A Person of Faith: Genesis 12
Are you a person of faith? What do you do in difficult circumstances? Does your faith ever become weak? The week before, I preached the foundation of the Abrahamic covenant. Genesis 1 through 11 covered about 2,000 years, while chapters 12 through 50 cover about 350 years and one family, in four individuals: Abraham in chapters 12 through 20, Isaac in 21 through 26, Jacob in 27 through 36, and Joseph in 37 through 50. James Montgomery Boice said we will never be lawgivers like Moses or kings like David, “but we can all be what Abraham was, a man who heard God and believed that God can be trusted to do what he says he’ll do.” I saw four truths.
A Person of Faith Obeys God
Verse 1: “Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Imagine telling Sarai to pack up all the furniture and people, because God said so, and not knowing where. Verse 4 says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.” “I don’t know where I’m going, but I know whom I’m following.” Even in difficult circumstances, famine, opposition, a person of faith must be willing to go where God calls. And to forsake all: his country, his kindred, and his father’s house, a place of comfort, support, and security. Jesus says whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Luke 18:29-30 promises many times more in this time and eternal life to those who leave house or family for the kingdom. When God calls, there is no negotiating.
William Borden was born into the Borden milk family, a millionaire’s son. He graduated from high school at 16 and got a trip around the world as a gift. During that trip, he felt a burden to be a missionary. A friend said he was throwing himself away, so he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: no reserves. After graduating from Yale he turned down high-paying jobs, and wrote: no retreats. After Princeton Seminary he sailed to China to reach Muslims and went to Egypt first to learn the language. Within a month he caught spinal meningitis and died at 25. Was that a waste? When they opened his Bible they found a third pair of words: no regrets. When you follow the Lord, you don’t have to regret anything.
A Person of Faith Worships God
In verses 7 and 8 Abram built an altar to the Lord and called on his name, in the midst of the pagan Shechemites. A. W. Tozer said, “we worship our work, work at our play, and we play at our worship.” I wonder how long that altar took to build. Whatever time and effort he put in was worth it. It is not just Sunday. It is opening your Bible during the week. Our worship is given solely to the Lord. I was at breakfast in Florida when a man walked in wearing a shirt that said, not today, Jesus. Not everyone worships the Jesus you know. And we can worship without sincerity. We are to impress the Lord with our heart, not man.
A Person of Faith Can Falter and Fail
We can learn as much from Abram’s failures as his faith. Hebrews 11 lists him as a man of faith, and here it doesn’t look good. Five failures.
First, we can delay obeying God. Acts 7 shows that God had called him before, in Ur, and Abram did not obey right away. The Lord is a God of second chances.
Second, we lean on our own understanding. A famine came, and Abram went to Egypt, a picture of the world. “Time spent in Egypt is wasted.” There is no praying, no word from God, and no worship in Egypt. A famine does not mean you are out of God’s will. It may be God testing you. Moms and dads, teenagers, single adults: don’t go down to Egypt. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Third, we can be selfish and deceive. Abram told Sarai to say she was his sister. His own life was at stake, but he was willing to throw her purity under the bus. He was motivated by fear, not faith.
Fourth, we can bring trouble on others. The Lord afflicted Pharaoh’s house with plagues because of Sarai. “No one sins in a vacuum.”
Fifth, we can put our testimony at risk. Pharaoh, a pagan, rebuked him: what is this you have done? We can live in a way that unbelievers blaspheme the name by which we are called.
A Person of Faith Has a Wonderful God
“It’s really not his faith. It’s his God.” Jewelers display diamonds on black velvet for contrast. Our sin is the black velvet, and God’s grace is the diamond. God graciously reveals himself: Acts 7:2 says the God of glory appeared to Abram, though Melchizedek, Job, and Daniel were alive. He demonstrates patience, giving a second chance. He blesses beyond belief. I Googled how many promises are in the Bible, and one said 5,467, another over 7,000. He protects and intercedes, as with Pharaoh. Verse 16 says Pharaoh gave Abram sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants, and camels. If I were God, I’d have made him return it. But even when we are weak in faith, he is kind to us. Hagar probably came from this. And in Genesis 13:1-4, he forgives, restores, and receives Abram’s worship. Like the father in Luke 15 looking down the road for his prodigal, he has open arms.
Discussion Questions
- Abram obeyed without knowing where God was leading. Where is God asking you to go, give up, or step out, and what is holding you back?
- Where are you tempted to go down to Egypt, leaning on your own understanding rather than trusting him where he has put you?
- Who in your life is affected by your choices? What would it look like to act in faith rather than fear?
If you have faltered, the Lord is not waiting to judge you. He will hold you fast.
