Good morning. We’re teaching through the big story of the Bible. The story of the Bible matters because it is the real true story of history, of life, and God’s activity in it. You will not understand life or your life without it.  

Today we’re going to talk about Abraham. Abraham matters, not only because he left his home by faith, or offered his son on Mount Moriah. He matters because the blessing, the favor of God upon you, comes through Abraham. 

In 12:1-3 God reveals that His strategy is to undo Adam’s fall and all the destruction that went along with it, THROUGH Abraham. NOT that Abraham would do that, but through his offspring, the serpent would be crushed, the nations of the earth would be delivered from the curse, and be blessed.(Jesus Christ will do that!) But the point here is that God’s commitment to save his creation goes through Abraham! 

*These promises show us God’s heart. His desire and plan for people is blessing! God said to Abraham, “I will bless you. I will bless all the families of the earth through you”. This blessing has remained in effect through thousands of years to Abraham’s descendants, and on to countless multitudes of people in all nations, through Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham. 

This is what Galatians 3:14 says, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus”.  If you are united to Jesus, abundant, unstoppable blessing, forever, is flowing to you,  out of God’s promise to Abraham!  

John Piper said, “...the promise is that we will be blessed. And he means ultimate blessing, forever and ever with God in eternity, forgiven, accepted, purified, glorified, capable of unspeakable joy, triumphant over all our enemies: sin and guilt and shame and death and hell and Satan. That is God's promise.”  

*This promise came to Abram about 500 years after Noah’s flood. After the flood, the earth was repopulated from Noah’s sons. But the people of the earth united in rebellion against God. They defied His command to fill the earth, they built a tower to keep them all together, called the tower of Babel. And God had to force them to scatter. 11:9 says “(So) the Lord confused the language of the whole world, and scattered them over the face of all the earth”. 

They made other gods for themselves. They worshiped the sun, moon, stars. Abraham’s home was Ur of the Chaldeans.  There was a great ziggurat in Ur, built around 2100 BC, which was dedicated to Nanna, the moon god. Joshua 24:2 says Abraham’s OWN father worshiped other gods. Out of this spiritual darkness and idolatry, God called Abram and gave him these promises to bless him.   

12:1 “Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. 2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

First: *I will make you a great nation! Out of THIS promise, comes the nation of Israel! Abraham descendants will form that nation. That nation will be God’s channel of blessing to the whole world! God’s commitment to save his creation goes through the Jewish people and their history. Jesus said, salvation is from the Jews. And God begins that nation with Abraham.

Second: *I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing”.  Abraham himself was blessed with great wealth and a great name (or fame), His descendants, were uniquely blessed. God set His love on them. They became the apple of His eye.  He revealed Himself to them like no other people on earth! He blessed them with fullness of life in every way! God also promised Abram that he would be a blessing to others.  He was blessed to be a blessing. 

In a similar way we have that same calling. Peter said, “Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult because you were called to inherit a blessing and to be a blessing”. If you curse others, speak evil to others or about others, you have stepped out of God’s calling and purpose.

Third: “I will bless those who bless you; curse those who curse you.” This is God’s promise of protection. The way anyone treats Abraham or his descendants, that will be the way God treats them. The well-being of nations, or their downfall has been formed by this promise. And it will be that way to the end.  God put this protection on Abraham and his descendants BECAUSE God’s plan was for the Savior to come through this people! The blessing to all the nations depended upon Israel’s survival. So they had to have God as their shield and defender. 

*Third: “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” God chose Abraham as a vessel to bless all people groups, all tribes and families and nations. God’s heart’s desire is to bless people, for people all over the world to experience fullness, wholeness, well-being, happiness! This promise finds it’s great fulfillment in Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham. All who come to Christ from any nation or tribe or family will be lifted out from under the curse and brought into the blessing and favor of God! 

So why didn’t God send Christ right then? Why all the trauma of 2000 years of Israel’s history in slavery, disobedience, idolatry, then repentance and repeated apostasy?  We’re given some information about that, but mostly we don’t know.  Only God knows why the plan to reveal the Savior would come in a little town called Bethlehem so many years later. What He DOES tell us here, is that His plan to bless us, to remove the curse, to save us, goes through Abraham! Then through Israel, and on down to Christ.  

*Then finally the promise of Land. 12:7 to your offspring I will give this land. Gen. 15:18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates”. 17:8 “I will give you this land as an everlasting possession.”

God repeated this covenant to three different generations: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all given the promise of land, many descendants, and blessing. 

As I see it, everyone of these promises are still in effect.  Jesus Christ is the means of fulfilling ALL of them! He did that partially at his first coming and will finish their fulfillment when He comes again.  Whatever hasn’t happen will happen! And it will happen just as God said. 

Going back to verse one, along with the promises, God told Abram to “leave your country, your relative, and your father’s house and go to the land I will show you.”  Verse 4 “So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him... and set out for the land of Canaan.”

Abraham showed that he believed God, BY leaving home, relatives, all that was familiar to him. When you believe something you act on it! IF you believe God, it will change your behavior, your attitudes, how you talk, what you do. We all do what we really believe! James said, “I will show you my faith by WHAT I DO!” Abraham showed his faith by what he did.

In chapter 13 Abraham and Lot had so many possessions they could not remain together. Quarrels broke out between their herdsmen. So Abraham said, let us not quarrel, you choose what part of the land you want and I’ll take the other part. 

Abram showed that he trusted God to bless him, by letting Lot pick the best part of the land for himself.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary said, “One who believes that God is pledged to provide for him is not greedy, stingy, anxious or covetous.” IE Generosity is a sign of faith in God!  We don’t have to fight for our own rights. No one can stop God’s blessing upon you. If you believe that, it prevents a lot of strife in your life! 

In chapter 15:1 “The LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Abraham had great promises but NO results!  And he expressed his confusion about that to God. All God did was give him the promise again!  4 "Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.” More promises but still no son!

Like Abraham, we are people of promise. Most of what we hope for we haven’t seen yet. He is our model of faith and patient endurance as we wait for all God has promises us. 

We live by a promise! We live by hope in a glorious end. We look for the Day when God’s glory will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. We expect the end of all evil, illness, and death. We really believe wolves and lambs, will lie down together, the lame will leap like a deer, wars will cease, death and tears will be no more. We’ll eat and drink and rejoice in the Father’s Kingdom. Like Abraham we wait for what we do not yet see.

What was Abram’s response to this promise? Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” He believed and God accepted him as righteous! There was no law of Moses yet, no 10 commandments yet.  That came 430 years later. Paul said in Galatians that is why we are saved by faith APART from the works of the Law. If Abraham was accepted as righteous by believing God, you can be! Abraham is really important in showing how we are saved.

*BUT, all these promises to Abraham DID require a son, an offspring. Yet 25 years later, Abram and Sarai have no children. And there’s no hope of that changing because Sarai was barren.  So in chapter 16 they come up with a plot to help God out.  She gives her Egyptian servant Hagar to Abram. They have a child but it’s not the child God promised. It’s not done God’s way, it causes conflict in their marriage, and their descendants are in constant conflict to this day. This is a great warning against doing things in the flesh, and not waiting for God.  

In chapter 17 God changes Abram’s name to Abraham Father of a multitude, and Sarai to Sarah Princess and repeats His promises to them, again! Then Isaac born in chapter 21. Finally there’s a WAY for the fulfillment of these promises. What relief and joy!  But..*Then in chapter 22, God tells Abraham “take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to mount Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.”  

All that God promised was literally going to go up in smoke.  It’s been called the death of a vision.  And it’s often the way God works. Just what was promised to you, seems to fall to ground and die!  But God want us to know He is the one who raises the dead, resurrects broken dreams, hopeless situations. And obedience through those experience is what matters, and shows whether we really trust God or not!

Abraham obeyed God to the point of reaching out his hand and taking the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord stopped him and said, “Now I know that you fear God. Verse 16 “by Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, you only son, I will surely bless you and multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven...” And through your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

Abraham’s faith on that moutain was proven by his willingness to obey God at great cost to himself. Definition of worship: “extravagant love and extreme obedience”. That’s the definition of faith too. ... So Isaac lives and has descendents and all that God promised Abraham will over time be fulfilled. 

*Summary: Ultimately all people groups will be offered this blessing through Abraham’s seed Jesus Christ. Fallen sinners, from all over the world, living under the curse, will be redeemed, brought back into a status of blessing! The book of Revelation says, we will live together in the new heaven and earth, where there is no longer any curse, and we will live under the blessing and kindness of God forever. And in that place there will people from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne worshiping the Lamb.  (This all flows out of this promise to Abraham!) 

Take away:  *Don’t try to bring about something you desire, in your own way or in your own time. Or through compromising your integrity, or God’s commands. Abraham and Sarah couldn’t see God’s promise working out, so they tried to creatively fulfill them by their own ideas. God’s work must be done God’s way, without compromise, or white lies, or 

*Believe what God has said, and you will be saved and blessed forever. You will have peace with God. Do you want that? Someone here this morning maybe searching for salvation.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. 

*Belief is always demonstrated by obedience. Abraham left home and went where God told him, BECAUSE he trusted God’s promises.  

Often obedience involves being willing to leave everything behind. It means willing to give up anything or anybody God asks. Change just for the sake of change is often a huge mistake. But stepping out, based on God’s call, is essential to a life of faith. For Cindy and me that meant starting a church in DSM, then one in Ankeny, starting a business, home schooling our kids.  The people closest to us opposed us doing each of those things and let us know it.  

Faith is shown in small acts of obedience too. Rejoicing is an act of faith. Singing, patiently waiting on God, giving thanks, trusting God to defend you, not quarreling, loving your enemies, all those things are rooted in faith in God, that He will bless you and take care of you! 

*Faith means being willing to wait for God?  Abraham saw little evidence for a LONG time. Abraham waited 25 years from God’s promise until Isaac was born. That’s like God promising you are going to be the head of a massive worldwide corporation, and 25 years later NOTHING has happened! Are you waiting on God? Patiently. Quietly? O my soul, wait in silence for God only. He alone is my rock and my salvation. That’s faith! Fretting, being upset is NOT! It just isn’t, no matter how you rationalize it!  Wait for God to fulfill your desires and prayers.

*Most important: The heart of God is to bless people. Andrew Murray Jesus Christ came to glorify man. To lift man back up to being fully human as God created us, to restore the image of God, to lift us up to glory, to sit with Him, to rule and reign with Him. He WILL do that.  The first time, He came to atone for our sins, to redeem us from the curse.  He is coming again to glorify us, with Him. Our future, your future can be summed up in one word, BLESSING!

Paul said we have been blessed with ALL spiritual blessing in Christ. Are you living as a blessed person? Telling others how blessed you are? May the Lord graciously give us a revelation of how blessed we are.