The most influential father who ever lived

He grew up in a family that served false gods.
His whole life, he constantly moved from place to place.
He took matters into his own hands when he didn’t see God keeping His promise.
He married his half sister, then fathered a child by his wife’s slave girl.
He allowed that slave girl and their son to be driven off to die in the desert.
He told half truths when it served his purpose.
His half truths exposed his wife to danger at the hands of powerful men.

Does that sound like the right resume for someone God would call “My friend”? Is it the kind of life plan a guidance counselor would put together for someone who would one day be “father of many nations,” the man from whom would come “nations and kings”?

But isn’t that just how God is? He takes a messed-up life and, through His grace, turns it into something magnificent.

The truth is, the story of Abraham isn’t the story of a self-made man who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps; it’s the story of a man built up by God himself. We can find a lot of encouragement that the same God who made Abraham into the father of many nations has promised us, in Philippians 1:6, “… that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

So what was it about a badly flawed person like Abraham that made him someone God could turn into a hero of the faith?

When Abraham was called out, he went. Even though he didn’t know where God was leading him, he trusted God and obeyed. Abraham didn’t try to make a deal with God; he just went. Because of that simple act of faith, in spite of all of Abraham’s shortcomings and character flaws, God took his willingness to accept risk and made him into the kind of man God would trust with anything.

Over the next eight weeks, beginning this Sunday, I will be teaching a series at my home church on how God made Abraham into the most influential father who ever lived. We will be posting links to each of the lessons as they are edited.

• Week 1: The call – Hearing and executing God’s plan for your life
• Week 2: Out of Egypt – Getting back on track
• Week 3: Dealing with conflict – Splitting up with Lot
• Week 4: Fighting for your friends – Rescuing Lot
• Week 5: Intercession – Honesty with God: “Shall not the King of the whole earth do right?
• Week 6: The mess with Hagar – Dealing with sinful decisions
• Week 7: The final exam – Sacrificing Isaac
• Week 8: He being dead yet speaketh – Abraham, Lazarus, and the Rich Man