Hebrews 11:8-12

8: By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9: By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
10: for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11: By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

12: Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

*** 

Paul spoke of Abraham and Sarah’s faith next, in line with his statement that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). By faith, Abraham and Sarah pleased God, for whoever comes to Him must believe that He exists (the conviction of things not seen) and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (assurance of things hoped for) as we saw in Hebrews 11:6.

Abraham is called the father of faith—of all who believe (Romans 4:11, 16, 23-24). His faith was counted to him as righteousness long before the Law was given. When God called him out of his father’s house he went, not knowing where he was going (Genesis 12:1-3). He lived as a foreigner in the land with no permanent home, along with his son Isaac and grandson Jacob who were fellow heirs with him. God personally promised the land of Canaan to them also as He had Abraham (Genesis 26:1-3, Genesis 28:1-4).

Abraham was looking for what God was building—what He was establishing that would last generationally. Yet he knew it was more than a physical city. It was a city with foundations—an eternal city designed and built by God. Even Sarah, though doubting at first, knew the faithfulness of God who promised them a son, and she received the ability to conceive.

From one old man—and a woman who was past child-bearing years—there was born a son of promise, and many descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven and the sand by the sea as Paul quoted here from Genesis 22:17. Their faith birthed a nation, and many nations of believers in Christ.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 1:1-10

1: Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2: and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4: who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5: to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. 6: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7: which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9: As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10: For am I now see...
Read more

2 Corinthians 7:8-16

8: For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— 9: I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10: For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11: For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. 12: So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you i...
Read more

2 Corinthians 10:1-11

1: Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! 2: I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4: for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5: We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6: and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. 7: You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. 8: For even if I boast somewh...
Read more