What Would Abraham Do?

This is a great resource on the life of Abraham: Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality: The Gospel According to Abraham by Iain Duguid.  In the book, Duguid does note how Abraham is, in a way, an example for us when it comes to trusting the Lord and obeying him.  But Duguid’s book isn’t a bunch of moralistic notes that talk about being like Abraham.  Here’s how he states it:

“…If Abraham is only an example for us to follow, we are of all men most to be pitied.  Who among us can live up to the standard of even a flawed hero such as Abraham?  Thankfully, our salvation as Christians rests not on our trying to do what Abraham did, but on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross in our place, whereby our sins were atoned for, the wrath of God was turned away from us, and we were reconciled to him.  To put it another way, the gospel is not ‘What would Abraham do?’ but ‘What has Jesus done?’  So, in our exposition of the life of Abraham, we will see not only how he provides positive and negative examples for us, but also how he acts as a forerunner and shadow, pointing forward to Christ.”

“This is, after all, the central thrust of the Emmaus road sermon.  Jesus recounted for his disciples what Moses and the prophets had written, not because they were full of good examples for them to follow, but because they spoke of him.  Specifically, they spoke of his sufferings and glory that would follow.  The whole Old Testament is thereby declared to be a thoroughly Christocentric book.  This is true, not because there are superficial parallels between certain Old Testament events and events in the life of Jesus, but more profoundly because the whole Old Testament was designed by God to provide a context within which to understand the sufferings and glorification of Christ.”

“Our greatest need, in order to live by faith, …is not to have a good example to follow.  Rather, we need a growing understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, of his sufferings and the glory that followed, as the context for our present sufferings and certain hope for the glory to come.”

Iain Duguid, Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality, p. 4-5.

shane lems