Faith Passed On

Abraham is an example to us of great blessings. God promised to multiply his descendants and make him into a great nation. God promised to give him the land of Canaan. And God promised to bless the world through him.

Abraham is also an example of what it means to live by faith, which is not easy. He didn’t get to see the fulfilment of those promises in his lifetime, but he trusted God would bring them. And he taught his family to trust in God as well.

Hebrews 11:12 tells us about the faithfulness of God, even when something doesn’t seem possible. It says—Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

I can’t tell if the author of Hebrews was trying to be funny here. But at a minimum, he’s trying to highlight the contrast between how things looked from a human perspective and how they turned out. God took a man who was “as good as dead” and turned him into an uncountable multitude.

You see sand when you look down, and you see stars when you look up. This helps remind us that there is both an earthly fulfilment and a heavenly fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham. From an earthly perspective, Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob, who had 12 sons, and that was the nation which God multiplied in Egypt. That’s the physical lineage of Abraham, the nation of Israel.

But there is also a spiritual fulfilment of God’s promise, and this includes people from every nation on earth. In Romans 4, the Apostle Paul explains that God justified Abraham, not because of his works, but because of his faith. And this is a pattern of God’s blessing to all people, Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, Romans 4:11 says, he has become “the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well.”

Galatians 3 makes the same argument. Abraham was declared righteous by God, not because of what he did, but because of his faith. And Galatians 3:7 says—Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [9] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

I say this to help us understand that even though we Gentiles are not physical descendants of Abraham, even though we are not physical Israelites, we are his spiritual children. We are part of the same extended family. We need to read Hebrews 11 understanding that these are our people. They trusted in the same God, and they were hoping in the same promises.

I saw a video this past week from what looked like a restaurant in Mexico, and there were some Korean fans there for the World Cup. And the restaurant guests started chanting, “Hermano, Coreano, ya eres Mexicano! Hermano, Coreano, ya eres Mexicano!” You lose the rhyme in translation, but it means, “Korean brother, you’re a Mexican now.”

Now, if people from different parts the world can accept one another, and identify with one another, and feel a sense of unity, over a sport, or over a beverage, why can’t we do that as the people of God with those who have gone before us in faith, or who will come after us? We are part of Abraham’s family and Abraham’s legacy. The saints of the Scripture, and the saints around the world, are our eternal family. And we are all citizens of heaven waiting to enter our homeland. That’s the language of verse 16. It says God’s people “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”

Today, we’re looking at verses 17-22 and seeing how faith in God was expressed in Abraham and also passed on to Isaac and to Jacob. One of the recurring themes in this paragraph is death, which connects to two ideas concerning faith. Those ideas are sacrifice and legacy. Sacrifice and legacy.

Genuine faith will lead us to die to ourselves, to sacrifice, to lay things down that matter to us for the sake of something greater.

Genuine faith will also recognize and demonstrate that death is not the end. Faith leaves a legacy for others, and faith knows that death is not the end.

Verse 17 describes the ultimate expression of Abraham’s faith, which was the ultimate expression of his faith. It says this—By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, [18] of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

God called Abraham at age 75 and promised to make him into a great nation despite his wife being barren. Not waiting on God’s promise, about 10 or 11 years later, Abraham and Sarah tried to fulfill God’s plan in their own way. Sarah gave Abraham her servant Hagar, and that led to the birth of Ishmael. But Ishamel was not the son of promise.

Thirteen years after Ishamel is born, when Abraham is 99, Genesis 17 tells us that God said to Abraham, “Sarah will have a son, and you will name him Isaac. And through Isaac, I will establish my covenant with you.” Isaac was the son of promise.

To highlight how ridiculous this was from a human perspective, Genesis 18 tells us that Sarah was past the age of childbearing. Menopause was behind her. Upon hearing the prophecy, Sarah comments that both she and her husband are old, and she laughs at the idea. But God’s promise remained, and Isaac is born when Abraham is 100 and Sarah is 90.

But in Genesis 22, we have the story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son of promise, the son whom he loves. We don’t know exactly when this takes place, but Isaac is strong enough to carry the wood necessary to offer a burn sacrifice. Some speculate he was in his late teens, while Jewish tradition says he was older. The upper limit for Isaac’s age is 37, because that’s how old he was when Sarah died.

You can read the story for yourself in Genesis 22, but the point here in Hebrews is that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son. Why? Because he trusted in God’s promises and obeyed His word. That’s how faith is expressed. His faith led him to be willing to make a great sacrifice.

But Abraham’s faith wasn’t a blind faith. It was a reasoned faith. Hebrews gives us some insight into what was going through Isaac’s mind. How could God promise to give him descendants through Isaac, if Isaac were killed? Verse 19 tells us: He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Up until that time, there is no record of someone being raised from the dead, but that’s what Abraham believed. Isaac would be sacrificed, but God would bring him back. That was Abraham’s conclusion. That was the strength of his faith. It led to a great sacrifice.

Now, we know that the sacrifice never took place. It was only a test. God stopped it, and He provided a sacrifice of His own. It’s a picture of the sacrifice that God has provided once and for all, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to pay for our sins.

And understanding that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He laid down his life for us, what are the kinds of sacrifices we make for Him? Well, in the most general sense, our faith calls us to sacrifice all of our lives. To trust in Jesus is to deny yourself, to turn away from sin and pride, and to offer all of your body as a living sacrifice in love for God and love for others. To come to Christ is to be willing to sacrifice anything he asks you to sacrifice.

Jesus said loving Him means you love Him more than you love your own family. That’s from Matthew 10 and Luke 14. Jesus told the rich, young ruler to sell all his possessions. That wasn’t because he could buy salvation; it was to test if he was willing to sacrifice what was most precious to him. That’s the heart of faith—a willingness to sacrifice whatever we need to.

Some people came to Christ sacrificing their own jobs. Some people lost touch with members of their own family. There are missionaries who have sacrificed the comfort of their own home.

What kind of sacrifice are you willing to make for the faith? You may not have to sacrifice your family or your home like others, but the reality is that coming to Christ means it all belongs to Him. You aren’t your own boss anymore. Your time, your money, your possessions—they all belong to Jesus Christ.

What are you willing to sacrifice? And what sacrifices are you making daily? Considering others as more important than yourself means you’ll be making sacrifices. You may have to give up money, or time. You may have to give up a weeknight or a Saturday afternoon.

Abraham was willing to give up his precious son, but sometimes, I don’t want to give up 10 minutes of “my” time. We have such selfish hearts. We need hearts that trust in the promises of God. We need stronger faith that leads us to make sacrifices.

Now, in Abraham’s life, faith led to sacrifice and also to a legacy. His faith was passed on to his son Isaac.

Verse 20—By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. Isaac was married at age 40, and his wife, like Sarah, was also barren. But when he was 60, God gave him twins, Jacob and Esau.

Isaac understood that the blessing of Abraham had been passed on to him, and that it would pass on to his children. What he didn’t like, however, was that God promised to bless the younger son instead of the older. Isaac pushed back on that aspect.

Had Isaac accepted that, he wouldn’t have had to be tricked by his wife and son. But God was gracious to Isaac. God commends his faith which faltered in many ways. In the end, Isaac recognized that he was wrong to push back against God’s plan.

Isaac’s blessing of his sons comes in Genesis 27, and then in Genesis 28,

when Isaac sends Jacob away, he tells him this: God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!

Isaac’s faith led him to surrender his plans, and to pass on a legacy to his son.

After Isaac, comes Jacob, and Hebrews 11:21 says—By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

Jacob spent most of his life deceiving others. He was a trickster. But by the end of his life, he surrenders to God, and he passes on the blessing as well. Jacob had twelve sons, and one of those was Joseph. Joseph’s two oldest sons were Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob decided to give Joseph a double blessing, as if he were the firstborn, by blessing his two sons, and he gave a greater blessing to Ephraim the younger.

The point here in Hebrews, though, seems to be on Jacob’s posture. At the end of his life, he was still clinging to the promises. He had spent about the last 50 years of his life limping around because of his stubbornness in a wrestling match with God. But by the end of his life, all that rebelliousness to God is gone. And Jacob worships. Physically, he’s leaning over his staff, but that’s a picture of a spiritual posture, leaning on the promises of God.

What a great picture for us. That’s what we should be looing forward to. As our life comes to an end, we want to see more of God’s grace manifest in our lives. We want to be more surrendered to his plan. Death is just around the corner, but there’s an amazing opportunity to end well, trusting in the promises of God.

The final example for today is the legacy of Joseph from verse 22. It says this—By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

Joseph was in Canaan as a young man, but at age 17 he was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up in Egypt for the rest of his life, which was over 90 years.

At the end of his life, his father Jacob and his brothers came to stay with him. And when Jacob died, they took his body back to Canaan for the burial. And Joseph understood that the land of Canaan was what had been promised to Abraham and to the nation of Israel. Joseph trusted in the promise of God for his father, and then, by extension for himself.

Joseph was like Egyptian royalty. The people loved him. Pharaoh loved him. He has saved Egypt from the famine. He was wise. He was blessed in so many ways. So, I can imagine that there were plans for some kind of Egyptian honor for a funeral. But Joseph had other plans. Egypt would not be his final resting place.

Genesis 50, verse 24—And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” [25] Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

Joseph was so certain that the Israelites would get back to Canaan that he made his family swear to take his remains with them. His earthly life was coming to a close, but he knew there was more to come.

Moses was the one to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and in Exodus 13:19 we’re told that he took Joseph’s bones with him. God’s promises came true.

How would the promises of God change the legacy you leave to your family? When that time comes, what’s going to be your final wishes? There’s nothing wrong with leaving your kids an inheritance, and taking steps to protect that inheritance. But we all need to think about our spiritual inheritance too. What are we going to leave our children? What kind of example will we be to them? Will our children know that heaven matters more to us than the things of this life?

No matter which flag gets waved at our funeral or draped over our coffin, will our kids know that we are citizens of heaven, and that is our true home?

We don’t have to wait until we die to make that known. Our kids know what matters most to us. They can see it. They can feel it sometimes. And how sad that many times, we convey to them that we care more about our phones, or about a sports team, than about the eternal glory of heaven.

Nothing is this life can compare to what awaits us in heaven. No blessing in this can match the blessing of heaven. We need to teach that and show it to our kids.

What’s going to be the legacy we leave behind? What will our children remember? What are they going to say at our funeral? That we loved the Rams, or the Dodgers, or the Cowboys, or the Lakers, or the World Cup? Are they going to express how disappointed we were that we didn’t get to see one more championship?

Or will our kids know that we died in faith and in perfect confidence that God’s promises will come true? When we leave this earth, we want everyone to know that we are headed toward our true home and our true joy. We will be with the Lord, and we will spend eternity in a special place that He has prepared for us.