God’s Work in a Human Life

God’s Work in a Human Life

Genesis 11:26; 12–22

One quarter of the book of Genesis is given over to the story of Abraham. We trace his path from the paganism in which he was born and nurtured to the lofty peaks of the sublime faith that made him, indeed, “the Friend of God” (James 2:23). At times we see him living on the mountain peak, at times we see him in the valley. One day he is living in victory, another in fearful defeat. Yet we see God maturing him step by step until he becomes “the father of all them that believe” (Rom. 4:11).

1. How God Discovered His Man (Gen. 11:26)

2. How God Detached His Man (Gen. 12:1)

3. How God Developed His Man (Gen. 12–21)

4. How God Displayed His Man (Gen. 22)

Illustration: A visitor to the Holy Land some years ago met a potter whose small workshop was located on the outskirts of Bethlehem, adjacent to a large field of clay. Going into the workshop the visitor observed that the potter had detached from the clay one piece, which he held in his hand. The potter then began to develop his clay, pounding it, wetting it, softening it, and then shaping it under the pressure of his hands on his wheel. Finally, after subjecting it to the heat of the ing it, and then shaping it under the pressure of his hands oven, he displayed it on a rough bench outside his shop—the finished work of his hands. Thus exactly God dealt with Abraham as, indeed, He deals with us all.