By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:8-10).
Abraham is the father of our faith. He began a journey, and this journey represents our faith journey. We follow Abraham’s steps, which means (among other things) there are times when we must come out of things and leave things behind. God told Abraham to go out from his father’s house and everything familiar and go to a land that he would show him. God promised he would show Abraham the new place he was leading him to if he first came out of things he was used to (Acts 7:2-3).
“Get thee out” is the starting point of our forward progress in God. We must be willing to forget things from the past, move beyond things, and go to a new place. Forget the things behind and reach for the things ahead (Philippians 3:13).
The Bible says Abraham didn’t know where he was going. He knew he was looking for a city, but he didn’t know where this city was. He had no experience of it. He had limited revelation of what it was like. There was no map to get there. Abraham couldn’t learn about this city by looking around because it did not yet exist on the earth. He had to go out and find this city. He needed continual revelation.
Abraham’s faith was not empty. He was not just wandering around according to his own mind, deceived into thinking that his own thoughts were the thoughts of God. He knew that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts and his ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). Faith trumped his own mind. He heard God’s word, and acted upon that word. Based on that, he stepped out in search of a city that did not exist on the earth.
It’s not easy to follow the word of God, even for Abraham. It is above our own thinking. When God first spoke to Abraham, he told him about how many descendants he would have – as many as the stars in the sky or the sand on the shore. But at that time Abraham had no children, and Eliezer of Damascus who was the steward of his house, was to inherit his things. But God said his heir would not be Eliezer, it would be his own child. Abraham and Sarah heard this word and then thought they needed to make it happen. Sarah was past menopause, so they decided to get the youthful Hagar involved. She birthed Ishmael. God said this wouldn’t work – the ways of the flesh cannot produce the outcome of God. Abraham’s heir would not be Eliezer nor would it be Ishmael.
The promised child would be Isaac, the son of both Abraham and Sarah. Isaac means laughter. When we follow God it will cause us to laugh sometimes because God is so good, his ways are so above ours, and his word seems impossible and maybe even a little silly. But God can do whatever he wants, there is nothing too hard for him.
Abraham was a sojourner with God as his guide. He lived in a tent, which showed he was willing to move. He didn’t get stuck in one place that was not the fullness of God’s will for him, but he was willing to keep journeying because he knew he had not yet reached his destination. As he got more spiritual light from God, he left the limited places of the past. It’s always possible to get stuck somewhere in life. We come to a comfortable place or get into a rut of doing things a certain way, and then we don’t want to move. But God will teach us more of his word, and suddenly the place where we are becomes incompatible with the new revelation. Then there comes a test – are we willing to take the risk and move into the new place and be faithful to the revelation, or will we sacrifice the revelation on the altar of our own comfort? Abraham was willing to keep moving. He prioritized God over his own comfort. To fulfill our destiny we must keep growing by staying faithful to the ever expanding word that God gives us.
Abraham dwelled with Isaac and Jacob. There is a small remnant of faithful people who will go with us and encourage us as we follow God. We may not have a large crowd with us. Sometimes our family members will go with us, and that’s a blessing. But even if they don’t go with us, we have to keep following God.
Abraham had a vision for this city he was looking for. This was the city of God. He knew that all other cities wouldn’t work. He could have dwelled in many different cities. People had built many cities in different places on the earth. But Abraham was waiting for that one true city that God would build. For us there are many different spiritual cities to dwell in. We dwell in these cities as we believe and obey their teachings. But there is only one city that is our real home. Our life, like Abraham’s life is a pilgrimage or journey to get to that city. Our citizenship is in heaven, where this city is located (Philippians 3:20). Abraham began the search on earth for this city, and we are continuing this search.
Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14). This coming city will last forever. This city is accessed by the word of God. Jesus is the way to get to this city. He is the highway and the narrow road that leads to life. All religious teachings and words of people are deviations from this road that lead to dead ends. As we obey Jesus, who is the word of God, we stay in him and on his path, and we keep moving toward this city.
This is a city which has foundations. No other city has a real foundation. All other cities are built on the principles of the world and the wisdom of man. We are looking for a city which has real foundations. There is a day coming in which everything that can be shaken will be shaken (Hebrews 12:27). Then all those cities will be removed. Only the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Abraham was looking for this unshakeable city which has real foundations. We are looking for this city too.
Christ is the only foundation that will last. Politics will fail. Money will fail. Worldly success will be empty. The Huskers will lose. The only foundation that will last forever is the word of God. Jesus told us to dig and deepen through all this earth of the world and lay our foundation on the rock (Luke 6:48).
In the Old Testament, the city of God was Jerusalem. God’s people streamed into this city to meet with him, and his testimony was there. But this city is just a shadow of the real city that God has called us to.
God has called us to the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem has plural foundations. The New Jerusalem has 12 foundations (Revelation 21:14), which have the names of the apostles. The apostolic teachings are the foundation of the city of God.
The New Jerusalem is not constructed by human wisdom or plans. It is built by Jesus according to his word. It is built by the power of his Holy Spirit working through God’s obedient people.
New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:2-3). This is the glorious church of God at the end of the age. This bride is being prepared for the wedding supper, and when she is ready the feast will begin.
This is the city that Abraham was looking for. He never found it. He only saw this city dimly because of the lack of revelation in those days. He died in faith, not having received the promise (Hebrews 11:13). But now this city is gleaming brightly in the spiritual realm, and it can be seen more clearly by God’s people through the light of the New Testament and the Holy Spirit.
This city is closer than every before. It is possible for us to reach this destination. This glorious city can be manifested upon the earth.
“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).
God calls his people to become his bride – his glorious, holy, and spotless church upon the earth (Ephesians 5:27). At the end of the age it will happen. God’s saints will reach this city and live in it. They will not just dwell in this city, they will become this city. Then the great search of millennia, initiated by Abraham and entered into by all of God’s faithful saints throughout history, will finally be finished.
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