Aliens in a Strange Land

Aliens in a Strange Land

As followers of christ, the Bible tells us our true home is in heaven. We are strangers passing through this land, because we are citizens of heaven. Abraham was a stranger in the land, his journey forms the basis of this weeks thoughts.

Hebrews 11:8-12New International Version (NIV)
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Abraham left Haran and headed out into an unknown land. He understood that he was a stranger in a foreign land and that his true home is in heaven. If we are also strangers in a foreign land, because our true home is heaven, then we need to learn how to live as strangers in a foreign land.

Abraham, Joshua, Ruth, Esther, and Jesus all lived as strangers in a foreign land. Jesus perhaps had the most to lose and he is our ultimate example of how to live in a foreign land and how to navigate life in an alien environment.

Phil 2 says that he left his home in heaven and made himself nothing, emptying himself of everything to live like us and to offer his life for us.

Philippians 2:5-12
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

This is the best example we have. Our attitude is to be that of Jesus – who humbled himself, giving up everything for us. But what about those that went before him? What can we learn from them? They are the heroes of the Old Testament.They are the ones who had to trust God when life did not always go to plan.

Today we will look more at Abraham and over the next few weeks we will look at how others navigated being aliens in a strange land. We have the Spirit of God within that marks us as belonging to God. We are his children and that means that we are foreigners in a strange land, because heaven is actually our home.

Lets look at Abraham.

1. Abraham listened to the call of God, and then he obeyed.

The Call of Abram
Gen 12:14
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”[b]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.

He didn’t really know where he was going. He headed towards Canaan because that is where his father had been headed before stopping in Haran. God’s desire in calling him was to bless him and to bless future generations through him.

As we listen to and heed the call of God we can be sure that God wants to bless us and future generations. This does not mean that everything will happen easily, but it does mean that we can trust God to lead us. But we have to listen and move in accordance with God's plan.

What is God calling us to do?
What comfort zone is he asking us to step out of?

Hebrews 11 tells us that because Abraham understood that his home was in heaven and that he was an alien in a strange place – he left his place of familiarity and comfort and headed out into the unknown.

Whatever the calling is and whatever place God is calling you to, we can be sure that God is there every step of the way. As an Alien in a strange place – a strange environment – God’s desire is to bless us and to build a nation – a community of people that will honour him.

2. Faith, even when there seems no reason to hope

Abraham exercised faith even when it seemed there was no reason for hope.

Romans 4:16-21
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
18 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.”[b] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Abraham believed God. He exercised his faith even when it seemed like there was no hope. In fact, Abraham believed that God was able to make a way where there seemed to be no way.

What situation are you facing that there seems to be no way out of?
What situation seems like you are between a rock and a hard place?

Abraham was able to believe God in the impossible. The good thing is that Abraham is just like us. We are no different. We too can have a faith that believes that God can make a way even when there seems no way.

This has become one of my favourite verses because I have actually seen it happen – God making a way when it seemed impossible. I believe that Moses also had this kind of faith. He too was an alien in a foreign land.

His people had been in slavery in Egypt. He had grown up in the royal family and among a people that were not his own. He had tried to do things his own way. In fact both Abraham and Moses had tried to do things their own way, thinking that it was for the best. They made mistakes. The good news is that God still blessed them and they held on to their faith. We make mistakes, and God still wants to bless us, to use us and to fulfil his promises to us.

Moses then spent many years in the desert, as a sheep farmer in a land and among people that were not his own, and then when the time was right, he went back to Egypt to take his people to the Promised Land. But it was still a strange and foreign land. And the people he had to deal with whinged a lot; sound familiar?

Moses had to deal with it. At the Red Sea he was stuck between the Egyptian army and the Red sea, and there seemed no way out. The people responded the way we often do and complained, but Moses turned to God. He believed that even though he couldn’t change the situation God could.

Exodus 14:13-16; 21-22
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

He sought God, followed God’s direction and the impossible happened. God made a way where there was no way.

What is your Red Sea situation?
What is God asking you to do?

Abraham and Moses believed God and he made a way.

3. Willing to give up what seems important.

Abraham had a relationship with God. It was a relationship of faith, but it was this relationship that set him apart and made him right with God. Romans tells us that the relationship was more important than obedience. And the prophet Samuel says that obedience is better than sacrifice. (Because it’s only a sacrifice if it’s a sacrifice – it actually has to mean something)

This is true, because it is relationship with God that above all things marks us as aliens in a strange land. This is what separates us from other people. Abraham’s relationship and trust in God was so high that even when he was asked to give up the very thing that God had promised, the child Isaac, he was willing to trust God in that circumstance. (Genesis 22.)

Sometimes God does want us to give up things because they are not good for us. But God also wants us to trust him implicitly and be willing to give up the very things that are most important to us. The great thing about this is that God always gives us back more than we could ever imagine. God tested Abraham because he wanted Abraham to be able to trust in him at all times. He gave him his son back.

God always gives us back more than we give up. Abraham not only got his son back, but he received descendants and more. In fact, Hebrews tells us that he was able to see in faith the descendants that God was giving him.

The disciples gave up their comfortable lives for something so much better. Jesus says that if we give up things in this life for him, then we will receive back so much more in this life and in the life to come.

Mark 10:28-30
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.

This is giving up something good for something that is the best.

Are we willing to give up what we have now for something better in the future?
What is God asking you to give up, so that he can give you something better, something more?

Jesus gave up his life, and received it back, with all who will believe. He gave up heaven for us, was obedient to death and then was raised to the right hand of God with everything restored, and more, he has us as his inheritance.

Concluding Thoughts
Living as an alien in a strange land means we need to understand first and foremost that this life and this world is not our real home. Our real home is in Heaven.

Living as an alien requires us to:
Heed the call of God and to act on it;
Exercise faith and believe when it seems impossible;
Be willing to give up what we have for the cause of Christ – because God has something much better for us.