Wednesday, May 17, 2006, Part One
"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8).
IDEA: Abraham’s God who is universal is also eternal.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize how believing in the eternal God affects our concept of time and progress.
Here is a hymn based on a Hebrew melody. It is a hymn about the God of Abraham, the God who is to be praised.
What is this hymn affirming about God?
I. What is the significance of God’s promise to Abraham that he would have posterity as great as the stars in the sky and the sands on the seashore?
Hebrews 11:11-12; Genesis 13:16; Genesis 15:5.
Abraham will have many, many offspring.
God cared not only about Abraham, but also about his children and his grandchildren.
That statement implies that God is the God not only of the present but also of the future. He cares not only about Abraham but about his children and grandchildren.
II. What does that affirmation about God who is the God of the future say about our concept of time?
Because of our belief in the eternal God, we believe that history is going somewhere and that it has a purpose. It is not a tale told by an idiot scrawled on the walls of a hospital for the mentally ill.
There are many religions in both the ancient world and the modem world which really do not teach that there is a future. The image of life is that it is just a wheel repeating itself.
Some religions teach that because there is no future, it makes no sense to try to change the world we live in.
What does our belief about having a future do to the way we live?
III. History may repeat itself in some ways, but it is always going somewhere.
Where does hope come from? For those who believe in one God whose hand is on history and whose eye is on people, then hope follows because history is His story.
If you have many gods, then you lose that sense of purpose and progress in the world.
Abraham, through the promises God gave him, not only believed that there is only one God, but he knew he had a purpose that assured him that he had a future.
We have that same assurance. We can pray, “Thy kingdom come” and believe that it will.
IV. Abraham’s God who is universal is also eternal. He cared not only about Abraham but also about his children and his grandchildren.
What does that say about our concept of time?
We almost take for granted that we have a future, but there are many people in the ancient world and modern world who believe that life is just a wheel and that history is a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing. What does that do to the way you see yourself and the way you act?