Abraham is called the father of our faith (Romans 4:1). Abraham was justified by faith, not by works. He didn’t do anything to deserve righteousness, but he received righteousness by believing in God. It’s the same for us. We can’t work our way to God. We believe God’s word, and then he gifts us with salvation and we are born again.
After being born again, we begin a spiritual journey of walking with God. in this spiritual journey God calls us to follow the steps of Abraham (Rom. 4:12).
Come Out of Babylon
Abraham’s journey began in Babylon (Ur of the Chaldees). God revealed himself to him and told him to get out from that land, from that culture, and from his relatives (Acts 7:2-5; Gen. 11:31-12:1-3).
Babylon represents the world system that is contrary to God. God calls us to “come out of Babylon” (Rev. 18:4). He calls us out of where we are into where he wants us to be. He wants us to forsake sin. He wants us to stop dead religion and vain worship. He wants our thinking to change and line up with the Bible. This is a process, and it doesn’t all automatically happen the moment we are born again.
Abraham left Babylon and went out, not knowing where he was going (Heb. 11:8-10). Obeying God takes faith. We won’t immediately see how everything will work out. Sometimes we may not really know what we’re doing. But this feeling of uncertainty means that we are walking by faith, not by sight. Our certainty is in God, not in ourselves. We are trusting in God’s word, not our circumstances.
Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. The city of Babylon is going to be destroyed (Rev. 18:5-8). This world system will fail; it’s already decaying. But the city of God will last forever. The city of God is not yet completed, but it’s being constructed now as God’s people are faithful to him. We need to live with an eternal perspective and expend our lives for that city which will endure forever, seeking first the kingdom of God.
Believing God’s Promises
God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants and that his descendants would have a great land.
God has also spoken promises to each one of us. He’s given us the general promises in the Bible, and he’s given specific promises to us as individuals.
To see the fulfillment of God’s promises, we must overcome challenges. The fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham depended on him having a child. But Abraham had no children, and his wife was barren (Gen. 11:30). This seemed hopeless, but with God nothing is impossible. That particular point of weakness gave God an opportunity to work in Abraham’s life. God delights in taking weak people and making them strong. Jesus said, “my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
There are weaknesses in us. These weaknesses may be in direct opposition to the fulfillment of God’s word in our lives. But we shouldn’t be discouraged. These points of weakness may be the very points that God will use to bring forth supernatural fruit in us. We cannot bring forth the fulfillment of God’s word by our own power. God will bring forth his word by his Spirit, often through our weakness, for his glory.
Patience
Abraham needed patience in order to see the word of God come to pass. Abraham wasn’t perfect. Once he tried to overcome Sarah’s barrenness by birthing Ishmael through Hagar. This seemed to solve his main problem – it gave him a son – but God said this clever plan wouldn’t work. We can’t hasten the fulfillment of God’s word with our own good ideas. Often our own human attempts to bring God’s word to pass will only create more problems. We need to wait for God.
Finally, after 25 years, when Sarah was too old to have children, Isaac was born. This miracle boy was a result of faith. “Through faith Sarah received power to conceive seed” (Heb. 11:11). Faith gives us supernatural power to overcome barrenness and see God’s word happen.
Ultimately, Isaac became an ancestor of Christ. And through Jesus Christ, all nations of the world have been blessed. All who believe in Jesus become the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). As Abraham’s seed we have been blessed, not with an earthly land in the Middle East, but with the spiritual riches of the Holy Spirit and of heaven. Someday, the kingdom of God will dominate the world and Christ will reign as king over everything. The promises of God to Abraham were greater than his wildest dreams.
As we follow the steps of Abraham, we learn not only to be justified by faith, but to walk by faith. We will come out of Babylon, leaving things behind that do not please God. We will be patient for the word of God to come to pass, and we will trust in God to overcome our weaknesses. We will lay down our own good ideas as we look to the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s word. And through faith and patience, we will inherit the promises of God.
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