Paragon Church

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Day 4: Father of Faith

Day 4:  Father of Faith.
(GENESIS 12 - READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER)

It takes a lot of effort and faith to move your family to another city. You face the uncertainties of whether you will like the culture of the new place, whether that new job will work out, what it will mean for your spiritual life. If the move is an act of obedience because you believe God is calling you, the stakes are higher still.

But what if the history of the world hinged on your decision to relocate?

Abraham, the man called “the father of all who believe” (Rom. 4:11) moved with his extended family across hundreds of miles from Ur on the Euphrates River, eventually into Canaan (in modern geography: Iraq to Turkey through Syria into Israel). Faith indeed. But that was just the beginning. 

Look at this call:
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:1–3

To be called means to be sent: “Go.” To be called means to stand somewhere in the great timeline of God’s plan in the world: “I will make you a great nation.” To be called means to be elevated by God: “I will make your name great.” To be called means to be blessed in order to be a blessing to others: “I will bless you [...] you will be a blessing [...] all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
“All peoples on earth”? Four thousand years later, we know that the faith of Abraham, whereby he was right with God, is indeed a world-changing force. Abraham “believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:3). This kind of faith––openhanded, submissive, obedient, trusting––is the only way to be right with God. Millions of believers today––young and old, men and women, Chinese, Nigerian, Argentine, Swedish, American, Irish, Eskimo––are all called to this faith that binds us to our Creator. Then the blessings of heaven flow throughout the earth. 

PONDER:  How might your faith in God allow you to be a blessing to others today?

REFLECTION or DISCUSSION

In this passage, God calls Abraham to leave everything that was familiar to him so that, through Abraham’s faith, he would be a blessing to others. 

Read Genesis 12:1-4 as a family. God asked Abraham to move to a new place. How did Abraham respond to this call? What would it be like to move away from everything that is familiar to you? In what ways did Abraham have to trust God? What are some places where you have to trust God? On a sport’s team? At school? At home? What would it look like for you to trust God in those places?
 

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