face. I can’t imagine. But Abraham obeyed. Sacrificing your own son is most extreme and was a shadow of the cross.
Consequences are real. God’s grace and love do not remove all consequences. Truth says that consequences can likely remain. Be obedient! This life is for real. It matters.