Do you feel like you could never be a hero like those we read about in the Bible?
You hear sermon after sermon on their successes and faith, but it seems an impossible level to attain. It’s almost as if they were not real people, walking around with halos on the head.
Take Abraham for example. He has faith to go to an unknown land, a belief in the promise of a future son, and at the end of his life a trust in God which was willing to have the long ago promised son taken away.
These are all positive and good pictures of Abraham, but as with all Biblical heroes, he has a dark side.
Right after making the bold step to enter a land which was unknown, purely on obedience, we see Abraham walking in zero trust when out of fear he lies about Sarah being his wife.
The pressure became too great and instead of standing firm he took the easy way out. A few years later – he does it again!!
Our perfect Biblical hero is not so perfect. He lies repeatedly just like you and I.
In fact, let’s look at one of Abraham’s worst moments.
In Genesis 15 God promises Abraham a son with Sarah. Ten years pass and in chapter 16, the couple decides to help God out by making this son happen with another women, Hagar.
This is both idolatry (listening to the voice of Sarah over God) and adultery (At Creation, God declared marriage to be exclusive between one man and one woman. )
Finally 25 years after the promise, God comes again in Genesis 17:15-19. Abraham, the man of faith, falls on his face and laughs at God!
Our hero is not so heroic
We see Abraham was not a perfect man. How could he be a Hero? Why would we want to be like him?
Romans 4:19 offers an incredible insight. Paul says “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.”
What? Is this an error in Scripture?
The Genesis account is history and the facts.
Romans is His Story demonstrating the power of forgiveness based on faith.
Sin is forgiven and forgotten, far as the east is from the west. That’s how God looks at Abraham. The consequences of his mistakes on Earth played out for generations, but in God’s view it was like it never happened.
Why was he so great? He knew the power of forgiveness, even when he blew it.
We see at the end of his life, God was able to ask him to sacrifice the son He promised to him, the one he waited 25 years to have. Abraham’s trust was not in the son, or the result of the promise, but in God. God eventually provided a way out.
Abrahams faith came at end of life after success and failure.
He saw his failures were not fatal, but could be forgiven if he got back up and walked in trust.
Abraham is a hero not because of his perfect lifestyle,
This is the grace of God.
It takes just as much faith to get back up and turn our eyes towards God as it did to believe the first time
Abraham did some of the same sins over and over, yet God still saw him as clean.
This is how He views us as well. Our faith in Him is the same as Abraham’s
We don’t use that forgiveness as an excuse to sin, but our best reason not to. God’s grace motivates us to sin less!
Abraham shows us our failures are not fatal, but he is a great example of faith.
Faith believes. Faith moves forward. Faith gets back up when we have fallen.
Let’s have the faith of a Biblical Hero like Abraham
This message was originally spoken at The Worship Center in Lancaster, PA. To view or listen, CLICK HERE.