Character Studies - ElectronicGospel

a. he had to leave his home, where he had been raised and where he had grown comfortableand secureb. he had to leave his family, a source of companionship and assistance and lovec. he had to give up a certain inheritance in his father’s house for the one God had merelypromised awaited him to the west2. Hebrews 11:8 says he went out, not knowing where he was goinga. I used to make much shorter trips like this when I was a teenagerb. I would go for drives out in the hills of Tyler County, not knowing where I was going norhow I would get backc. that was the thrill of the trip (the risk and the adventured. still, I knew I was never more than fifty miles from home and I could always come backe. Abraham was leaving with no assurance that he could ever make the trip back if he wantedto3. Abraham entered the promised land, not as Joshua and Caleb would one day (as triumphant,mighty conquerors (but as a mild pilgrim with no power to take the soil for his ownB. No Return1. in fact, the Bible says that all along, Abraham and Sarah were always free to return thefamiliarity of Ur2. had they grown nostalgic about what they had left behind, they could have turned their caravanaround and returned3. but because of the greatness of their faith and their desire to obey the Lord’s command, theydid not so much as call to mind the land they had left behind4. their faith made them God’s obedient servantsa. listen to the Hebrew writer (Hebrews 11:8)b. would Abraham have received Canaan if he had remained in Ur?c. would a great nation have come through Sarah’s womb if the couple had refused to attemptto conceive?d. would all the nations have been blessed if Abraham had refused to obey God?C. Same for Christian1. Abraham lived before the law of Moses and we live after its annulment2. Abraham was not saved by merit of his own works any more than we are3. but Paul clearly says we are saved by the same obedient faith that led Abraham to the city ofpromise (Galatians 3:21-27)a. all sons of God through faith in Jesusb. one enters Christ by obedient faith, is immersed into Christ of his own free will andthereby puts on Christc. all saints are one family in Christ where baptism put youd. obedient faith made you Christ’s family, made you heirs of promise in Abraham’s spirit4. Christians face great risk and make great sacrifice too; our land of Ur can sometimes be calledto mind and draw us back (Philippians 3:7-14)a. that is faith that leaves the familiar life outside Christ for the promise of a new beginningand a better endingb. that is faith that counts the cost and finds mercy worth the risk and the sacrificec. that is faith that burns the map back to Ur and dwells as a stranger and foreigner in theworld until the city with foundations swings wide its gates5. we would not be reading about Abraham in Hebrews 11 if had believed in God but refused toleave for his inheritance; you will not be saved if you believe in God but refuse to leave sin for salvation6. we would not be reading of Abraham if he had questioned the human wisdom of a divine edict;you will not be saved if you question the theological import of the divine edict to obey like Abraham7. we would not be reading about Abraham if he had turned back at Haran to return to Ur; youwill not be saved if you shrink back into perdition, short of the finish line of promise32! Jeff S. Smith