Father Abraham Had Many Sons
Throughout 2020 we will be reading through the Bible together using the 2020 Reading Plan which is broken up into 16 sections, each of which follows the narrative thread of the Bible by incorporating both Old Testament and New Testament passages. In conjunction with the reading plan we will post blog articles for each of the 16 sections in hopes that they will help to shed light on what you are reading. As always, our prayer is that this is deeply beneficial to your soul and your personal walk with Jesus.
Blessings,
Gavin
FATHER ABRAHAM
If you’ve grown up in church, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with the song “Father Abraham.” It’s a catchy song that is easy for kids to both sing and dance to. You stick your arms and legs out almost like the Chicken Dance and twirl around with your friends. It’s one of the few songs I actually remember from Sunday School. But more than being a catchy song it teaches a profound and biblical truth: All Christians are children of Abraham.
The Call
In Genesis 12, we read about Abram’s (he wouldn’t be known as Abraham until later) profound call straight from God. The Lord spoke to Abram and gave him the very clear call to leave his father’s house and go to a land that God would show him at a later time. The call is profound for several reasons, the most familiar of which is the call to leave behind comfort. Abram’s father’s house represents the place where he grew up - a familiar town, people, culture, environment, and lifestyle. God called him to leave all of this behind as a 75-year old man. We can all relate to how this must have felt. I’m 34 and I’ve been blessed to have been born in South Florida and live here for all but four years of my life. Leaving would be difficult. My family is here; most of my friends are here, and the landscape and environment are so familiar. This is home. Yet, leaving is precisely what Abram did; and he began his journey without even knowing where he was going.
The Covenant
God made a promise to Abram - a seemingly unbelievable one. He promised him offspring that would number like the stars in the sky. He promised him offspring that would be a blessing to the entire world, and he promised him land beyond what he could see. Amazingly, we read in Genesis 15 about “covenant-cutting” ceremony in which God obligates himself to the promises he made. God instructed Abram to gather a few animals and cut them in half, laying them out in a row with each half opposite the other. In that culture both parties would typically walk through the animal pieces so as to symbolize their commitment to the covenant.
“Let it be done to me as it has been done to these animals should I violate our agreement” was the spirit of the ceremony.
In this instance, only God passed through the pieces. Only God obligated himself to the covenant. God had made these promises to Abram and he presented a visual demonstration to ensure Abram that his promise could never be broken. This is the same assurance he offers us under one condition: Faith.
The Confidence
At the beginning of Genesis 15, we see Abram’s clear response to God’s lofty promises. Even though he was about 100 years old and well past the age for having children, we are told that Abram “believed the Lord.” He had faith in God’s promises. As a result, God credited Abram with righteousness. Righteousness is in fact what we all need. It’s “right-standing” with God. Sin puts you at odds with the God who created you; it separates you from his love, from his presence, and from the possibility of eternal life with him. But God demonstrates for us, through Abram, that if we trust in him we can receive the credit of righteousness and have our sins forgiven.
The Connection
Consequently, Abraham - the “Father of Many Nations” - is referenced quite a bit in the New Testament. His faith is a model of our own. In Romans 4 and Galatians 3 Paul makes the explicit connection that if we have the faith of Abraham, we share in the promises made to him. The “offspring” that Abraham was promised was not tons of physical descendants, rather, Abraham’s “offspring” is anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior of the world. Therefore, if you trust in Jesus you are, in part, who God was talking about when he promised Abraham descendants like the stars!
This means that all who have faith in Jesus inherit what Abraham was promised. You are welcomed into God’s family along with millions of brothers and sisters who have also been forgiven of sin by the grace of God. You inherit the land that Abraham was promised, not Israel, but the entire world. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “the meek will inherit the earth.” Jesus will return to make all things new - a new heavens and a new earth made as ONE. Faith in Christ guarantees that you will be a part of it.
Father Abraham had many sons. By faith, I am one of them, and my prayer is that you will be, too.
Helpful Resources
“The Promise Granted through Faith” - a sermon by R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries
Commentary on Genesis 15 - a commentary by John Calvin
“The Cutting of the Covenant” - a sermon by J. Ligon Duncan III, First Pres Jackson, MS
“Election” - a sermon from Gavin Felix, New Springs Church