Abraham Believed God

Galatians 3: 6 - 9, Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 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." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. NIV

We're instructed by the Apostle Paul to study the Word of God so that we might show ourselves truly approved to represent the heart of God. When we don't know exactly what the Word has to say about a particular subject, or we don't know its meaning, then we assume certain details that can mislead us and those we teach. Having stated this, let me say that Abraham didn't have a clue who God was when He spoke to him in Genesis 12. Nevertheless, in spite of Abraham's ignorance of God, he chose to go ahead and believe God when He spoke His will over Abraham's life.  

If only it were that easy and simple for everyone to take God at His Word and not waiver when He speaks to us. However, that's not always what happens. There's a part of us that wants to respond to truth more like Thomas than like Abraham when it has been spoken. Thomas was told that Jesus had risen from the dead, but he refused to believe it; he stated that he would have to see for himself before he would believe.

When we choose, as Abraham did, to believe ONLY God and His Word, it releases the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives to fulfill in us all that God desires for us. What would happen in the body of Christ if we just believed God and His Word without the confirmation of seeing physical evidence like Thomas required? I can tell you on the authority of today's scriptures that we would see the supernatural power of God manifested in us and through our obedient faith just like Abraham.

Now remember, even though Abraham believed God, the manifestation of God's promise didn't occur for twenty-five years after it was spoken. Even so, this didn't prevent Abraham from continuing in the faith. Why? Abraham believed God and refused to believe or accept any report that contradicted what God had promised. I have taught extensively about the reason it took so long for God to release the manifestation of His promise in the natural. Nevertheless, today, let's look at it a little deeper.  

When Jesus heard that Lazarus was dead, He waited until he had been dead for four days because the Pharisees (religious zealots) believed that people could still revive themselves after three days. Jesus wanted them to know for sure that no flesh had anything to do with the resurrection of Lazarus. There are many examples in the Old Testament of when God waited until people's ordeals became humanly hopeless to revive or resurrect, just so that we would know that God can perform what is impossible for us.

While I have concentrated on Abraham's faith in believing God for a son of his own, we must not forget to look at what his faith did for Abraham's stand in God's sight. Our faith in Christ (what God has said and done for us) makes us righteous in God's sight. As we continue to believe God, even though all of His promises haven't been fulfilled on our behalf yet, God is at work on the inside forming Christ in our hearts. By the end of our faith journey, God will fulfill both His will in us and through us so that we might have all that has been promised to us. 

Because Abraham simply believed God, he became both the father of Isaac and the father of the faith. You may be trusting in God for a need in your life, but God is busy working through your faith to transform you into the image of His Son. God didn't just give Abraham a son; He gave him a son by promise...Christ in you, the HOPE of glory- by promise.

Waiting On God,

Pastor Asa Dockery