Abraham’s Children

Abraham’s Children

Not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children.

Romans 9:6-7

“Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Galatians 3:6-7

Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Galatians 3:29

Some people can trace their family trees back many, many generations to a well-known figure, such as George Washington or Robert E. Lee. They discover who their great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents were to establish that they are a descendant of that famous person.

But according to the Bible, being a descendant of Abraham does not require that we trace our genetic ancestry back through the Jewish people to Abraham. Jews and non-Jews can be children of Abraham. Protestants of European descent can become children of Abraham; Hispanics and Laotians and Cambodians can become children of Abraham; black African Muslims can become children of Abraham.

Getting in on the blessings promised to Abraham’s descendants is not based on being in his bloodline. It is based on being like him in terms of faith, on trusting God the way he did. “Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:6). If you are banking all your happiness on Christ, then you have an Abraham kind of faith, and you stand to inherit everything God promised to Abraham’s family.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How far back can you trace your ancestry? Do you know the names of your great-grandparents? your great-great-grandparents?

Since we have characteristics of the people we’re related to, what characteristics of Abraham’s should we have if we are his descendants?

What do we stand to inherit as descendants of Abraham?