Living faith is the product of the journey of life itself, as illustrated by the life of Abraham.

As will be seen in chapters 12-25 of Genesis, Abram will become a man of great faith. It would be a living faith. The author of Genesis would write, “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). One of the early followers of Jesus would add, concerning Abram, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Rom. 4:20-21). It would be this living faith that would bring about the promise of God to Abram that “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Indeed, the living faith of Abram would eventually be the cause of his name being changed to Abraham, which means “a father of many nations” (Gen. 17:5).

Again, the early follower of Jesus would state,

Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be (Rom. 4:18).

This New Testament writer would also explained how Abram would be the means of “all families of the earth” being blessed:

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:27-29).

Living faith of Abraham would be found and nurtured only in his journey of life.

It is significant to point out that the faith of Abraham would not be based on the land that was promised to him and to his descendants. The faith of Abraham would come and even grow deeper on the basis of his journey in life. For example, the call came to Abram when he was seventy-five years of age. He was promised a land in which to dwell, a great nation of which blessing and greatness would come, and he was to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. When it came down to his death, some might wonder where was his promised land, where was his great nation, and where was his being a blessing to all the families of the earth. For when his wife died in the land of Canaan near the end of his own life, Abraham “came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.” He then said to the sons of Heth, “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight” (Gen 23:2-4). He would later purchase the field with its burial cave for four hundred shekels of silver (Gen. 23.15). It should be obvious that the living faith of Abraham would not be built on the acquisition of any promised land in his day. It would be nurtured in the daily travel of his earthly journey in life:

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. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:8-19).

According to the author of Hebrews, Abram’s journey to become the man of great living faith was not primarily based upon anything physical and earthly. New Testament revelation and terminology reveal that Abram’s journey was that “he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” His travel throughout Canaan was much more than a search for a physical land and a earthly nation. If that was his search, he failed. Although Abram did not fully comprehend it in his day, especially in the beginning of his journey, he nevertheless was looking for a heavenly dwelling place and a spiritual nation. He was searching for “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Living faith of Abraham is found in the beginning of his journey into the land of Canaan.

Again, the author of Genesis records the call and the promise to Abram:

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, 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: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3).

Immediately, after the call of Abram, the beginning of the journey is recorded. In addition, very early in the record the pattern or manner of Abram’s journey is also revealed. First, the author of Genesis reveals the beginning:

So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came (Gen. 12:4-5).

The journey began with Abram, his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had acquired while living in Haran. This entourage leaving the land of Ur would also include the various animal stock with their necessary keepers. So, Abram began his journey into the land of Canaan at the age of seventy-five years.

Living faith of Abraham is actually revealed in the method of process of his journey.

The pattern or process of Abram’s journey was also quickly established:

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence . . . (Gen. 12:6-7).

Throughout the life journey of Abram, there is this reoccurring theme: God would speak to Abram, he would build an altar unto the Lord, and then he would continue his journey. Unlike many of his descendants (2 Sam. 7; 1 Kings 5) and countless others down through the ages of time, he did not attempt to build a permanent shrine to commemorate the place the Lord appeared unto him. He simply heard God, built an altar, and then moved on:

And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south (Gen 12:8-9).

For one hundred years, Abram would journey throughout the land of Canaan. Again, the ultimate success of Abram’s life would not be measured in physical stature (land, nation, or monuments) but in that which would transcend the earthly domain. The early followers of Jesus did not remember Abram because of the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, nor the Temple of God. They revered Abraham because of his living faith, a faith that was found and nurtured in the journey of his life.

Living faith is ultimately revealed in the New Testament.

There is a New Testament passage of Scriptures that reveals the intricacies of the truth of Abram’s (everyman’s) journey of life. The greatest spokesperson for Christianity, other than Jesus Christ, wrote to a group of believers in the city of Philippi, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord” (Phil. 3:1). Then, after a brief warning for the believers to beware of those who could harm their spirituality, he stated, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).

The writer is indicating, which he will later fully document, that the fundamental nature of the journey of life ultimately will never be found in the physicality of man’s existence, as in Abram’s journey. Although all men dwell in a flesh and blood body, it is the non-physical side of his nature where the essence of his life is found. This early follower of Jesus would simply state, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). Again, to the Philippians he wrote that we “worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).

If any man could trust or rely on the flesh, it surely would have been the author of the letter to the Philippians. He stated that he was

Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless (Phil. 3:5-6).

He was quick to add, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7). Indeed, he would state,

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung [refuse thrown to the dogs], that I may win Christ, and be found in him . . . (Phil 3:8-9).

Then, the writer proclaimed the heart-cry of his soul and the essence of everyman’s journey in life:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead (Phil. 3:10-11).

Few, if any, would deny that in experiencing life there will always be trouble, perplexity, pressure, and/or put-downs (2  Cor. 4:8-9). Mysteriously, it is these afflictions, more accurately how we respond to them, that dictates the quality and nurture of life.

Living faith is always produce by continually experiencing the faithfulness of God to do what he had promised.

The physical activities of life will always bring about death to the current moment and eventually resurrection of a new experience. It is the nature of existence for everything in the created world. It is also the process by which man can be developed to the ultimate reality of his life. As stated previously, it would not be the land, the nation, nor the monuments that would propel Abram to become Abraham, but it would be the journey of his life. He became the father of the faithful by experiencing the faithfulness of God to do what he had promised. Continually experiencing the faithfulness of God in his life, he then became the man of great living faith.

The New Testament writer expressed this process of faithful learning in life as “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended . . .” (Phil. 3:12). Is not life really all about the learning of the very thing that has apprehended us, life? It is not so much in the land, in the city, or in the physical temple but the process of how we are responding to God as he fulfills his promises.

Finally, the writer expressed the summation of his life:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14).

Life is all about apprehending, capturing, “the mark of the prize . . . .” The writer wanted to see (mark) “the prize of the high calling of God” in his life. He desired to witness the glorious process of resurrection in his daily experiences of trouble, perplexity, pressure, and put-downs. He sought the prize of life:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead (Phil. 3:10-11).

The glory of life will never be found in our processions, in our sphere of influence, nor in the physical monuments that we attempt to erect. The wonder and grandeur of life is always found in being fully persuaded that in every moment of trouble, perplexity, pressure, and put-downs God’s resurrection power can be experienced. It is the privilege of experiencing continually the life of God that never dies.

Living faith is in perfectly understanding and experiencing the continual resurrection power of the life of God.

The writer of the Philippian letter expressed this mystery of the contented life, the mystery of the journey. After he had stated, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect . . .” (Phil. 3:12), he would admonish his readers, “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded . . .” (Phil. 3:15). The mystery of being not perfect and yet perfect is found in the realization that the final designation of the complete knowledge of Jesus Christ, the life of a God, can never be apprehended by mortal man. Yet, the same mortal man can perfectly understand and experience the continual resurrection power of the life of God. The great spokesperson for Christianity simply stated,

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14).

Again, the prize that can be won is the knowledge, the knowing by experience, the resurrection of the dead in every dying situation:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead (Phil. 3:10-11).

Abram may not have seen the fullness of the land being given to his descendants. He never came to know the reality of all the families of the earth being blessed in his name. He was at the end of his life even buried in a borrow, later purchased, tomb. It would seem to many that the promises of God were never actually fulfilled in his lifetime. Yet, in his lifetime, he had again and again experienced the resurrection power of God redeeming him from every struggle of his journey. Again, experiencing this continual faithfulness of God, he became the man of great living faith.

The journey of Abram produced a man “who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations . . .” (Rom. 4:18). It was not his earthly possessions, nor his sphere of influence, nor his erected monuments, but his journey (hearing God, building an altar, and moving on) that enabled Abram to become the man in which “all families of the earth” would be blessed.