We have mentioned previously that God desires to gain a group of men who are called by His name and who are His people. He wants to gain a group of people who can say that they belong to God and that they are God's people. In order to achieve this goal, He first worked on Abraham, then on Isaac, and finally on Jacob. The experiences of Abraham plus Isaac plus Jacob are the basic experiences of all who desire to be God's people. This means that being God's people is not just a haphazard thing. In order to be God's people, we must have some definite experiences in Him. We have to pass through certain dealings and certain trainings before we can become God's people and before we can truly live for God on this earth. The basic experiences for being God's people are the experiences of Abraham, the experiences of Isaac, and the experiences of Jacob. In other words, although many people can be called by God's name and outwardly be known as God's people, they are not qualified to become God's people unless they see that everything they have is from God, that everything is received, and that everything of the natural life has to be laid aside by God. If they are not such persons, they cannot be of much use in God's hand.
Let us come to the story of Abraham. All those who read the Bible will not fail to realize the importance of Abraham. His name is mentioned at the beginning of the New Testament. The Lord Jesus spoke of Abraham many times in His discourses; He did not mention Adam. He said, "Before Abraham came into being, I am" (John 8:58). He did not say, "Before Adam came into being, I am." He did not say to the Jews, "Your father Adam," but "Your father Abraham" (v. 56). He took Abraham as the starting point.
May the Lord open our eyes to see that Abraham is the starting point in God's plan of redemption and in His work of recovery. Romans 4 tells us that Abraham is the father of all those who believe (v. 17). Every believer has his beginning in Abraham. The starting point is Abraham, not Adam. Adam is the beginning of sin; sin entered the world through one man (5:12). That beginning was a corrupted beginning. Even though Abel offered sacrifices to God by faith, he was only a good person individually; we cannot receive blessing from him; hence, he is not the beginning of the recovery work of God. Even though Enoch walked with God, he was also only a good individual; we cannot receive blessing from him; hence, he cannot be the beginning of the recovery work of God either. Noah feared God, and his household entered the ark, but again he was only a good person individually; we cannot receive blessing from him; hence, he cannot be the beginning of the recovery work of God either. All of these three persons were good, but they were only good individually. Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham believed in God. But there is a difference between Abraham and Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Abraham occupies a much more important place in God's plan of redemption than do Abel, Enoch, and Noah because God's recovery work began with him.