Sermon Tone Analysis

We are beginning a new series this morning that is going to take us through the next several months, so go ahead and put a bookmark in the book of Genesis, starting at chapter 12.

Although this puts us in the middle of the book of Genesis, it is at the beginning of a new and incredibly important section.

We are going to witness the birth of a nation, but not just any nation.

These chapters are going to tell us about how God called a unique group of people to himself to be his people in a unique way.

As we see right off the bat this morning, we will see God make astounding promises.

Through it all, we will see a clear contrast: the faithfulness of God and the flaws of his people.

So, why are we studying these chapters?

It isn’t just so you can learn more history, although we will hopefully come out of this with a better understanding of how God worked in the past.

No, our goal in looking at this section of Scripture is that, as you and I look at these accounts and see our own failures and flaws in the lives of the people we read about, we will more importantly see the faithfulness of God that keeps his plan moving forward in spite of us.

If you were here last Sunday, you got a quick primer on one of the main people we will be talking about: Abraham.

It isn’t overstating the case to say that Abraham is one of the most important figures in history.

I say that because three of the world’s largest religions all trace their origin back to him: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

This morning, we are going to start at the beginning of Abraham’s story and see the promise God made.

From the very start, we are going to see the faithfulness of God even as he works through the flawed man, who at this point is named Abram.

To set the stage, let’s back up a bit to chapter 11:27-32.

We are at the end of a long list of names.

It is a genealogy of the line that led to Abram.

Pick up with verse 27...

It starts with the phrase, “These are the family records…,” Which is a key phrase in Genesis that often marks a transition to a new section.

Although he is mentioned in the verse above this one, here we really begin the story of the family of Abram, who will later be called Abraham.

There are a few important facts to notice as we read this account:

Abram and his family were from Ur, near where God had confused the languages of everyone building the Tower of Babel.

After Abram’s brother died, his dad moved his family to a town called Haran.

Through all of this, though, there is no indication that Abram was following the Lord, the one true God.

In fact, Joshua makes it clear that Abram wasn’t worshiping the one true God:

That’s what is going to make these promises and events even more spectacular.

When God calls Abram and makes him promises, there is nothing the Bible that indicates that he was a devout follower of the one true God.

There was no reason for God to call Abram to himself besides the fact that God chose to do so.

Another vital element of what is happening is mentioned in verse 30...

Abram’s wife had not been able to have any children.

While we understand that there are any number of reasons why a husband and wife may not have children, in those days, childlessness was viewed as punishment from a god and brought shame on the couple.

We will see in just a minute that Abram was 75 years old when God spoke to him, so he and Sarah were well past the age of having children.

I want you to get this picture in your mind: an older couple with no children is following other gods, and suddenly everything changes.

The words God is about to speak to Abram are the foundation of a promise that changes not just he and Sarai’s lives, but every life for all eternity.

Let’s look at what God tells Abram and then briefly look at how he responds.

Through this, I want you to see again the faithfulness of God as he works in and through flawed people.

Start in 12:1-3...

Let’s break what God said into two main parts.

First, we see that God:

1) Sent.

This is an absolutely incredible command that the Lord issues to Abram.

He tells him to pack up, leave his relatives, and go wherever God tells him to go.

Guys, how many of you think that would be a bit of a hard sell to your wife?

Think about what we have already said!

“Hey babe…you know that God we don’t worship?

Well, he spoke to me today and told me we need to move.

Yeah, not sure where.”

There are some aspects of this that would have been even more challenging for Abraham than it would be for us.

How many of you aren’t originally from the NRV?

We have a lot of locals, but many of you have come for school or work and settled here, away from your family’s old homestead.

That is normal in our society, but it wasn’t in those days.

You typically lived and died in the same area your entire life.

You didn’t have planes and paved roads like we have and so many other things, so you didn’t just up and move and call your folks every so often once you got to your new home.

So, at 75 years old, God is calling Abram to move away from his family to somewhere he doesn’t even know where he is going.

Abram doesn’t know God well at this point, but many of you do.

Right off the bat, you and I are faced with the question of whether or not the God we know is worthy of our radical obedience.

How willing are you to do what God calls you to do, even if it makes your family think you are crazy?

How willing are you to follow God when you don’t know all the answers to what will happen next?

We will see in a moment how Abram responds to God’s call, but I want you to think for a moment about how you would respond if the God you know and claim to serve asked you to do something like this?

For Abraham, though, the call to go is coupled with a promise he could barely comprehend.

Not only did God send Abram out, he also...

2) Promised.

Read verses 2-3 again.

There is no way Abram fully comprehended what God was promising here.

However, we see the beginnings of a promise that changes the world forever.

As God calls Abram to step out into the unknown with him, he couples it with an incredible promise.

He promises to make Abram into a great nation.

Beyond that, he promises that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram.

We will talk more about how God was going to fulfill this promise, but to an old, childless man and his old, barren wife, God promises that he will make them a great nation.

After Abram gets into the land God showed him, we see God flesh out the promise a bit more in verse 7...

Now, we see that this “great nation” idea is going to involve him having offspring who are going to be numerous enough to possess the land of Canaan.

There aren’t any details about how or what or when, but God is promising to do the impossible and bless the world through Abram’s family.

You know what is interesting about these promises God is making?

There isn’t an “if” here.

While God does make covenants that are conditional on the response of the other people, this one isn’t.

He simply tells Abram to go, and then he tells Abram what he is going to do.

We will see this even more clearly when we get to chapter 15, but God’s promise to bless the world through Abram’s descendants is something he is going to accomplish despite the flaws and failures of his people.

That’s why this study is going to focus us on the faithfulness of God.

Much later, one of Abraham’s distant descendants, the Apostle Paul, would write

God promised to do it, and he will accomplish it.

Here’s where we need to be careful, though: in applying this passage, we have to make sure we apply this correctly.

God isn’t teaching us that if we just do what he says, he is going to bless us with a big family and lots of influence or whatever we define as success.

God was making a unique promise to a unique person at a unique time in history.

However, we have the incredible privilege of knowing how God fulfilled this promise.

Not only did he make Abram into a great nation, he also fulfilled the promise of blessing all the nations through him.

How?

By sending Jesus, God in the flesh, born to a physical descendant of Abram.

Through Abram’s line, the one who would one day be the Savior of all the world was born, lived, died on a cross, and rose from the grave to make forgiveness available to anyone who will call on him.

Now, he rules and reigns in heaven and one day will return to earth to rule over every kingdom, bringing peace and prosperity to the world like it has never seen since the Garden of Eden.

Don’t look at this account and cheapen it by thinking it means that God promises to give you money or influence or a big family.

No, look at this promise and realize that God’s plan was to take an idol-worshiping childless man and his wife and, through God’s own grace and mercy and faithfulness, save the world, including you.

His promise was to bring you salvation through Abram’s descendants, which is the greatest need you could ever have.

The radical call of God on your life is to leave behind living life your way, worshiping yourself or comfort or work or family or whatever is at the core of your heart and instead, come to the one who he has shown us.

Come to Christ, the one who died for us, was buried and raised for us.

Come to him and be saved.

Enjoy the blessing of becoming one of Abram’s spiritual descendants through the life of his greatest Son.

Through God’s faithfulness, find life today.

Now, with that said, let’s look briefly at Abram’s response to God’s promise.

We see his response in three stages.

First, Abram: