Abram's Belief For Our Benefit Series

Alpha and Omega, Part 17

Abram’s Belief for our Benefit

Genesis 12:1-9 (focus on vv.4-9)

Introduction

- 2023 has been led with “one purpose”: To know there is a God!

-- Continuing our series, “Alpha and Omega”; examining the beginning to the end

- Last week we saw our lead into God’s calling of Abram

• He was asked to turn away from his father’s country

• To turn away from his family, friends, relatives, and loved ones

• To also turn his back on his father’s household and his comfortable life

- Why? Because God promised Him three things if he did:

• He would inherit the promised land

• He would be given the promised seed of God’s people

• He would also be part of the promised seed of God’s Messiah (Jesus)

- This morning let’s see what obeying God’s calling looks like!

-- Abram gives us several encouragements; they center around living expectantly

-- How? By demonstrating how to obey even during life’s many challenges

- Let’s dive in … Read Genesis 12:1-9 / Pray

- TR: Our first point today is to set this truth firmly before us …

Point 1 – Abram believed God’s promise

- Cause: Abram believed what God told him

- Effect: Therefore, he did exactly what God told him to do!

- He knew this would come at a great cost, but his devotion to God was greater

-- Consider: All that God has done is known to him, why would he not obey?

- However, there are a couple of interesting things to note here

-- First, he was a mature man in age, 75 years old when God called him (v4)

-- Second, he was established, comfortable, and secure in his livelihood

-- Third, moving an entire household would’ve been a challenge for anyone

- But that is exactly what God’s word tells us he did

-- He did not debate God about it, didn’t argue or pray about it, just went

-- APP today: He did not find ways to make excuses to not obey God’s call

- Even though it would mean turning away from everything he knew

-- APP: To him, it was better to follow God’s prompting vs. his own desires

- Key discipleship moment (SEE): God’s calling is all it took for him to obey

-- Hebrews 11:8, “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.”

- Get this: Life is about hearing God’s word, God’s calling, to motivate us

-- Want to wake up? Dive into His word and see what He’s calling you to do!

-- Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

- Look at 2 significant facts about Abram’s faith:

1. His faith was so strong even his wealth did not hold him back (v5)

-- In Haran is where his father would have amassed his life’s inheritance

-- It would have been safer for him to stay in that land and be comfortable

-- Why? Because he truly had no idea where he was going!

-- Yet, he didn’t do this half-baked – he dove in and obeyed God

2. His faith was so strong it endured until the end of his life

-- His life shows us that he was drawn to God, drawn to obedience

-- Somewhere, however, he got comfortable and stopped following God

-- RE: Genesis 11:31, Terah (his father), was on his way to Canaan

-- And now, God re-called Abram to continue his way – to reach Canaan

-- APP: His obedience was stirred, and he listened and followed God

- Interesting: It took some time, but Abram understood God’s promises

-- Perhaps there was moments in his life when God tried to call him

-- Perhaps there were too many complications (i.e., life noise) to HEAR

-- But right now, when God calls, Abram responds

- TR: He saw God doing something, building a new nation for Himself

-- This drew Abram from his comfort zone, but God was still teaching …

Point 2 – Abram had his faith tested

- Think for a moment: When he arrived in Canaan, what did he think he’d find?

-- Did he think it would be a land uninhabited and ready to be settled upon?

-- Would it be a land just waiting for new residents to settle within it?

-- Or was he expecting that there would be a people he’d have to overcome?

- Scripture doesn’t tell us, but we know when he arrived it was occupied (v6)

-- The Canaanites were a godless people, a settled nation comfortable in its ways