Roots: Stories of Renewal - Abraham
Roots
Stories of Renewal: Abraham
Pastor Harry Stambaugh
Abraham, Renewed to be the Father of Faith
So, God’s call to Abram was to “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
God initiated the call to Abram, Abram wasn’t looking for God.
Abram heard God speaking to him. There was no Bible in those days, so his response is all the more remarkable.
Abram responded to God’s call by his obedience. He believed God.
Abram’s belief was followed by his action.
Genesis 12:4 says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him;” Faith in God is not merely a mental ascent, it is belief, followed by trusting God, followed by action. The process moves from head to heart to hands, from hearing God, to trusting Him, to acting in obedience to His call in our lives. Abram’s response then becomes the model for all people who encounter and then respond to God. As the author of Hebrews declares, “…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Heb 11:6)
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen 12:2-3)
God promised Abram that though he had not had children yet, that He would make Abram’s descendants into a great nation. And Abram said to God, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” “Then the word of the Lord came to him: “. This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:3-6)
In Romans 4:3 Paul declares Abram’s response.
Paul says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
James 2:23 affirms that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “God’s friend.”
Abram’s belief was not merely a mental ascent, but expressed the trust he had in God and His promises. Abram’s active, action oriented belief became the model for how we develop an intimate relationship with God today.
God once again spoke to Abram
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
God chose Abram to know Him, God promised Abram that He would protect him, Abram’s greatest reward would be his relationship with God.
This is what God promised his servant Abram. “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:4-8)
First, the covenant has no end point, its everlasting!
Second, the covenant applies to all the generations of Israel to come in the future. Even in times of their great disobedience when God removed them from the land, His promise was that they would once again be restored and so they have been. In my lifetime, Israel was restored to their land and once again were established in their promised land. Surrounded by their enemies who have tried numerous times to destroy them, Israel has not only survived but prospered back in the land that God gave them. All of the promises of God are Yes and Amen! What God promises, He does. He cannot lie, so that when he speaks of the future from our perspective, He already knows the outcome and prophesies it in His word!
Third, the name change that God makes from Abram to Abraham is significant to God’s promise to make them a great nation. Abram means exalted father, while Abraham means the father of many (many nations).
Abraham is called the Father of faith because he trusted God. What does the life of Abraham teach us about God and how He interacts with us, His creation and how we are to receive from Him and seek him in our lives today?
Abraham wasn’t seeking God, God came seeking Abraham. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden, our fallen human nature doesn’t know God or chose to honor Him. We still don’t seek God first today, He seeks us by His Spirit and then we have the opportunity to respond to God just as Abraham did.
But when God sought out Abraham, Abraham chose to respond to God. In believing God – Abraham was renewed by God and became the father of faith. So, we too are called to believe God and His word, and to be renewed as new creations in Christ!
Abraham wasn’t perfect, but when he strayed from God’s presence and direction in his life, he was quick to turn back to God to repent and follow him. So we are called to repent; to turn back to God when we stray from Him.
Abraham and Sarah’s early decision to try to bring about God’s promise to them by their own human efforts produced disastrous results that have continued through the ages down to our time today in the on-going Arab - Israeli tensions and wars, as Abraham’s descendants through Hagar have hated and opposed Abraham’s descendants through Sarah.
However, Abraham’s later model of trusting God and following His direction led to his renewal and as the scripture says he became “the friend of God.” His renewal provides us with a scriptural model of what a mature relationship with God looks like. By placing our trust in Jesus alone and following Him in the power of The Holy Spirit, we are renewed in our relationship with God and like Abraham we are able to walk with God and trust Him to direct our lives in the here and now and on into eternity.
Because Abraham is called the father of faith, we are his spiritual descendants. So here are four questions for you to take away from the message today.
First, how does Abraham’s story of renewal speak to you in your relationship with God today
Second, how did God seek you and begin to renew your life?
Third, how does being renewed because of your faith in Jesus change the way you are living your life?
Fourth, who has been impacted because of by your renewal in the Lord Jesus? Like Abraham, God calls us to be renewed in Christ, and to trust and follow Him so that He can work in us and through us to glorify Him and to reach others for His Kingdom.