The Greatest Story - Heroes of the Faith

Throughout the Bible, God calls Himself ‘The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’

God calls out Abraham, and gives him a destiny.

Abraham

Genesis 11-23,25

Genesis 12:1–4 NIV

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “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.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

This promise and this prophecy is ULTIMATELY realized through the cross.

So, Abraham’s trust in God was great, right?

Genesis 12:10–13 NIV

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

This isn’t the only time Abraham sat there and said, ‘I know that this needs to get done, but i’m worried, so I’m gonna do it my way’.

Abraham, even after going out and committing to follow God, still tried to get it done under his own strength. But God still had made a promise.

Genesis 17:17–19 NIV

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

So there’s an inside joke here. Isaac means ‘He laughs’ or laughter.

Genesis 21:6–7 NIV

Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

We look back and say , oh abraham was a great hero of the faith, look how amazing he was!

One of God’s reasons for picking Abraham was to make people say “God was definitely the one who did this.”

Imagine if God picked a person who was young, lots of children, strong, etc etc. Somebody who could easily get all this stuff done by himself.

But there’s still obviously a component WE bring to the table.

What’s the key?

SACRIFICING ISAAC ON THE ALTAR

Genesis 22:15–18 NIV

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

God told abraham to do something, and abraham didn’t hold back. And THAT is the reason God called him great.

What are you holding back?

Looking at the other two heroes of the faith, we seem similar things.

Isaac

Genesis 21-28 and 35

Highlights:

God lines up a wife for him

Pulls the same stunt that abraham did with sarah, during an encounter with Abimilek, king of the Philistines

He has two kids, jacob and esau, and shows CLEAR favouritism towards Jacob - that ends up splitting up his family

In the story of Abraham being challenged to sacrifice his son - it’s isaac.

Genesis 26:4–5 NIV

I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”

God wasn’t good to Isaac because Isaac earned it or deserved it- God was good because He promised He would be.

What is God promising you?

Jacob

Jacob’s name meant, ‘he grasps at the heel’. Figuratively, it meant ‘deceiver’ or someone who supplants. And jacob lived up to that name.

he manipulates his brother and steals his brother’s rights as the first born

he gets into a battle with a man named laban over his daughters, as well as his flocks

At one point, when he’s worried the caravan he’s in is going to be attacked, he rearranges into groups to protect his favourite wife and son most of all

I saw a book once say that pretty much EVERYTHING Jacob did early in life was deceptive and self-serving.

Genesis 28:20–22 NIV

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

At one point, Jacob flat out gets into a wrestling match with a man who was God

Genesis 35:9–10 NIV

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

Jacob earned his birth name. God fought to give him a new one.

And this name Israel, it means two things. It means, ‘contends with God’ - a pun off the struggle Jacob had with the man. But it also means, ‘God contends’, and this is the deeper meaning - that God is fighting to make a new story for Jacob.

What is God’s new story for you?

Maybe it’s a promise from the bible. maybe it’s something he has told you.

Maybe you don’t know it yet - and you need to ask

The greatest story here isn’t one about a bunch of people who were great - it was a story of a bunch of people who were normal (and some who… weren’t so great), who were blessed by a God who was ridiculously amazing, and kind, and generous, and powerful.

The Greatest Story isn’t God showing the world how great WE are. It’s us showing the world how great GOD is.

2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

And here’s the great part. It doesn’t matter how good you are - God is better.

And don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing to see people using their strengths and gifts to serve God. But the greatest moves of God i’ve ever seen, right after, the people involved say ‘Man, I NEVER could have done that myself.’

But this is a truth that’s relevant for everybody, from the person who feels like they’re the most useless person in the room to the person who thinks they’re the center of attention.