Abraham, Altars and the Walk of Faith –part 2 Listen to Audio

                         April 29,,2009

 

   In Romans 4:11, Abraham is used to illustrate the faith that brings imputation of righteousness and is called “father of all those who believe.”  So, his life

experiences have much to teach us about walking with God-  see Rom.15:4.

   His calling in Genesis 12 is an event with the further most impact—vs.1-3 move from divine blessing on him, to divine blessing on his family, to divine

blessing on the all families of the earth.  Vs.4 records Abram’s obedience to the LORD’s command and notes that such obedience took place when he was 75!

 

Some lessons related to Abram’s faith in Gen.12

 

1.  God revealed Himself directly to Abram while he was living in Ur—see

   Acts 7:2-4.  This incident of divine appearance was a sovereign choice

   by the LORD from among descendants of Shem (Lesson #1).

   In a similar way, God works to reveal Himself and move on our hearts.

   While the revelation to us is indirect (human conscience, providence, scripture

   etc), yet it is the means that will lead to our awareness of God- Rom.2:4, 15.

     Our walk of faith begins with God’s initiative toward us, not our initiative

   toward Him—see John 1:47-48.  The natural man does not seek God

   (Rom.3:11 b) – such an initiative is accompanied by the gracious work and

   calling of the Holy Spirit (compare I Cor.2:14), who diffuses light into our

   darkened soul- II Cor.4:4.   In essence, our faith is a response to this divine

   initiative.  

 

2.  Although in the line of Shem’s blessing (9:26), God required Abram to

  separate from his immediate family that apparently had become idolatrous,

  see Joshua 24:2.  In God’s mercy, his father, Terah, died, creating a

  circumstance that assisted Abram in his choice.  All men’s lives are in the

  Lord’s hands- Job 12:9, Psa. 39:4-6, Zeph.4:4-6.

    Only heaven will reveal the extent to which the Lord will go to achieve

  obedience for His children- Isa.43:3-4.  Some believe that Abram had only

  partially obeyed the revelation from the Lord in ch.11 as seen by his continued

  companionship with Terah in vs.31.  Thus, full obedience by Abram required

  Terah’s death.

    What obstacles may the Lord have removed to help you obey Him?

 

3.  The direction of Abram’s calling was not fully disclosed.  In Gen.12:1, he is

   called to “get out of your country….to a land that I will show you.”   See also

   Heb.11:8 as to Abram’s trust in God concerning an undisclosed place.  The

   mention of “the land of Canaan” in 11:31 and 12:5 was for the sake of the

   original readers of Genesis (Israel).  God is not required to make known all

   that He is to do with our lives—faith sees the Lord as Master, submitting to His

 

 

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     will; yet believing that God will reward those who seek Him – Heb.11:6.  The

     geography of our obedience is not as critical to the Lord as it is often to us—

     what He is looking for is our trust.

      In Acts 16:6-9, there was an issue of geography with respect to the work

      of evangelism that God had appointed Paul to do and that would advance

      the kingdom.  But for the most part, we must learn to serve the Lord and

      walk by faith wherever we find ourselves- I Cor. 10:31-33.

        How willing are we to act on divine direction to “move” but not know

      beforehand where He will take us?  No doubt, Abram could have asked the

      Lord, “Where are we headed?  How long will it take to get there?  What will

      we eat or drink?”  It was these sort of questions that Jesus was anticipating

      in Matt. 6:25-33.

        If would appear that the Lord was working to isolate Abram (away from

      his extended family) so as to make Abram dependent on the Lord alone!

      Faith (at some time) must believe that God is capable of taking care of us

      and meeting our needs regardless of geography or circumstance.  Anxiety or

      worry frustrates our faith-walk and distracts us from the Lord.