5. Believing in Hope

Abraham believed in Hope, say the Scriptures. That means that Abraham’s faith was a hope-filled kind of faith. It wasn’t just a temporary passing faith like the kind you use when you’re in a jam. It wasn’t a trick he used to get him out of trouble. It wasn’t just hopeful faith either. Rather, Abraham’s faith was filled with hope. Abraham’s faith was one that went against all odds; one that endured the test of time. Abraham believed in Hope.

There was no reason for Abraham to put any hope in his wife’s sterile womb. There was no reason for him to hope in his almost-dead body. He was 100 years old when Sarah, his wife, gave birth to Isaac. What did the birth of Isaac prove? It proved that Abraham kept on believing despite overwhelmingly discouraging circumstances. That’s why the Scriptures say ‘Against all hope, Abraham in Hope believed…’

Against all hope, Abraham in Hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’ (Romans 4:18).

Now, what exactly was Abraham hoping in? The Bible tells us—so you don’t have to theorize. The Bible says that Abraham in Hope believed and consequentially he became the father of many nations. Does anyone understand these words? They mean that Abraham, a fatherless pilgrim, a childless senior citizen, elderly and married to a sterile woman, hoped to be a father to not just a child, not just to a nation, but to many nations. Yes, that was the Hope of Abraham: to be a patriarch of many nations. No small ask!

We've established that the Hope of Abraham was not only to have a child. Abraham hoped that through a child he would beget a nation, and from there beget nations plural. Abraham believed that his descendants would become many different nations, and his wish came true—but not merely in the sense that the Arabs and Jews are genetic descendants of Abraham. They are, but Abraham’s true spiritual descendants are those who have the faith of Abraham. That's us! We, the Church, are the ones the Bible calls Abraham’s seed--heirs according to the promise.

… in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile… you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:26-29).

Who are the descendants of Abraham?

How did we become these so-called heirs God gave to Abraham? Well, to understand, start with this: God did not only give the promise of a Kingdom to Abraham. He gave the promise to Abraham and to Abraham’s Seed--and that Seed is our Lord Jesus!

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your Seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ (Galatians 3:16).

Now, get this: Through faith in Jesus Christ, we become the heirs of the promises God gave to Abraham. We are the Church, consisting of Jews and Gentiles--people from innumerable ethnic backgrounds (Middle Easterners, Africans, Australians, islanders, Europeans, Asians, North and South Americans).

Abraham in Hope believed that people like us, people from many different ethnic backgrounds, would live by the same faith he had. Will Abraham see the fulfillment of that hope? Yes, in spite of the troubles, persecution, temptations, and opposition the Church has to face—even the tribulation caused by the Antichrist--we also (against all odds) in Hope believe in the Kingdom of God.

We believe in the impossible: that we will come back from the Dead. We are the offspring of Abraham because we have the sure Hope of a Resurrection. We are sure of it because we believe that God already resurrected Jesus. Now that our Lord Jesus lives, we have a guarantee that Jesus will return to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth.

‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he [God] said to him [Abraham], ‘So shall your seed be.’ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness (Genesis 12:5-6).

Our faith is in God’s promises. Regardless of what the World says and what false prophets say, we believe in what God has promised—that Abraham will be the father of many nations. We believe in the Kingdom of God.

Regardless of what is happening around us, we trust that the Seed of Abraham—we've already explained that the Seed is Christ Jesus, the Son of God—will inherit the eternal covenant, will come back to rule, and that we (as the nations which have become the descendants of Abraham—will rule with him.

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your Seed after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your Seed after you (Genesis 17:7).

We have the same faith Abraham had—faith in the God who will be faithful to Abraham and his Seed, Jesus. Jesus was a true descendant of Abraham. Are you?

Notice how in the next passage God added in his conversation that 'kings will come forth from you.' That means that God will cause the children of Abraham to be kings in the Kingdom of God. We hope to dwell in that Kingdom--a Kingdom inhabited by people from many nations, all the people who, throughout history believed in God the way Abraham did. Consider how God spoke to Abraham:

As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you (Genesis 17:4-6).

Have kings come from Abraham? Has God made nations of Abraham? In part he has already done it, yes. David and Solomon became kings. They were descendants of Abraham. However, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham will take place when Christ returns.

The covenant God made with us through Christ will be an everlasting covenant—and unlike Solomon's kingdom, Jesus' Kingdom will last forever. How much greater is Christ Jesus than Solomon? Will you not seek Christ? Will you not live by his wisdom? He advised that we do, saying:

The Queen of the South will rise at the Judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the Earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here (Luke 11:31).

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