Abraham is one of our most significant forerunners in the Old Testament. His entire life is characterized by faith, and the Lord, working through his obedient faith, set things in motion that are still playing out today.
In Abraham’s first encounter, the Lord promised that He would “make him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and through him, bless all the families of the earth” (Gen. 12:1-9). But to go on the journey that would lead to the realizations of these promises, Abraham would have to trust God and take each step as He revealed it to him. And the very first step that God gave him was to “go forth from his country, his relatives, and his father’s house to the land that He would show him” in Canaan.
That’s it! The Lord gave him no more detail than that! He called him to leave the familiar and move into the unfamiliar, and the only specifics were who/what he was to leave and which direction he was to “go forth.”
But Abraham internalized something from his initial interaction with God the Person that transcended the promises, the calling, and the first step of the ensuing journey—he believed that the Lord is good and faithful and will fulfill His word and promises. He trusted His holy character, truthfulness, and power. And this confidence in God the Person is what gave Abraham the knowing that leaving everything he considered “normal” at that time was totally worth it and following Him into whatever lie ahead would be mind-blowingly better.
So, Abram departed and “went forth as the Lord had spoken to him,” having no idea where he was going (Heb. 11:8). And thus commenced Abraham’s life of following the One who was leading him, who gave him vision and promises, and only gave him the next step after he completed the current one.
This simple yet courageous way of living allowed Abraham to see God’s callings and promises realized in/through his life. It also allowed him to accomplish his part in advancing God’s eternal purpose through his segment of the timeline, to the benefit of all who would occupy the timeline after him, including us.
Fast-forward many centuries, and Paul the apostle later revealed that “if we belong to Christ, we are Abraham’s descendants,” exhorting us to “be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham” and that “those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer” (Gal. 3:7, 9, 29). Paul elaborated further, making known that “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come” to us—and that blessing is our “receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:13-14).
There is so much we can glean here, but I want to focus on one very specific thing that this means for us today. It means that the lifestyle of all Jesus followers, in its essence, will resemble the same courageous way Abraham lived by faith.
Think about it. Jesus calls us, saying, “Follow Me,” and that’s it—He gives no more detail than that and the first step to take. And what is the first step? To turn from whoever and whatever we had previously been looking to and following, which governed our lives. And then simultaneously turn to following Him only as King and Source. In other words, we “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).
Like Abraham, we respond in faith because we have internalized something from our initial interaction with Jesus the Person. We believe that He is good and faithful and will fulfill His word and promises. We trust His holy character, truthfulness, and power. And our confidence in Jesus the Person is what gives us the knowing that leaving everything we consider “normal” is totally worth it and following Him into whatever lies ahead will be mind-blowingly better.
Like Abraham, whom the Lord led to “go forth from his country, his relatives, and his father’s house to the land that He would show him,” we too have a corresponding similar step to take. We must align ourselves with Jesus saying, “Anyone who comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” We must also align ourselves with Jesus saying, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Likewise, we must align ourselves with Jesus saying, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions” (Luke 14:25-35).
This is not the deeper Christian life that a mature believer achieves after many years. According to Jesus, this is “square one” to becoming His disciple. This is what He said “anyone who comes to Him” must do at the beginning in order to start being His disciple. If we do not take this initial step at the outset of the journey, then according to Him, “we cannot be His disciple.” Without this initial alignment of our hearts with Him, we cannot make the journey of faith because we have too many idols competing with Him. We must relate to Jesus as King and Source and love Him more than our own life, loved ones, and earthly stuff.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Like Abraham after his initial step, we also then begin following Jesus, having no idea where we are going, but we trust Him and that He does. And thus, we take each step by faith as He daily leads us by His Spirit.
In doing so, we follow in Abraham’s steps, as have many others before us. Consider what happened when Jesus said, “Follow Me,” to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They “left everything and followed Him,” having no idea where this journey would take them (Mark 1:14-20, 10:23-31). Jesus also said, “Follow Me,” to Matthew the tax collector, and he did the same, not knowing the same (Matt. 9:9). And so on throughout time until we heard Jesus call us—and now we are doing the same, not knowing the same.
“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
(Romans 8:14)
And like Abraham, this simple yet courageous way of living will allow us to see the Lord’s callings and promises realized in/through our lives. It also allows us to accomplish our part in advancing God’s eternal purpose through our segment of the timeline, to the benefit of those who will occupy the timeline after us, until He returns.
So, in this context of “those who are of faith are sons of Abraham,” listen to how the writer of Hebrews describes our father Abraham:
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)
As we have seen, our earth-side lifestyle and journey of following Jesus parallels Abraham’s in every way. We too even live as “strangers and aliens” on the very earth that He said we will one day inherit in a renewed state (Matt. 5:5, John 17:14-16, 1 Pet. 2:9-12, 2 Pet. 3:10-18, Rev. 21:1-8).
And so, like Abraham, where does Jesus ultimately lead us to as we follow Him? What is the destination in His heart that we arrive at with Him?
The city of God, New Jerusalem, who is the bride of Christ, and the wedding feast to celebrate His union with her (Heb. 12:18-29, Rev. 19:6-9, 21:1-11).
Thus, as children of Abraham, we too, by faith, are living the same lifestyle, following the same Lord, and looking for the [same] city. And we are doing so by the “blessing of Abraham,” the Spirit who dwells in us and relays from Jesus what we need to know and do.
…in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14)
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore, I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:13-15)
Part of aligning ourselves with Jesus and His kingdom is seeing ourselves, through His calling and our obedience in faith, as being fully connected to this one stream of God’s eternal purpose. It has been unfolding throughout time since before the foundation of the world, playing out through the lives of all who have followed Him. Consider these three examples—King David, John the Baptizer, and Paul the apostle—and how their lives are characterized this way in the scriptures:
“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers…” (Acts 13:36)
“And while John was completing his course, he kept saying…” (Acts 13:25)
And Paul in his own words:
I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to solemnly testify of the gospel of the grace of God… preaching the kingdom… (Acts 20:24-25)
And Paul again, at the very end of his life:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
And how does the Lord Himself feel about all of His people who follow Him in this way of Abraham?
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises [i.e., fully in this life], but having seen them [i.e., by faith] and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for He has prepared a City for them… people of whom the world was not worthy. (Hebrews 11:13-16, 38)
Always remember that God’s eternal purpose is:
- this epic love story of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world
- pursuing her throughout the course of time
- in the midst of a great war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness
- and Him being wedded to her in the end,
- she who freely and passionately and unashamedly loves Him in the same way as He loves her,
- and she is us, “those who are of faith who are the sons and daughters of Abraham”!
This highlights the importance of us running our race well with whatever time we have remaining (1 Cor. 9:24-27). For John the apostle, that was many years from youth to old age. For the repentant thief on the cross beside Jesus, his race lasted only a few hours before he met Jesus in Paradise (Luke 23:33-43). Thus, we must make the most of our moments, our opportunities.
Intention to follow Jesus without walking it out on earth through our choices, words, and actions, has no eternal value and is unrewardable. It produces no realization of treasure laid up in heaven, in the City of the Great King (Matt. 6:19:21, 19:21; Mark 10:21, Luke 12:31-34, 18:22; 1 Cor. 3:8-17, Rev. 21:9-21). It has to be walked out in real time on earth.
We even see this with our Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God. Though He was fully committed to going to the cross for our salvation before the foundation of the world, He nevertheless had to take on flesh and walk it out on earth for that salvation to be realized (Gal. 4:4-7, Phil. 2:5-13, Heb. 1:1-4, 10:1-10, et al.). It is no different for we who are being “conformed into His image” (Rom. 8:29-30). We too must walk out our role in this epic love story, doing our part by faith, individually and together, through what we choose, do, and say, in order to put forth our contribution toward His bride “making herself ready” (Rev. 19:6-9).
Following Jesus by the Holy Spirit by faith is what establishes our testimony for eternity, just as it did Abraham’s (Heb. 11:6-19). It is what sets up the joy we will all share with the Him and one another in eternity. For doing so is our unique, freely chosen, proven, lived-out response to His invitation to the wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-14).