Father Abraham
“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.’”
Abraham.
The father of the faith. The man who was called to leave everything he knew; his country, his family, his inheritance. A man called to follow the one true God. The God who promises to make him into a great nation, to bless him, to make his name great in order that Abraham might be a blessing.
The call seems random and unexplainable. Nonetheless, God called.
As the story progresses, Abraham is quick to take matters into his own hands. He seeks to make himself into a great nation on his own terms, to make his name great in his own timing, to bless himself apart from God.
While Abraham constantly waivers in his pursuit of God; the Lord never waivers in His forbearance and steadfast love for him. The one true God is with him. The one true God covenants with him. The one true God will bless him and all who come after him.
Throughout the short story of this faith father, the Lord is at work preparing Abraham to be the father of a people set apart. This story culminates in the demanded sacrifice of a promised (and unwilling) son as the true test of faith.
While this story is about Abraham; it ultimately is a story that points us past Abraham. The promises of blessing made to Abraham find their fulfillment in Jesus; the willing and promised Son who would be the sacrifice for all who would repent and believe.
This is the story of Father Abraham. This is the story of the Gospel.
Join us on April 27th—June 29th for ten weeks as we follow the life of Abraham in Genesis 12–22.