The Call of Abraham

God’s Good Design: Turning to God in True Faith

In Genesis 12:1-4, God calls Abram to leave all former allegiances and follow Him. As Tyler Briggs reminds us with the conclusion of the God’s Good Design series, this is the same type of call that God delivers to us today. Answering the call leads us find satisfaction in Christ, while neglecting God’s call leads us to a life of wandering and self-seeking dissatisfaction.

Tyler’s Main Points

1. The Condition of Abram’s World (and ours)

2. God Offer

3. Abram’s Response

4. God’s Patience

Key Takeaways

  • Up to this point in Genesis, we’ve discussed 3 major opportunities for man to follow or not follow God by faith: The Fall, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel.

  • Nimrod, whose name means “rebel,” was the caricature of evil in the post-flood world. He spearheaded the construction of the Tower of Babel and sought his own empty, vain self-glory.

  • Abram’s world was seemingly hopeless– a world filled with people focused on their own vanity and destined for destruction and death.

  • Abram’s condition was similarly hopeless, or so it seemed. He was a married, middle-aged man who was a pagan in a pagan culture. Although he was rich from a worldly standpoint, his wife Sarah was barren and he was a worshipper of impotent idols.

  • As described in Acts 7:2-3, “the God of glory” appeared to Abraham and called him to sever his allegiance to the way of the world and follow Him.

  • God called Abram to leave:

    1) His country – security, idols, comfort, way of life, wealth, reputation
    2) His relatives – support, security, people, family’s pagan philosophies
    3) His father’s house – inheritance, false hope, false religion.

  • Undoubtedly, the world is no different from Abram’s when it comes to vanity, self-sufficiency, and pride. Not only is the condition of Abram’s world the same, but God’s call to us is the same– to renounce our allegiance to anything other than God.
     
  • As God spoke to Abram, He has spoken to us through the Scripture’s revelation of His Son.

  • The God of glory does not just call us out of something, but calls us to something– salvation and a relationship with Him.

  • Faith is truly believing in the one true God, which results in truly receiving a relationship with Him.

  • As defined by the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”

  • God’s way is the only way that leads to true, lasting satisfaction.

  • In spite of Abraham’s subsequent acts of lying, self-preservation, and pride, God’s patience permeated his story and His plans prevailed– the promise of a great nation (Israel), great name (Abraham & His physical/spiritual lineage), and the specific blessing of all nations being blessed through the redeemer Jesus Christ.

Discussion Questions/Application

Personal reflection:

  • Read John 1:1-14, Colossians 1:13-20, Hebrews 1:1-3; and 1 John 3:5-8 and revel in the truth, grace, and glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

  • On a daily basis, are you truly renouncing the way of the world to follow Christ? In what areas are you still prone to seek vain self-glory?

Discuss with your community group:

  • In Genesis 25:8, Abraham was described as “satisfied with life” at the time of his death.   Does your life reflect a similar satisfaction through faith in God? Where are you prone to         seek a false sense of satisfaction? 

  • Out of what has God called you? For what has God called you? What passages can you    share to encourage one another?

    Passages Referenced
    Genesis 11:31-12:4; Genesis 6:5; Joshua 24:2; Acts 7:2-3; John 1:1, 14; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 3:5, 8; Luke 9:23-25; Luke 15:26-27; James 4:4; John 4:13-14; John 6:35; John 10:9-10; John 11:25-26; John 14:6; Romans 4:3; Hebrews 11:1, 6, 8; Genesis 25:7-8.