WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:08.560 So, in our message this morning, we're doing a series while while Pastor Russ is on about it. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:17.120 We're doing a series on Christ in the Old Testament, how we see Jesus in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew part of the Bible. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.960 And so this week we're going to be looking at Abraham. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.719 So you've got this really good life in a famous old city. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:34.079 Your dad is rich and powerful, and your hometown is known for its religious devotion, moon worship in this case. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.880 And then one day a crazy thing happens. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:44.799 You hear God, and he's saying to leave all that behind and go to a new land, and that your descendants are going to bless the whole world. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:47.039 And then something crazier happens. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.520 You believe him, and off you go. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:01:00.320 We're continuing this week in a series of messages and how we see Christ in the Old Testament, and we're going to look into the life of one of the giants of the faith, Abraham, known affectionately as Father Abraham. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:05.280 Abraham was the father not only of Judaism, but of all who have faith in Christ. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:09.599 So we owe a lot to him, and his life has a lot of lessons for us today. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.560 The level set, let's briefly recap a story. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:18.400 Abraham, who lived in Palestine, started out as Abram, who lived in Ur, which is modern-day Iraq. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:28.719 And when he was already in old age, he heard God's call to go to this new land, the promised to him, his descendants, and the promise that his descendants would bless the whole world. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:30.959 He had this incredible walk with God. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:35.760 God made and kept all kinds of promises, including that he'd have a son in his old age. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.680 And along the way, Abraham made some pretty boneheaded mistakes. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:42.879 But ultimately, God's promise of a son came true. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:51.439 And Abraham became this role model of trusting faith and obedience to the point of obeying God even when God asked him to sacrifice his son. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.319 So let's be clear: all these great accomplishments did not earn Abraham right standing with God. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:01:59.680 Here's our first point. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.599 Abraham was declared right with God on the basis of his faith, not his accomplishments. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.040 And so are we. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:19.039 Out of all the great promises God made, there's a point early in Abraham's story in Genesis 15, where God promises that Abraham will have an heir and descendants more numerous than the stars in heaven. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:26.240 The result, the Bible says, is that Abraham believed in the Lord, and God accounted it to Abraham as righteousness. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.520 This is actually a really big milestone in the story. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:35.599 In the New Testament, Paul uses this event as an example of what it is to be made right with God. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:48.719 In Romans 4, he points to that Abraham didn't act righteously so as to achieve righteousness, but instead that God imputed righteousness, that is, declared Abraham as righteous, just on the basis of believing faith. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:54.960 At this moment, Abraham was justified or declared right with God, declared permanently right with God. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:00.080 We have that same permanent right standing with God when we trust in Jesus as our Savior. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:06.800 When we trust in Jesus as our Savior, all of our sins are put on Jesus, and Jesus' perfect righteousness is put on us. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.680 And we are once and for all saved. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:16.000 And Abraham experienced this same blessing, even though Jesus' death on the cross was in the future. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:18.560 That's the point Paul is making in Romans. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.560 And we need to let that sink in. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:32.800 We are just as loved by God, just as right with God, considered just as righteous as a giant of the faith like Abraham from the moment we place our trusting faith in Jesus. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.639 If you don't remember anything else from today's message, remember that. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.120 You were just as loved by God as Abraham. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.879 Now Abraham's story doesn't stop there, and neither does ours. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:47.680 After being declared righteous, Abraham took God at his word. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:04:00.479 As he stepped out in trust and faith, praying and interacting with God, his walk with God grew stronger, and his trust grew deeper and deeper until he could do what God asked without hesitation. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:07.599 Growing promises and growing trust by faith in those promises changed Abraham's behavior. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:09.439 And this leads to our second point. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:16.000 Abraham grew in obedience by growing in trust and faith, and that's how we grow too. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:23.600 At the culmination of his journey, there's this crazy scene when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:26.639 How did he get to the point in his life where he could do this? 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:30.720 As we've mentioned, Abraham had this really great walk with God. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:32.480 He called on God wherever he went. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:35.040 He built altars, he had this dialogue with God. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:43.360 At different points in his life, he's laughing in disbelief at a promise God made, or he's haggling with God, or he's having lunch with God. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.759 He has this very close walk with God. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.639 And while all this is happening, God made a growing stream of promises to Abraham. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:57.199 That he'll make a great nation from Abraham, peopled by his descendants, and that everyone on earth will be blessed by his descendants. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:03.759 And specifically, that this will happen specifically via Isaac, the son of his wife Sarah. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.399 And you really need to see this for the scene to make sense. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:11.040 Isaac had to survive for this incredible stream of promises to come true. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:19.360 The blessing that will extend to all nations via Isaac and no one else, and thus Isaac has to survive to raise a family in order for God's promises to come true. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:30.240 Therefore, when God in Genesis 22 tells Abraham to go and sacrifice his son, Abraham believed full well that no matter what happened on top of the mountain, he'd be coming home with his son. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:42.240 The author of Hebrews tells us that Abraham expected God to bring Isaac back from the dead, and instead, just as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, God provided a substitute. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:47.199 There was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns, and that was a substitute instead of Isaac. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:48.879 But here's the key point. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:59.439 As Abraham believed God's promises, his trust in the promises and in God grew and grew to the point where he could have full confidence in what God was asking. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:03.439 His belief grew into trust and then into changed behavior. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:09.199 You can label that as obedience, or you can label that as life-altering trust within a covenant of promises. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:19.199 The point is that Abraham's obedience flowed from the promises that God made and kept, and more importantly, it flowed from the fact that Abraham knew God as opposed to knowing about God. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:23.519 This is what gospel obedience looks like for Abraham and for us. 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:29.279 Now, what does it look like when we trust God and do something that seems crazy? 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:31.920 I have a cheesy example in my life. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:35.839 I wasn't asked to sacrifice one of my daughters, and thank goodness. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:37.759 But uh the story goes like this. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:46.959 My family and I had this really great vacation, and uh on the return, the return flight was on Air France, and we got to the airport and we got bumped to another flight. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:54.800 We had to take this much longer series of flights, and and of course we get back to Atlanta Airport at one in the morning to find our batteries dead in the minivan and all that. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.800 It was just a miserable day of travel. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:04.079 But the only good news for us was that Air France had promised us this rather large sum of money for in exchange for being bumped on the flight. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:04.560 Okay. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.040 So this is Air France, right? 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:09.439 So time goes by, there's no money. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.519 You know, we call, nothing happens. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:19.279 At one point, we even go down to the airport, we talk to this very nice person behind the counter who's completely helpless, and you know, nothing, nothing gets resolved. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.040 So finally we bring in the big guns. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:27.360 The Department of Transportation has this email, this email address whenever lines are treating you bad things. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:32.560 So we did that, and sure enough, we call in the big guns, Department of Transportation, and it works. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:36.959 This this money, big bunch of money, shows up on our credit card, and everybody's happy. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:37.199 Okay. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:39.839 To bribe our kids, we agreed to split it with them. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.160 So every uh we're all happy at this point. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:44.879 Now, now here's where the story really gets fun, okay? 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:50.399 Like a couple weeks after that, we get a nice big fat check in the mail from Air France. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:50.959 Okay? 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.120 Now, legally and ethically, it's not our money. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.360 They've already paid us what we said. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.319 So I announced we need to void the check. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.079 No, that's not what happened at all. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.240 My wife Ruth announced we need to void the check. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:08.480 And we all grudgingly agreed with her. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:14.720 We all felt it was the right thing to do, even if it did feel weird, even if it did feel weird voiding a big check. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:17.279 At that point, it was a little test. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.199 Then it came to be a big test. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.399 A few weeks later, we got another check in the mail, okay? 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:26.160 This was our Isaac moment. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:29.519 And I'm proud to say my wife, Ruth, passed the test. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:31.439 Okay, we avoided that one too. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:37.360 I'm not completely ashamed to admit the rest of us were really sitting on the fence about that second check, okay? 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:43.120 But my wife's trust in God outweighed her trust in a check from Air France. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.000 For her, honestly, it was a no-brainer. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.480 And thus it was the same way for Abraham. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:50.639 It was a no-brainer for Abraham as well. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:09:04.240 And when you see Abraham's obedience as flowing directly out of trust in God's promises, you realize that credit for Abraham's obedience belongs more to the God of covenant promises than it does to Abraham. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:11.200 Obedience glorifies God only when it flows from our trusting faith in a loving Father. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:16.320 Now, as we mentioned, Paul says Abraham was justified when he had believing faith. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:22.159 But a different New Testament writer, James, says that Abraham was justified when he offered his son Isaac. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:23.279 And what's the difference? 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.759 People like to point to that as a contradiction in the Bible. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:30.879 When James says justified, he's using the word to mean demonstrating the truth of a prior claim. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:31.360 Okay? 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:38.879 So Abraham was declared right with God once and for all in Genesis 15 when he had believing faith. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:46.480 And he demonstrated that right standing with God in Genesis 22 when he did what God said. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:53.519 Now, as I mentioned before, Abraham was the father of a nation and the spiritual forefather of all who trust in Christ. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:56.240 So his life was about way more than just personal piety. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:58.399 And that gets me to my third point. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:09.120 God's promises comprised a covenant program of raising up a group of people who would do the things that God does, and we are part of that same program, okay? 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:16.480 In the middle of the story of Abraham, there's a scene where Abraham's having lunch with God, okay? 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:26.799 And in the scene where Abraham's having lunch with God, God says this, and this is the scripture reading for today, shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:28.240 in verse 19. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:39.120 For I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.919 God's program is right there in verse 19, and it's still going on today. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:45.679 Let's unpack it. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.559 The program starts with God's choice. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:49.120 Okay? 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.320 The Hebrew says that God chose Abraham in love. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:56.320 Abram, who was likely a moon worshiper, didn't choose God. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:57.440 God chose him. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.600 And God comes to us long before we come to him. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.519 But the choice is not in a vacuum. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:04.879 God did it for a reason. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:08.080 For Abraham to command his children and his household. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:15.200 God started by promising Abraham a nation, but he amplified it by promising Abraham descendants. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:19.519 Okay, you rule a nation, but you raise a family. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:33.919 God wanted Abraham to be an influence over his spiritual descendants, both those related to him, his children, and those not related to him, his household, and build a nation from the ground up by his influence. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.279 The command is to keep the way of the Lord. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:43.200 The Hebrew word translated way means a path worn by constant walking. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.360 A path worn by constant walking. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:49.759 We keep the way of the Lord when we walk consistently in his well-worn path. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:56.879 This Old Testament concept of walking in the Lord's way is very much related to the New Testament concept of abiding in Christ. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:59.600 And what's the result of walking in this way? 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:01.840 Doing righteousness and justice. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.240 These are huge, heavily loaded Hebrew words. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:11.919 When you're an amateur like me, you get the Hebrew lexicon out, you know, and you look up the words, and most of the time, you know, the words mean pretty much what they mean. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:15.039 But this one, justice, is really cool. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:17.200 Okay, there's two different Hebrew words for justice. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:26.159 This word for justice, Mishpat, means divinely ordained actions that promote the well-being and equality of all humanity. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:26.559 Okay? 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:37.360 When proud oppressors are humbled and brought low, and when poor, uh, the oppressed are vindicated and restored, justice is done. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:48.000 And humanity is moved towards this new equilibrium or shalom, okay, uh, where an equilibrium where rights are uh wrongs are righted and the impoverished prosper. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:49.679 That's the concept of Mishpat. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:55.440 This idea of putting down the proud and lifting up the humble and promoting shalom is all over the Old Testament. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:57.519 Okay, it's a common theme of the prophets. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:05.200 Uh Hannah in 1 Samuel in her song says, the bows of the mighty men are broken, the Lord makes poor and he makes rich. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:09.919 He brings low and lifts up, he raises the poor from the dust. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.399 That's Mishpat in action. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:17.440 Now, God calls Abraham and his descendants to do justice and righteousness. 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:21.519 Yet in many other places, God says that he does justice and righteousness. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:22.879 What do we make of this? 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:30.879 Well, simply that God's primary intended way, although not his only way, of doing justice and righteousness is through his people. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:32.159 It's through us. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:42.720 When you ask God to right wrongs in your life, to make the world a happier and more harmonious place, the answer to that prayer, as incredible as it sounds, could be you, could be me. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:50.399 You, I, and Christ's church should be seeking to do justice and righteousness no less than Abraham and his descendants. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.519 Now, how does this map into the New Testament church? 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:59.679 The Hebrew concept of Mishpat or equalization by reversal comes right over into the New Testament. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:11.039 Mary, the mother of Jesus, has this song in Luke chapter 2 that's sometimes called the magnificat, and in that she says, God has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:18.639 When Jesus strongly confronts those in power and graciously comforts the downtrodden, he's exercising Mishpat. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.840 If anything, the gospel takes it even further. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:23.440 This idea of reversal. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.759 To lose one's life is to find it. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.360 The way of life is to die. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:29.120 The gospel makes us all equal. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:33.039 It humbles all of us by announcing that we're dead spiritually. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:40.879 And it raises us all up by resurrecting us spiritually and declaring us right in God's sight, so that we have shalom or peace. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:46.639 When we experience and when we share the gospel, we're carrying out that Hebrew idea of Mishpat. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:56.480 And this whole program that was announced to Abraham, God choosing someone, that someone influencing others, so that those others walk in God's ways and trust and obey him. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:57.840 Does that sound familiar? 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:02.320 If you've been around church any length of time, you've probably heard of the Great Commission. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:16.799 When he was leaving earth in Matthew 28, Jesus says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:25.360 Jesus' Great Commission is an amplification of, and yet fully consistent with, God's program, God's charter that he gave to Abraham. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.279 If anything, Jesus takes it further. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.000 Abraham was called to raise a nation. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:33.440 Jesus has commanded us to take the gospel to all nations. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.399 To the extent that we're carrying out the Great Commission, we're also carrying out God's charter to Abraham. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:47.360 As we raise families and nurture disciples, we're growing God's kingdom and we're changing the world in the process, happening just as God promised Abraham. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:52.080 Abraham's journey was marked by huge promises made and fulfilled. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:55.759 And this resulted in increasing trust in God and his promises. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:02.720 All the while, God was setting in motion a kingdom program of raising up a nation of people who will do the things that God does. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.360 Out of Abraham and his grandson Israel came the nation of Israel. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.399 And from that nation came the Savior of the world. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:17.440 Jesus said in John 8.56 that Abraham rejoiced that he would see his day and that he did rejoice. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.240 Isaac was saved by a ram in a thicket. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.399 Jesus is our ram. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:28.559 When Abraham was counted as righteous for believing, Jesus is our righteousness. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:40.879 And when we raise families and when we make disciples and live out the gospel in the wider world, we're carrying out the call from Jesus and the same call given to Abraham, Father Abraham. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:43.200 Let's pray. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:48.000 We thank you, Lord, that you called Abram out of Ur. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:59.120 We thank you that you told him that you were one God and that you taught him so that he taught his descendants and they have passed down the scriptures to us. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:11.200 We pray that we would be making disciples and raising families and building up God's kingdom, that we would be teaching them to do righteousness and justice, to walk in the way of the Lord, to abide in Christ. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:21.680 And we pray that as we do that, we would see the world changed, that we would see Mishbah, that we would see peace and shalom restored as we labor for your kingdom. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.680 In your son Jesus' name, we pray. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:24.480 Amen.