Abraham, the Father of us all
Romans 4:16 “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all”
Abraham is the father of all of the saved…those of the family of faith.
As children look like their father….certain traits and characteristics….so Abraham’s history is very similar to ours….not in the historical….but in the spiritual…
…..for the way God dealt with Abraham was a look into the ways He deals with all His children.
Let us begin where God began with Abraham….and with all of us:
Abraham knew not God, but was an idolator, like us…
Ephesians 2:2-3, 12 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh,…and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
That at that time ye were without Christ,….having no hope, and without God in the world:”
Abraham was a lost sinner….”the pit from whence ye were dug”….yet God sought him…”appeared unto him” (Acts 7:2)……
….and called him to come out….to separate himself from all he had and knew,…to follow and know the true God. (Genesis 12:1-3)….and He did. This is faith in God. (Hebrews 11:8)
So God sought us…and called us to come to Him, away from the world.
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”
2 Corinthians 6:17-18 “Come out from among them, and be ye separate…and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
But was Abraham’s obedience as it should have been?
No, for he brought his father and Lot his nephew with him. Both cause him some trouble and delay.
(Sometimes we hold onto people or things that the Lord has called us from….and often we are delayed in our spiritual growth….from all that God has for us, because of this.)
Once in the land God led him to, a famine arose. And how many times our Adversary, the devil brings up fearful circumstances to keep us from the path of duty?
Did Abraham seek God’s direction, since He brought him there?
No, instead he turned to Egypt, a very rich and plentiful nation for help. Abraham went through the land, down into Egypt (Genesis 12)…
…and don’t we sometimes look to the world, or worldly means to get deliverance….when we should seek and trust our God instead?
Although Abraham is slow to learn the lessons,…..still God rebukes and chastens…but does not leave him….but leads Abraham out of Egypt back into the land He promises to give him and his seed.
Abraham learns many lessons…
He builds an altar to the Lord,…
…..fights against five kings to free Lot, who was taken captive by an enemy….(and should we not seek to “restore such a one in the spirit of meekness” Galatians 6:1)
…..afterward God gives him a new name by which to know Him…”I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
…because he is childless, and God has promised him a son….yet Abraham does not wait on God’s time….but follows Sarah’s suggestion to use her maid to gain a son…….again, instead of peace….strife ensues.
How often we use the wrong means….refusing to wait till God’s time….and how much we lose by it.
God gives him a son….in His time….and from the right means….Sarah.
Abraham’s prayer of intercession for Lot….and Sodom….shows us that we, too must pray….for those we are responsible for…..and for those “righteous” among the wicked….for their salvation.
We should never think lightly of the death of the unsaved…..it is fearful.
As Abraham understood the “destruction” that would come upon the wicked….so we must understand that perhaps our prayer might save some….”pulling them out of the fire”(Jude 23).
Abraham’s sacrificing of his son….Isaac….was the great picture of God the Father….giving His Son in sacrifice for us.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Even when Sarah dies….he pays for the burial place (Genesis 23).
Though the land is sure to Abraham’s seed….this is the only possession he owns….the plot of land that Sarah, he, and Jospeh would be buried in.
For all his life Abraham journeys in the land God said would be given to his children…..by faith….in failure and in blessing.
Hebrews 11:9 “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
The thing for us to see is that the general tenor of Abraham’s life is one of faith…..
…..sometimes strong….anchored in God.
Sometimes weak….blown about with every wind.
Yet the Lord never left him…..nor forsook His promise to him. Abraham had to learn….
….about the God who revealed Himself to him….as God, as Sustainer, as Comforter, as Shield, as His Arm and All.
And we, too, learn of Christ…..Who He is….and will be to us….through out all our life experiences.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 