Once there
was a man whose name was Abram, who lived in a city called Ur. Ur was the ancestral city of Abram and his
people, being located in southern Mesopotamia.
This was the very area where the Tower of Babel was constructed, though
some centuries before the time that Abram lived.
There came a
day when Terah, Abram’s father, took Abram and his grandson Lot, along with his
daughter – in – law Sarai, Abram’s wife, and they went out from Ur to go and
live in the land of Canaan. They had
come only as far as Haran, and this was where it was decided that they dwell.
In time
Terah had died. This meant that soon and
the stage would be set. It would be now
that the One True God would choose but a single man, so that through this man
He would have His heart and His mind become known. And so the Almighty, the God of all things
created, began to speak to Abram. To
Abram would He eventually unfold a plan that would more than boggle the mind of
any man upon the Lord’s green earth – and I suppose we all know by now that
Abram would stand as the kingpin in it.
There came a
night when Abram had become downhearted.
And so the Lord came to him in a vision.
He however was difficult to console, since he hadn’t a child of his own
for an heir. But it was on this night
that the Lord told Abram that he would have an heir – and one who would come
from his own body. Abram then was
brought outside. “Look now towards the
heavens and count the stars if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be,” said the Lord
to Abram.
For
thousands of years it has been none other than this man Abraham – the name his
God had later given him – who would become recognized as the father of the
Jewish race. Though also he would become
the father of Arab nations. And what
many do not know is that he wasn’t just the forerunner of the Semitic
people. Abraham, you see, was also to
become the Head of another race of people.
In scripture they are alluded to as a peculiar people. They are the church – the body of the Son of
the Living God.
These are
the faithful, no matter where on our globe they reside. It is these who have anchored themselves in
the Innermost Sanctuary; and it is in them that there forever resides the
Spirit of the Living God. Never were
they of this world. And in this their peculiarity
is seen by all who have made this world their home; they emulate their father
Abraham. Of him it has been written that
he looked for a city that has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.
But how is
it that Abraham has become the father of all true believers? The answer to this would hinge on a single
word. The word is FAITH. Faith – to believe things that we know to be
true, though for the present time we understand that they have not yet
materialized. When the only true God
sees this at work in the hearts of His children, it is then that He is made
glad. Also, faith unlocks doors – doors
that we would never venture through, were it not for what we believed.
I think that
it would surprise many who are of Abraham’s spiritual seed – the church – to
know that his way was never the way of the law.
To begin with, he walked the earth a few hundred years before Moses – to
whom the law was given. And so Abraham
never knew anything about all of the laws of God, which were to be imposed upon
Israel, following their coming out of Egypt.
In view of this, Abraham’s journey through this world had nothing at all
to do with LAW, though it had everything to do with FAITH. And are we not told over and again in the
scriptures that our salvation is not of the law – neither is it of works – but
we are saved through faith alone.
And so,
remember this. In the amazing faith to
which we have been called, there has been but one man, appointed by God, as a
forerunner to us all. You have probably
heard him referred to as father Abraham.
And it has been this one man, who has shown by example to all who have
believed, the way in which we must go.
Did you ever
stop to think of how the scriptures are full of irony? Years ago, I was part of a small church of
about forty adults and maybe twenty – five kids. Always liked those small churches - more intimate, and to add it would often be
the church members themselves who would take the platform for a short time and
speak. I remember one Sunday morning
when a young man went up and spoke a bit about the mercies of God. About midway through his talk he pointed
towards two of the men in the front row.
“Now, you take Jack and Tim over there, “he said. “You know that the Lord had to go fishing in
some awful muddy waters to save those two.”
Everybody laughed, including Jack and Tim. That was over thirty years ago now; today
they do well.
Back to
muddy waters and irony. I’ll bet that
most who read this article would have never imagined that the Lord went into
some filthy and bad smelling river in order to catch hold of Abraham. The father of faith was born and raised in a
society filled with paganism, and having no shortage of pagan gods [demons].
To add to
this, the Babylonian kings would pride themselves in the heights of their pagan
temples.
Despite all
the sin in the land of Abraham’s upbringing, you can believe that the eyes of
the Lord were upon the little guy – yes, even from the womb. When he had come of age he was called out from
among his people – this to live a nomadic life in the land of Canaan, moving
from place to place and pitching his tents.
Remember however, that all this time Abraham’s vision was set on a city
– a city whose Builder and Maker is God.
Just more of the ironies – from a tent to a city. But this would not just be any city. We can read of it in the Revelation of Jesus,
in the final book of the bible, how this city will be fifteen hundred miles;
its length and width and height being equal.
Who is amazing but our God! And
we have barely begun to learn of Him.
Yes, for
sure, God had told Abraham to get out of his country and go to a land that He
would show him. Abraham obeyed and never
looked back. But whenever any person is
drawn by the Spirit to enter a New Life in Christ, then they likewise are told
the very thing that Abraham was told. The
difference is that because of the many attractions that call out to us today,
from the world which we’ve departed, we often times do take a journey back to
that country from which we came out.
Once there, we tell ourselves that it will only be for a short
time. But the fact is that we often stay
somewhat longer than we planned. When we
return back to the land of promise, we find that things have changed. We do not quite have the same heart for our
new homeland that we have abandoned for a time.
It may be a while before we come to adapt again.
Only a few
days ago I believe I was shown a matter that really took me by surprise. This too can be seen as irony. Often it is His way. Abraham was a pagan – brought up in a pagan
society. On the other hand Moses was
born into the race of people that worshipped the True God. Yet it was to Moses that the law was given –
the law that could not give life but only condemn. On the other hand it would be the covenant
that was to bring eternal salvation that the onetime pagan would become
privileged to walk in. More than
marvelous are His ways.
Surely our father
Abraham was called to be a forerunner to the church, knowing nothing of the law
– though in good standing with his God through faith alone. Even as it reads in Galatians 3:8., “ and the
scripture foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the
gospel to Abraham beforehand, “ saying, “ In you all the nations shall be
blessed.”
Abraham, a
former pagan, chosen to walk the New Testament walk, many hundreds of years
before Jesus made it possible for the rest of us. And so, Abraham, the father of both the Jews
and the Gentiles – one by the flesh, the other by the Spirit, had sampled the
salvation of God for us all - a very
extraordinary man.
I
wouldn,t doubt if this man Abraham
wasn’t the first to enter the kingdom, upon Jesus leading the righteous Old
Testament souls out from paradise. Can
you imagine it? Our Divine Saviour and
King of kings opens wide the gates and leads the way. And who would be most likely to follow close
behind, but the beloved father Abraham.
Yet would it surprise us so if even he were led into our eternal
heavenly home – by way of a little child?
J. Pecoraro
