Consider Abraham
Galatians 3:6-9
In Max Lucado’s book, God Came Near, he tells the true story of a man named Bob Edens. For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, he could see.
A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. He said, "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so... yellow. I don't have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can't believe red. I can see the shape of the moon—and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful everything is." What a blessed gift is sight!
Someone once asked Helen Keller to describe the tragedy of being blind. Being the wise woman that she was, Keller said: “The real tragedy is with those who have sight, but no vision.” On the spiritual level, we can have sight, but still be without vision. Without faith, we cannot see the things of God. Without faith, we cannot believe or receive the promises of God.
That seemed to be the problem in Galatia. In the third Chapter of Galatians, Paul has been making the argument that the universal Christian experience demonstrates that justification comes through faith alone. And then in verses 6-9, he goes to the example of Abraham to prove that the OT also demonstrates that justification has always come through faith alone. Paul knows the Galatians have sight, but he wants them to have Spirit-empowered vision. He wants them to see the reality of God’s promise to them. Abraham was a man who saw by faith the unseen promises of God.
Turn with me to Galatians 3:6-9. In honor of God and His word, let’s stand for the reading of these verses.
6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. [NIV]
[Prayer of Invocation] In the example of Abraham, I want you to notice two things this morning. The first thing to notice is the principle found in verses 6-7. Namely,
I. Faith allows us to see the invisible that we may believe the impossible (6-7).
Paul wrote: Consider Abraham: “6He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.”
When Abraham heard the promise of God, he was an old man. He had no children. His wife, Sarah, was barren… this had long been a source of great embarrassment to her as a wealthy Jewess. She wanted to produce an heir to inherit her husband’s vast fortune of livestock, gold, and silver, with many servants.
To make matters worse, Abram is a name that means “exalted father”. After a while, people began to notice the irony of his name. “How many children do you have, Abram?” I have no children. None? Your name is “Abram” and you have no children? That’s right.”
Abram was well past his prime; many of his peers already had grandchildren by now. He was fast closing in on a hundred, and his aging, but still beautiful wife wasn’t far behind him. After decades of being married without children, people were no doubt saying his name with a chuckle in their voice. The inside joke of the town square. “Exalted father?”… isn’t that the childless couple who owns all that land? They would raise their eyebrows the way people do when they say something that’s meant to be ironic. You know… “Abram”… get it?
But God called Abram for a reason… and God was up to something.
In Genesis 15, the promise and the covenant are explained. This is where it says “Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” But Abram had exercised faith from the moment God told him to leave Ur. He had believed God even before his faith was challenged with the promise of a son. The emphasis of his believing God is repeated here to connect his faith to the covenant with God in Genesis 15. Paul goes to Genesis 15 to make his point for the Galatians.
After the covenant of Genesis 15 and the promise of a son, God raises the stakes on Abram’s faith even more. God changes his name from Abram to Abraham. Abraham means “Father of a multitude”. But nothing has changed in his life. He’s still old and Sarah is no spring chicken. This name change just makes the difficult seem laughably impossible. But something did change in Genesis 15. By faith, God showed Abraham what He intended to do for him.
Being a person like we are, Abram could only think in terms that he understood to be natural. When he thought of an heir, he naturally thought of his household servant, named Eliezer of Damascus. He said to God, “This is who will inherit my estate when I die—a household servant—because You have given me no children. Is that what you mean by an heir?”
Now although the text doesn’t include this nuance, I imagine there might have been a moment of loving Fatherly laughter from almighty God when He enveloped His aged and childless friend, and took him out into the cool night air to give him an illustration of His plan. He said, “This man will not be your heir!” And God said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can… so shall your descendents be… more than you can count.” And because Abram believed God, it had been credited to him as righteousness.
The author of Hebrews condenses this passage down to a few choice verses. Hebrews 6:13-15:
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”
Paul used this same scene to prove that justification had always come by faith alone apart from works of the Law. There was no law when Abraham believed God; there was no circumcision, there was no Moses! Abraham trumps everything… and his example establishes Paul’s point theologically and historically. Long before Abraham understood the plan, he believed God.
Abraham was in an impossible situation. He had no children and God had promised him not only an heir… but a multitude of descendents who couldn’t be numbered. What did Abraham believe in this impossible situation? The promise? The covenant? A biological miracle perhaps? Abraham believed God and that encompassed all of the above.
Abraham’s faith allowed him to see the invisible… and therefore believe the impossible. The God of Abraham is the same God who calls you and saves you by grace through faith. That means the faith that you have from God is that which allows you to see the invisible… and believe the impossible. And it’s all yours through faith apart from any works you do.
Seeing the invisible is a natural by-product of faith. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 Paul wrote what sounds like a riddle: “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” [NIV] Spiritual realities are unseen, but they are very real. We can’t see the wind, but we see its impact on objects in touches.
Paul made this clear to the Galatians and I want this to be crystal clear to us this morning. There will be many things in this life which seem impossible to us, but we must trust God for them. We will need to see the invisible in order to believe the impossible. Is there some “impossible” thing that you’re trusting God to provide? Faith sees the invisible to believe the impossible. The invisible things are the unseen spiritual realities promised by God in His word. We see them by faith. There is a direct correlation between seeing the invisible and our reading and hearing the word of God. The kind of faith that sees the invisible is nourished by the promises of God. They go together and are inseparable. This leads us to the second point in verses 8-9.
II. The faith that comes by hearing God’s word also inherits God’s promises (8-9).
Listen again to verses 8 and 9:
8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
These are powerful verses! Notice the way Paul presents Scripture in a living and active way. “The Scripture foresaw… and [the Scripture] announced.” When Scripture speaks, God speaks. There was another famous passage where Paul personifies the Scripture. Romans 9:17, where he declares,
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
These were God’s words to Pharaoh through Moses. When Scripture speaks, God speaks. Scripture still speaks to people hardened in rebellion and sin, like Pharaoh. It speaks to people who are spiritually lost and shows the way to God. It speaks to those who are hurting and gives a comfort that no human counselor could provide… because it is God speaking.
Paul says the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham. Remember, this is Paul quoting the words of Moses, to legalists. He is making his case for justification by faith alone… and he does it by putting father Abraham on the witness stand to make the case for him. This is a decimating argument against the legalists!
Also, don’t miss the gospel when you read the OT. Even before Jesus became a man as the promised seed of Abraham, the Scripture announced the gospel to Abraham. Here’s the gospel (the good news) that caused Abraham to rejoice: “All nations will be blessed through you.” The word for “blessed” here comes from eulogeo, from which we get our word eulogy—to say a blessing or speak well of someone. That’s what happens every time someone falls in love with the God of Abraham—they speak well of the human instrument God used to make His promise known to them. All nations are being blessed by Jesus, the promised seed of Abraham.
Yet not everyone in all the nations will enter into that blessing. Paul adds in verse nine: “So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” No faith, no blessing. The message to the Galatians is this: Abraham didn’t gain anything through his flesh or by keeping some list of rules; he was embraced by the God who swore by Himself and bound Himself to the covenant by passing between the sacrifices… not Abraham.
The reason God didn’t make Abraham pass between the sacrifices is because the covenant didn’t depend on Abraham; it all depended on God and God alone. And for the Galatians, Paul wanted them to understand that their salvation depended on something that God did through Jesus, not on what they do in their religious ceremonies. And the same is true for us today. We are saved because of what God did for each of us through faith in Jesus Christ.
Like Abraham, we must hear God’s word and believe it. God grants us faith to make sure that His people do just that. Abraham had faith and therefore pleased God. Abraham heard God’s word and he inherited God’s promises right there on the spot, thousands of years before Jesus came to earth as the promised Seed. Jesus even said that Abraham, by faith, saw the day of Jesus and was glad.
Listen to John 8:51-56, where Jesus says… 51 I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
How did Abraham see Jesus’ day? BY FAITH. Faith is the believer’s connection to ultimate joy in the promises of God. So here we see: Without faith it is not only impossible to please God, but without faith it is impossible to be pleased by the things of God. Abraham had both and Jesus said he rejoiced because of it.
It takes faith to be blessed along with Abraham. This faith comes from God and draws its strength from God, especially by His word and His promises. The most important question for us to ask this morning is this: Am I a true child of Abraham?
If so, then you’ll begin to see things for the first time, like Bob Edens after 51 years of darkness. The faith God gives allows us to see the invisible, and therefore to believe the impossible. And like Abraham, the faith that comes by hearing God’s word, also inherits God’s promises.
Let’s Pray.
(c) Charles Kevin Grant
2003