Abraham's Radical Faith

     

          Abraham is our spiritual forefather. For some reason, unbeknownst to us, he was chosen by God to be the channel through which God would bless the world. There are many things we can learn from Abraham, and from how God chose to reveal Himself to him. There are three levels of blessing Abraham received in Genesis 12:1-3. “1. God will bless Abram and his family- when they are faithful to him. 2. Abram and his family will be a blessing- because of their position of favor with God. 3. Through Abram and his family all the people will receive blessing from God- this is the unconditional part. The benefits are conditional; God’s revelatory program cannot be deterred” (Walton 403).

First, in Genesis 12:1, God calls Abraham by name and commands him to leave the land of his Fathers. Then God commands him to go to an unspecified place that He will show him. Abraham must step out in radical faith to receive these radical promises from God.

It is clear that Yahweh made such an impression upon Abraham that he immediately obeyed, without question. “Everything was motivated by Yahweh, and Abraham merely obeyed” (Nunez 16). This is the realm that God dwells in. When God speaks, people obey. It is unclear if God speaks to those He knows will respond, or if people respond because God chooses to speak to them. This is reminiscent of the call of Christ in the gospels. When Jesus calls people to come follow Him, they drop what they are doing and immediately follow Him. There must be a profound change happening inside of a person for them to just obey without question. Obedience is a result of genuine encounter with the divine. The more directly God addresses someone, the more radical the result. When God calls someone by name, that person is never the same. One could argue there is no more blessed position to be in than to have one’s name spoken by the One who created them. The call of God is a privilege of such huge proportion that one immediately senses the magnitude. The call of God goes beyond logic. Radical faith is the result of a radical call. Radical faith is only possible in the realm of the divine. The story of Abraham shows God is not limited by human logic. God’s creation was designed to know the voice of the Creator. As in the story of Jesus and the apostles, all it took was the three words, “Come, follow me.” (Matthew 4:19).  This was the voice of divine destiny calling. Many wait their whole lives to hear this call, without even knowing what they are waiting for. When it comes they immediately know it. The apostles lived their lives before Jesus without having any idea of their potential. They were dead, spiritually. Some of them lived as fishermen. They had joys and sorrows before meeting Christ, unaware of the possibility of something greater. When something greater came they immediately recognized it and dropped the lesser for the greater. When greatness comes the lesser becomes immediately apparent.

Abraham’s faith is remarkable to us because it is marked by sacrifice. He left the land of his fathers. He left everything he had, to be given something completely new. He took a chance to become something great. The chance that the promise could be true was apparently worth more to him than everything he had in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. The promise God made to him was so remarkable that he had to take a chance on it. Obviously, he made the right decision. God speaks to us today in our faith by showing us the faith of Abraham, who we see made the right decision to obey God. Today we see God’s faithfulness in a greater way than Abraham did. We see that God was faithful to His promise throughout time. If Abraham could believe on so little evidence, how can we possibly not believe in the God that kept His promise to Abraham? Abraham’s faith spanned the length of eternity. He never lived to see the fulfillment of the promise, but trusted God beyond the span of his life. “Abraham’s faith, however, is all the more remarkable when…it is clear that the divine promises concerning nationhood (i.e. seed and land) and the blessing of all the families of the earth will never be fulfilled in Abraham’s lifetime; at the very most Abraham will only experience the firstfruits of their fulfillment” (Alexander 57).

This is remarkable faith. This is unselfish faith. This is supernatural faith. God is the giver of faith. Only God could give someone faith to believe a promise that exceeds the span of one’s life. Abraham’s faith was also remarkable because God’s promise to make him into a great nation was contingent upon the fertility of his wife. “The note that Sarai was barren will be a major factor in Abram’s journey of faith” (Hartley 131).

The covenant God made with Abraham is conditional. “Several factors are significant regarding God’s promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham. First, it is conditional upon Abraham’s obedience to God” (Alexander 25). “Significantly the fulfillment of these promises is linked to Abraham’s obedience to God (Alexander 48). Perhaps God made these promises to Abraham because He sovereignly knew that Abraham could pass every test of obedience. This offers hope for all who do not receive the full blessings of God in their lifetime. God’s promises are not bound by one lifetime, but are eternal.

In Genesis 12:2 God promises to make Abraham a great nation. This is the highest honor one could receive. God promises to bless him and make his name great. This is the recognition all people desire. “In this promise God addressed the human search for recognition and respect and thus provided the proper way to fame, in bold contrast to the misguided search for fame that inspired the building of the tower of Babel” (Genesis 11:4) (Hartley 133). God also promises he will be a blessing to others. This makes him a dispenser of God’s grace. “But our God is a God of grace. If we desire to be like him, we need to go beyond being people who are saved by grace to people who are characterized by grace” (Walton 410).

In Genesis 12:3 God promises to bless those who bless him and curse those that curse him. He promises to be for him. God also promises that in him all families of the world will be blessed.  This is divine favor.

Ultimately, the story of Abraham is not remarkable because of Abraham, but because of God. God revealed himself to this certain man in a certain time and place, and because of that he was blessed. It was not because of who Abraham was, but because he was the one God sovereignly chose. We do not know God’s reasons for choosing him. This remains a mystery to us. We only know that he was indeed blessed. In the story of Abraham we know little about his character other than he possesses radical faith in God, and that is all he needs. His faith in God is what delivered the promise. God is the benefactor and Abraham is the beneficiary. Abraham is never to be exalted. He is only a person, but the One who must be exalted is God. Faith originates with God, and not with man.

Every believer receives the same call. When God calls, a person is never the same. It is the same to this day. The call of God spans time. His promise is eternal, but is contingent upon our obedience and loyalty. “Yahweh promises protection and blessing; Israel promises obedience and loyalty” (Walton 400). We are the spiritual seed of Abraham, regardless of our nationality or heritage (Galatians 3:29).

Abraham had radical faith that is exemplary, setting a standard for God’s people. Abraham’s example was only a foreshadow of God’s beloved son, who is our ultimate example. Christ showed the most remarkable faith that has ever existed. Jesus trusted God the Father, even as it led to the torment of the full wrath of God and separation from Him on the cross. Jesus’ faith is remarkable to us because He was willing to suffer the worst kind of suffering. He suffered physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Radical faith can be summed up in this quote by Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (as quoted in Walton 406).

  

Works Cited

Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Carlisle, Cumbria, U.K.: Paternoster, 2002. Print.

Hartley, John E. New International Biblical Commentary--Genesis. Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson, 2001. Print.

Núñez, Angel González. Abraham, Father of Believers. New York: Herder and Herder, 1967. Print.

Walton, John H. Genesis: From Biblical Text ... to Contemporary Life. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2001. Print.