Abraham – The Father of Faith Who Saw Christ’s Day
The story of Abraham in the Bible reveals a powerful portrait of Christ. He left everything familiar—homeland, family, security—at the call of a God he had only begun to know. Abraham walked by faith for a century, receiving promises that seemed impossible and trusting the One who made them. From his loins would come the nation of Israel and ultimately the Messiah Himself. But Abraham’s story is not merely the preface to Israel’s national history; it is a gospel narrative in advance. Jesus declared, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” The father of faith beheld Christ across the centuries and rejoiced.
The Call and the Promise
Abraham first appears in Scripture at age seventy-five, living in Ur of the Chaldees, then Haran. God’s call came with sweeping promise: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing” (Genesis 12:1-2). Three dimensions of blessing—land, descendants, and universal influence—would flow from Abraham’s obedience.
The promise extended beyond Abraham personally: “And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). This was not merely national favoritism but universal purpose. Through one man’s family, every family would receive blessing. The scope was global; the method was through Abraham’s seed.
Abraham obeyed, though the destination was unknown. “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8). Faith operates on God’s word even when the outcome remains invisible. Abraham walked into uncertainty carrying only divine promise.
In Canaan, God refined the promise. Abraham would have offspring like the dust of the earth, then like the stars of heaven. He would possess the land from Egypt’s river to the Euphrates. His descendants would be strangers in a foreign land for four hundred years but would emerge with great substance. The promises kept expanding, each repetition adding detail to the original covenant.
The Patriarch’s Failures and Faith
Abraham’s life was not seamless faith. In Egypt, he passed Sarah off as his sister to protect himself—twice doing this, with different kings. He took Hagar to produce an heir when Sarah’s barrenness seemed to prove God’s promise impossible. He laughed at the announcement of Isaac‘s birth. The father of faith sometimes acted in unbelief.
Yet God remained faithful despite Abraham’s failures. The covenant was unilateral—God bound Himself to keep it regardless of Abraham’s performance. When God ratified the covenant in Genesis 15, Abraham fell into deep sleep while God alone passed between the divided animals. God made promises; God would keep them. Abraham’s wavering could not void God’s word.
Abraham’s faith was also genuine. When God called him to sacrifice Isaac—the son of promise, the only hope of fulfillment—Abraham rose early and obeyed. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Hebrews 11:17-18). He trusted that God could raise Isaac from the dead if necessary to keep His promise.
This faith was “counted unto him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Not his works, not his perfection, not his religious performance—his faith. He believed God, and that belief became the ground of right standing. Paul would later build the entire doctrine of justification by faith on this Abrahamic precedent.
Studying Abraham in the Bible helps us see how God wove the gospel into every chapter of Israel’s history.
Christ in Abraham’s Story
Jesus stated plainly that Abraham saw His day. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). When Jews objected that Abraham was long dead, Jesus responded, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Christ existed before Abraham and was revealed to Abraham—the eternal Son appearing to the ancient patriarch.
What did Abraham see? Several moments in his life unveiled the coming Christ. The promise that all families would be blessed through his seed pointed to One descendant specifically. “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Abraham received promise of Christ; in receiving that promise gladly, he saw Christ’s day.
The binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah provided perhaps the clearest vision. Abraham told Isaac, “God will provide himself a lamb.” Isaac was spared; a ram died in his place. But Abraham named the place “Jehovah-jireh—the LORD will provide.” The substitutionary provision on Moriah anticipated the ultimate provision on Calvary, when God’s only Son was not spared but given for many.
Melchizedek‘s appearance in Genesis 14 also pointed to Christ. This mysterious king of Salem and priest of God Most High blessed Abraham and received his tithes. The writer of Hebrews identifies this as a type of Christ—the king-priest whose order supersedes Aaron‘s, whose ministry is eternal. Abraham encountered in Melchizedek a shadow of the coming Son.
The Father of All Who Believe
Abraham’s significance extends beyond biology to spirituality. He is father not only of Israel according to the flesh but of all who share his faith. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). Gentiles who believe become Abraham’s offspring, heirs of the blessing promised to him.
This spiritual paternity was always God’s intention. The promise to bless all families required more than ethnic descent from Abraham. It required a blessing that crossed ethnic boundaries. That blessing is the gospel—righteousness by faith, available to Jew and Gentile alike. Abraham believed and was justified; all who believe are justified the same way.
The contrast between law and promise illuminates this. The law came through Moses, four centuries after Abraham. But the promise to Abraham came through faith, apart from law. Therefore the inheritance comes not by law-keeping but by faith. “For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise” (Galatians 3:18). Abraham’s faith anticipated the gospel method.
When Paul needed to demonstrate that justification has always been by faith, he went to Abraham—not Moses, not David, but the patriarch who believed God before circumcision was instituted, before law was given, before any religious performance could be offered. If Abraham was justified by faith alone, so are we.
Your Inheritance in Abraham
Abraham’s story speaks to everyone who hears God’s call and wonders if obedience is possible. The patriarch was not superhuman; his failures are recorded alongside his faith. But he responded to God’s word even when the destination was unknown, the promise was impossible, and the test was unbearable. He believed God, and God credited that belief as righteousness.
The same faith is available to you. Not faith in your performance but faith in God’s promise. Not confidence in your ability to produce spiritual offspring but trust in God’s power to fulfill His word. The blessing of Abraham—justification, inheritance, belonging to God’s people—comes to “them which be of faith” (Galatians 3:9).
Abraham rejoiced to see Christ’s day. Have you seen it? The day when God provided Himself a lamb—not on Moriah but on Calvary. The day when the seed of Abraham came to bless all families. The day when Jew and Gentile were made one in the descendant of Abraham. That day has come. The promise has been fulfilled. The blessing is offered.
Will you believe as Abraham believed? Will you trust the God who calls, even when the destination is unseen? Will you receive the righteousness that comes by faith, counted to you as it was counted to him? Abraham is the father of all who believe. Believe, and join his family. Believe, and receive the inheritance. Believe, and see Christ’s day—and be glad.