The First Man of Faith

THE FIRST MAN OF FAITH 1 The First Man of Faith He was called out of nowhere to become the father of an entirely new kind of nation on the face of the earth. He would also become the father of an entirely new kind of faith. This remarkable man spans the time between the biblical Old and New Testaments in a most unusual way. This is his story. One day the apostle Paul paused in his missionary journeys around the Mediterranean and decided to write a very special letter. In it, he would lay out the whole gospel, the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. He would lay it out clearly and systematically. He would explain just how human beings are saved by faith. Paul decided to send this letter to Christian believers in Rome, most of them Jews. So he sat down and created what would become the famous Epistle to the Romans. In setting forth his message, Paul wanted to tie it to what God had revealed in the Old Testament. He wanted to show that salvation by faith had been foreshadowed in the Scriptures that then existed. Paul looked through all the stories in the Bible, from Adam down to the prophets. And he decided to focus on one man. One Old Testament character would stand as the example of salvation by faith. 7

2 STILL STANDING TRUE This is what Paul wrote: What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:1-3, NIV). Paul pointed out that this happened to Abraham before he was circumcised, before he d engaged in any Jewish rituals, before there was any Jewish system of temple worship. Abraham hadn t done any of that; he had just believed God. But God regarded him as righteous. And so, Paul says, all who are of faith are the true sons and daughters of Abraham: As it is written; I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17, NIV). This patriarch, Abraham, Paul said, was really the first man of faith. He shows us what faith is sheer, naked trust in God, a willingness to trust Him about things we can t figure out ourselves. Abraham was the first to discover the marvelous way in which God can call things that are not as though they were. God doesn t just look at what we are; He looks at what we can become. In this chapter, we re going to find out exactly what that means; we re going to learn it from Abraham. Because he is among those who are still standing tall in our world today. His life still speaks to us. It shows us what God can do with that one simple gesture of faith. Abraham s story begins in the city of Haran in a place called Chaldea. That s where God paid him a visit. The Lord had a proposal: Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation (see Genesis 12:1).

THE FIRST MAN OF FAITH 3 Now, Abraham was rather well-to-do, and he could have said, No thank you. I m just fine here with my flocks and herds and servants. But something in this man made him respond to God s invitation. He went out on an adventure with God, not really knowing where he was headed. He was no spring chicken at the time. He left Haran at the age of seventyfive! He and his wife, Sarah, had no children. Abraham just had to believe that God had a plan of some kind when He promised him descendants in profusion. But, after settling in Canaan, Abraham began to worry. Sarah still wasn t pregnant, and they weren t getting any younger. How was a great nation supposed to come from him? He couldn t even father one child! One night, while lying sleepless in his tent, he told the Lord about his worries. And this is how God responded: He brought Abraham outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. And He said to him, So shall your descendants be (Genesis 15:5). Descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky? That s quite a promise! That s quite a promise to an old man whose wife hasn t gotten pregnant yet! How did Abraham respond? Genesis 15:6 says, And he believed in the Lord, and He [the Lord] accounted it to him for righteousness. Abraham believed God, and that was credited to him as righteousness. That s the fact Paul spotlighted in his letter to the Romans. That s what makes Abraham the father of all believers. Abraham looked up at a dark sky full of stars and decided to focus on God s promise instead of on his own frail body. God had come through for him in other ways. He decided to trust God about this important matter as well.

4 STILL STANDING TRUE And God blessed Abraham. He established him in Canaan and prospered him. And God blessed him and Sarah with a son in their old age a healthy baby, they named Isaac. Abraham would indeed become the father of a great nation, the children of Israel. They were to become God s special possession, a nation like no other, a nation of priests, a people destined to shed God s light in a dark world. All this came from one old man who looked up at the stars and believed that God could do what He promised. That s where Abraham made his stand. That s where it all began. But let s take a closer look at this man whom God blessed so abundantly; let s look at this individual whom God credited as righteous. Because there s more to the story that shows us just what being saved by faith really means. In his journeys, Abraham once had to pass through Egypt. As he came into contact with Egyptian royalty, he started getting worried. Sarah was a very beautiful woman. And Abraham thought that the princes of Egypt, accustomed to getting whatever they wanted, might just kill him to acquire her. So he told Sarah to say she was his sister. Apparently, he thought he could protect her and himself better as a brother than as a husband! The plan backfired. Pharaoh himself got interested in this beautiful woman. He invited Sarah to stay in his palace and treated Abraham well because of her. But people in Pharaoh s household suddenly started getting very sick. The Pharaoh believed this was some kind of divine judgment. And he discovered that Sarah was really Abraham s wife. Feeling rather offended, Pharaoh sent Abraham and Sarah on their way.

THE FIRST MAN OF FAITH 5 Abraham had buckled under pressure. He had lied to protect himself. Oh, he could try to think it was only half a lie. Sarah was, in fact, his half-sister. But he was concealing the part of the truth that really mattered. And Abraham did it again. While staying in a place called Gerar, he told Abimelech, the king there, that Sarah was his sister. This man almost took her as his wife! Abraham struggled with this weakness of not telling the whole truth. His faith wasn t perfect. Sometimes he failed to trust God to take care of him in a dangerous situation. On one occasion, Sarah decided that God needed help in fulfilling His promise. She was still childless. It didn t seem that she could get pregnant. So she suggested that Abraham take a servant named Hagar as his concubine and have a child through her. Maybe that s how the great nation could start. Abraham agreed with the plan, and Hagar bore him a son. But that wasn t the beginning of a great nation. That was the start of endless conflict. Barren Sarah became terribly jealous of fertile Hagar, and eventually Hagar was forced to leave. Abraham had his weaknesses. He didn t always follow God s plan very well. And yet, he became the father of a holy nation, the father of all who have faith, yes, faith in Jesus Christ. That s the remarkable thing about God s counting faith as righteousness. Abraham chose a certain perspective when he looked up at that sky full of stars. He chose to believe. But, you know, God chose a certain perspective when he looked down at Abraham. He chose to believe too. God could have looked at Abraham s weaknesses. He could have looked at his tendency to tell half-truths. He could have looked at his habit of buckling under pressure. God could have looked at all kinds of imperfect things. Instead, He chose

6 STILL STANDING TRUE to focus on just one thing. He looked at Abraham s faith. He zeroed in on that one gesture. And He made that one gesture stand for the whole man. He took that one good quality and made it represent all of righteousness. He credited this patriarch, stumbling into faith, with His own faithfulness, His own justice, His own purity. That s how God looked back. That s how God looked at Abraham looking up. He took this gesture of faith and turned it into salvation. It s in His almighty power to call things that are not as though they are. This is the principle that the apostle Paul would champion as justification by faith. God justifies imperfect people on the basis of their faith in Jesus Christ. God chooses to look at our faith and count it as righteousness. Paul would write this to the Romans: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Knowing that we are completely accepted by a holy God produces great peace. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us? The truth of justification by faith is the truth of God s gracious regard. God is gracious in the way He looks at us. He isn t intent on finding sins to condemn; He s intent on finding one quality that speaks for the whole. That s what Abraham discovered in Canaan. This flawed, imperfect man discovered that God was looking for something good to affirm. And do you know what? The perspective began to sink in. It began to enlarge the heart of this patriarch. God was picturing him as a righteous man. And he slowly became more like that picture. One day, Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent when he saw three men approaching. Being a very hospitable man, he quickly offered them food and refreshment. They talked for a while, and soon it became clear that these weren t ordinary human beings. They were angelic

THE FIRST MAN OF FAITH 7 visitors. And the Lord Himself had come to give Abraham a message about the fate of two neighboring cities Sodom and Gomorrah. The people in them had become desperately wicked. Judgment was about to fall. How did Abraham respond to the somber news? Abraham came near and said, Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? (Genesis 18:23, 24). Abraham had come to know the heart of his God. He had come to know that God isn t looking for something to condemn; He s looking for something to affirm. And so he posed this question: What if fifty righteous people were in the city? The Lord replied, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes (verse 26). Notice that God was not saying that if He found fifty decent people in Sodom, He would first remove them to safety before bringing judgment on the city. No, He was saying He would reprieve the whole city full of cruel and immoral people if He could find just fifty decent individuals within its walls. Well, that was pretty generous. But Abraham presumed to speak further. Excusing his boldness, he asked, Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous? The Lord didn t blink. If I find there forty-five, He replied, I will not destroy it. Abraham kept going. What if only forty could be found? What about thirty? Twenty? Each time the Lord assured Abraham that He would show mercy. Finally, this patriarch bargained God all the way down to ten righteous people in the whole city! And God told him, I will not destroy Sodom for the sake of ten. (see verses 27-32).

8 STILL STANDING TRUE Do you realize what this dialogue reveals? It s not just a demonstration of God s forbearance and mercy. It also reveals that Abraham had absorbed God s gracious regard. He was looking with God s eyes. He was regarding wicked Sodom in the same way God regarded him. Abraham wanted to find some way to spare these people. He was looking for something good, some glimmer of hope. In other words, Abraham had learned to be gracious. That s what God s grace does for us. That s what acceptance with God does for us. When people feel insecure and afraid, they often react in a condemning, accusing way. But when people are secure, they can afford to be generous with others. Wonderful things can happen in our lives when God looks down and counts our gesture of faith as righteousness. All who are of faith are indeed children of Abraham. We can stand with that first man of faith. His faith is still standing tall. His life still speaks to us. Abraham was a human being afflicted with human problems. He had a hard time telling the whole truth. He sometimes buckled under pressure. But God just kept affirming that one gesture of faith. He kept expanding on that good quality. And in the end, Abraham s faith did indeed become heroic. He grew into the man God believed he was. One day, Abraham faced a very difficult test. He heard God talking to him. God was telling him to take his beloved son, Isaac, to a certain place in the land of Moriah and offer him there as a sacrifice! This was incomprehensible. Isaac was the child of promise. It was only through him that Abraham could become the father of many nations. But Abraham began the journey anyway. He d been on many other adventures with his Lord. He just had to be-

THE FIRST MAN OF FAITH 9 lieve that God had something good in mind. Abraham took wood with him; he took a knife. And with his beloved son, Isaac, he slowly climbed to the designated place. Then Isaac asked, Where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (Genesis 22:7). Abraham had to reach down deep to give an answer. He had to call on all the faith in his heart to reply, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering (verse 8). And that s exactly what God did. He would not allow Abraham to sacrifice his son, of course. Abraham spotted a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. That was to be the offering God required. But Abraham had made a stand; he d made a stand by faith. Through this experience, he caught a glimpse of what it s like for a father to give up his one-and-only son. He felt inside a little bit of what God the Father felt when He gave up His spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ. He sensed what it meant for God to give up everything. At that moment, he stood with God the God who would give up His Son on a cross so that all who place their faith in Him can be counted as righteous. God the Father made this sacrifice in order to be able to accept guilty sinners who reach out in faith, in order to be able to regard them graciously. That s the wonder of God s saving us by faith alone. Are you a child of Abraham today? Have you found the security that comes from placing your faith in the promises of God? I invite you to do that just now. God is the Justifier of those who have faith in Christ Jesus. You can depend on it. No matter how weak you are, no matter how many problems plague you, you can have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. You can take that step right now.