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Father Abraham - Romans 4
Father Abraham - Romans 4
I almost do not know where to begin with this discussion! A search of the NASB95 for his name returns 249 hits! And of course that doesn’t include the larger story context where his name appears. Then, remember that he started out in this storyline as Abram – which appears another 60 times. We would note that his name appears 74 times in the New Testament!
Of course, you can start in Genesis and read the ‘biography’ (Genesis 11:26ff). What is odd is that we simply do not know much about his early life! We never learn how he came to know about God. We know his parents worshipped idols (see Joshua 24:2 at the end of this article, no wonder God asked him to leave his family and homeland). The story actually begins for us in chapter 12:1 – “Now the LORD said unto Abram…”. This is enlarged in Hebrews 11:8 with the simple conclusion that “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
Abraham’s faith is set forth as an example for us! We are to ‘follow in the steps of Abraham’ (Rom. 4:12). Such is not about location, but attitude and lifestyle! He WALKED WITH GOD! He TRUSTED God even when everything in life pointed in a different direction.
Here in Romans 4, notice the whole description of the phrase “He believed’ (vs. 17): “in hope against hope he believed” (18), ‘without becoming weak in faith” (19), “did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith (20), “being fully assured” (21).
We all began at the point of first believing that God exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). But this belief ABOUT God must become an all-encompassing TRUST IN God – the same trust that Abraham had! This is being a child of Abraham – of the seed of Abraham!
How much does your faith/trust look like Abraham’s?
Hugh DeLong
Joshua 24:2 Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.
