Abraham, the Christian’s Precursor
Hebrews 11:8-19
1. One Greek man and a Turkish man were friends.
Both went to a famous Chocolate store in Greece. When everyone in the shop was busy, the Turk stole 3 chocolates from the store.
After coming out the Turk said, “Haw! I stole three chocolates and no one saw it. See my Turkish magic!”
The Greek man replied: “That’s nice! Do you wanna see my Greek magic? Lets go back to the shop and I will show you!”
So they went to the counter and the Greek man said to the Shop boy : “Do you wanna see magic….??”
Shop boy replied: “Yes. sure”
The Greek said: “Give me one chocolate bar.”
The shop boy gave him one, and he ate it. He asked for the second, and he ate that as well. He asked for the third, and finished that one too.
The shop boy asked:“But where is the magic….??”
The Greek replied: “Check in my Turkish friends pocket, & you will find all of them.”
2. Being a foreigner is relative. When Marylu and I went to Italy for our 25th anniversary, we were the foreigners.
3. You may have never realized that when Abraham moved from Iraq to Canaan, he had an accent. He either spoke Akkadian (Assyrian) or Aramaic. He was not from Canaan, and his accent betrayed his origins.
Main Idea: In many ways, Abraham is a prototype of you, the follower of Jesus Christ.
I. Like a Christian, Abraham Became A Pilgrim in Search of a BETTER Country (8-10, 13-16)
A. He BELIEVED God and He OBEYED God.
• The Scriptures suggest that real faith issues forth in obedience. If you trust God’s character and ability, you are expected to do what He says.
• Note also that Abraham knew what God wanted Him to do — sometimes we might have a leading from God, which is not the same as knowing.
B. He let the Lord DIRECT His comings and goings.
1. Some people are precise and need to know exactly what their plans are and where they are going. For some, the journey of faith and life is more difficult that for others.
2. Some people say the glass is half full. Some people say the glass is half empty. Engineers say the glass is twice as big as necessary.
3. But whatever our disposition, we are to be open to God’s leading. The spontaneous and emotionally driven must not confuse faith with presumption, and the fearful must accept that faith is often open-ended with a lot of TBD — at least from our end of things.
C. He viewed himself as an ALIEN, a pilgrim not quite at home here.
We are to be aliens in the culture (world), but to be at home in the Kingdom of God. It used to be reverse.
I Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
Ephesians 2:19, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…”
1. Understood: we have to be willing to be different from mainstream culture.
2. We should not just blindly watch the movies that others watch, listen to the songs that others listen to, embrace the vulgar and God-insulting words that others may, and must not make the bottom line the bottom line.
3. We need to prevent ourselves from turning the good things we love or enjoy into idols we put above God.
4. Our values must come from an honest understanding of God’s Word.
D. He was not SATISFIED with this life, but craved the heavenly city.
Application: Our text only highlights some aspects of Abraham and his life. Abraham was an alien, true, but he enjoyed life. He bargained, he built relationships with his neighbors, he was wealthy. He was also respected. Sometimes we can have it all, sometimes we cannot. But the spiritual always needs to be the priority.
II. As An Example of Faith’s Power, Abraham and Sarah CONCEIVED in Old Age by Faith (11-12)
A. They did not understand why God DELAYED, just as we do not understand why God delays.
1. Waiting — in general — is difficult.
2. I have always struggled with being impatient — but as I have seen and interacted with people over the years, I realize I am relatively patient.
3. Waiting for what only the Lord can do is extra difficult, and we are tempted to take matters into our own hands, make compromises, or abandon hope.
4. What are you waiting for God to do? How do you distract yourself?
B. They did not understand HOW God could fulfill His promise, but they believed that He would.
• It is a lot easier to trust another when you have the information and you can see the logic of what you are asked to do. But trusting someone blindly?
• An earthly people (sand of the seashore)
• A heavenly people (stars of the sky)
III. Like a Christian, Abraham’s Faith Embraced the Sacrifice of An Only Begotten Son and A Bodily RESURRECTION (17-19).
Isaac is in many ways a type (prefiguring) of Christ.
A. He is called Abraham’s “only [begotten]” (Greek, monogenes) SON.
1. Abraham had an older son, Ishmael, through Hagar.
2. Isaac was conceived miraculously (but not via a virgin).
3. Isaac was the “son of promise,” the line of Israel and the Messiah.
B. The attempted SACRIFICE of Isaac prefigured the actual sacrifice of Jesus.
1. The father was willing to sacrifice his only-begotten son.
2. In Isaac’s case, the Lord provided the lamb. In Jesus’ case, Jesus became the Lamb.
C. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Abraham believed God would RAISE Isaac from the dead: Abraham had a “resurrection faith.”
D. Notice all the New Testament Doctrines derived from MIDRASH of these Old Testament passages:
1. Jesus Christ is God’s only-begotten SON.
2. Jesus Christ was conceived MIRACULOUSLY.
3. Jesus Christ is the ultimate Son of PROMISE.
4. Jesus Christ was SACRIFICED as the Lamb of God by allowance of the Father.
5. Jesus Christ ROSE from the dead; the idea of bodily resurrection was a concept even Abraham embraced.
