Father Abraham

Father Abraham, Has many sons,

Many sons has father Abraham,

I am one of them, and so are you

So let us praise the Lord

We all love to sing this song but how many of us are willing to do what it takes to partake of these Abrahamic promises. Abraham had to leave all that was familiar. He had to lay aside his old identity and everything he knew. Every aspect of his life would be altered forever. God did not tell Abraham where he was going or what events would take place when he arrived. The call was one of trust and submission. God expects His followers to step out in faith in following Him, even when the road ahead is not very clear or even when they do not know exactly where He is leading them to.

The story of Abraham demonstrates the ways in which God gives dramatic rewards for absolute faith and obedience. At God’s command, Abraham leaves his home to roam in a strange land; God’s reward is to cause Abraham to discover great wealth. Sarah, barren her entire life, gives birth to a son at the age of ninety, an event so unlikely that she laughs when she is told that it will occur.

And finally, Abraham receives God’s greatest praise when he obediently stands poised to kill the very son through whom God has promised to fulfil his covenant. These moments depict absolute faith in God, despite the fact that his demands may seem illogical or unreasonable. What God consistently rewards is the abandonment of human reason and free will in favour of actions whose purpose is unknown or unknowable. As a result, these stories establish a version of God who knows what is best for mankind, but who reveals his purposes only selectively.

Who then are the heirs of the precious and very great promises made to Abraham and to his seed? You are. To whom can it be said: Your sins are forgiven; God is for you; with all his power, goodness, and mercy he will pursue you all your life, and you will rise from the dead; your name will be great; your assembly as the stars of the heavens; you will possess the gates of your enemies, and the land of Israel and all the earth will be your inheritance; and you will fill the new world with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord? To whom can all this be said? To you, the children of Abraham through faith in Christ. "For all things are yours . . . whether the world or life or death or the present or the future, all (the promises!) are yours, for you are Christ's and Christ (the seed of Abraham) is God's" (1 Corinthians 3:21–23).