The First of Many

Introduction

Dr. Thomas N. Carter’s mother was a faithful woman

Her son ran with a bad crowd for years

She prayed boldly for salvation and that he would preach

She believed God answered he prayer - he would be saved and preach

Thomas Carter went to prison, and his mom recieved a telegram:

Your son is dead, what would like us to do with his body

She immediately went to prayer - God, you promised I would see this

She explains that again, God, affirmed this promise

She sent a wire back to the prison:

“There must be some mistake. My boy is not dead.”

You know what? She was right… He was still alive

The prison had mixed up another inmate

Thomas N. Carter was alive, and he eventually got out

He also came to know Jesus, went to seminary and became a preacher

This is an amazing story of an amazing woman - and an amazing God

I have to admit, I would struggle to have faith like this

As much as I would like to think I’d respond like this, that would be incredibly hard

When I see people with that faith, I want it!

That’s how I want to see life and view God’s power

I want to constantly live in victory like that! But I’m a little more human sometimes...

God’s word is full of promises

If we cling to those and live like we believe them our lives would be so much better

We would have unending strength and courage

We could face anything with unwavering confidence

K.M. Logan: “A man who does not trust in God lives a life of instability in every facet.”

As we’ve looked at Abraham, God has made many promises

For the most part, Abraham has done a good job listening

Much better than most people would ever do

God told Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldeans

He did and went all the way to the promised land

God said this will all belong to your descendents - yay!

But there’s a problem...

What descendents?!

We are on the 14th week of this series… there’s still no kid

Hagar had a son, sure! But that’s not what God said!

Today, we will finally see God follow through on what He’s been saying all along

YouVersion: The First of Many

We’re in Genesis 21:1-8

Genesis 21:1–8 (ESV)

1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

It’s been 25 years since Abraham left

It’s been 25 years since God hinted at Abraham having children

It’s been 19 years since God told Abraham that Sarah will be the mother

God has been taking His sweet time...

Has anyone had to wait 25 years for something?

25 years ago I was 14 years old...

I can’t imagine someone making a promise then and finally keeping it today...

Especially something like this

You might wait 25 years to retire, but you don’t sit there the whole time doubting it will happen

Retirement isn’t impossible

You don’t sit there going, “Man, I’m trying to retire everyday but it won’t work!”

Today, in verse 1, God follows through on His promise to Sarah

Genesis 21:1 ESV

1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.

This is something God does specifically for Sarah

He told her what He would do, and He does it!

God’s plans don’t depend on our timing

It can be tempting to twist God’s word around to make things fit

Often times we’ll twist it to make excuses

For example, Christian’s for 1,800 years didn’t know what to do about the end times

Revelation, Ezekiel, Jeremiah all mention Israel in the future

But for 1,800 years, there was no Israel - they were dispersed

So, teachers made up excuses:

Maybe He just means Jews?

Maybe the land where Israel used to be?

Maybe a metaphor for the church?

Suddenly, this guy comes and destroys Europe with some buddies (Hitler, Mussolini, Hirihito)

But when they lose WWII, Britain gives up the territory to a bunch of Jews!

Of course, Palestine is mad because they had it before the war...

But Israel becomes a nation like that! Out of nowhere!

When God makes a promise, He means it

He doesn’t need us to explain it away or find some deeply hidden meaning in the text

God does speak poetically, but we shouldn’t be trying to force it

God means what he says!

Remember, a few months before she gets pregnant, the Lord meets with Abraham

Genesis 18:10 (ESV)

10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

This is where Sarah hears the promise in detail

There will be a son, Sarah will have him, and it will be in about a year...

It’ll be about a year for her to have a son, 9 months before that she’s pregnant

When she hears it, she laughs! Ridiculous!

But then, she wakes up in the morning puking outside her tent

Man, what did I eat last night...

Some old experienced woman probably came up… I don’t think it’s what you ate last night...

Sarah, you’re going to have a baby…!

I imagine that when Sarah was betrothed to Abram she would dream

Someday I’ll have a child - a boy or a girl

I’ll name them this or that, I’ll make them cute little tunics and sandals

They’ll grow up to be a great leader, maybe a warrior or a lady who runs a household well

There was a time when she had unchecked, unhindered hope

And at some point, she gave up that hope completely

I’ll never give my husband a son, so maybe my maidservant will...

After that, she even laughed when she heard the promise yet again

God follows through on everything He says...

The problem is that we expect it to be in our timing and on our terms...

But God never promises that

Everything Sarah probably dreamed of, wasn’t God’s plan

He had other purposes

If Sarah had a child at 16, 18, 30… it would be another birth

Just another kid that came about like every other kid - not really special

But God’s purpose here to was make Isaac extra special!

He wanted Issac to come when his mom was in her 90’s

Because only God can do that!

God wanted it to be clear that His people came about by His provision

I’m sure Sarah had her own plans, but God’s timing is God’s timing

Matter of fact, His timing was perfect - just what He needed to start His chosen people

We get hung up on what God’s promise means for us...

…But we can never forget that His promises exist to fulfill His purposes and plans

…Not our own

Later, when Israel is long established the third king of Israel is Solomon

David set up the stuff to build God’s temple, but God didn’t want him to finish it

So his son Solomon took over and built it

When he was done, Solomon dedicated the temple with prayer

In the prayer, he said this:

1 Kings 8:56 (ESV)

56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.

Look at what Solomon is saying:

God said something would happen, and He made not one single error

God does exactly what He says He will do!

Think about this:

When God created the world, His only tool was His word

When He saved His creation, it came through THE word

There is power in the word of God

Power to create, power to save, power to keep the most incredible of promises

And so when God makes us a promise, it has to be fulfilled just as He said it would

If it isn’t, the power of God isn’t what we think it is

That would mean God is capable of mistakes, errors, faults

So when we open the word of God, we have to trust that it is 100% true and accurate

Every word from God then, is truth and power

In verse 2, we see God no only kept his promise to Sarah, He kept his promise to Abraham

Genesis 21:2 (ESV)

2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

Just as Sarah shouldn’t have had a child in her old age

Abraham shouldn’t have had a child in his!

We’re talking about the virtually impossible here

How many 90 and 100 year old people do you see having kids?

If a woman gets pregnant at 35, you’re considered geriatrically pregnant

The oldest woman to have a natural pregnancy was 62 years old in 1887!

She’s unidentified but she had triplets in England!

The oldest woman on record otherwise was Erramatti Mangamma

She had a baby at 74 years old, pregnant at 73 (actually had twins)

But she required invitro fertilization and donated eggs

A year later her husband dies of old age!

Sarah was 16 years older!

The truth is this though...

She didn’t have a natural pregnancy either

She had a supernatural one...

A lot of scholars have started debating this though

Well, their issues sound more similar to Iron-Age issues, so they’re probably first millennium stories

We don’t see any evidence, therefore the Bible must not be telling the truth

The problem is we always try to look at things through a human lens

We think, “Ok, if God shows me enough evidence I’ll believe what the Word says.”

Otherwise, I’ll come up with my own theories

That tells me you don’t believe this is the word of God

OR that God isn’t all powerful, knowing and good

OR that He’s not real at all

God tells us truth, He doesn’t owe us evidence

Although He does give us quite a bit

Luke 1:37 (ESV)

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Here’s the thing, reading about the impossible here with Abraham could mean one of two things:

1. It didn’t happen that way - or

2. God can do the impossible

I believe the latter is more likely...

We must cling to the possibility of the impossible

We cannot forget that

If we limit our faith to what we can understand

What we can explain

What we have seen

What we like

And what is proven...

We’re diluting our faith into something that it no longer Christianity

At that point, its just a slightly more interesting version of secularism with more stuff to do on Sunday

Its the element of impossibility and the miraculous that gives us reason to worship our God!

Go back to the promise

Genesis 17:15–19 (ESV)

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

The thought of being a 100 year old dad was comical to him

Notice he tries to explain away the impossible - Oh yay, Ishmael!

God says, “No dude, did I stutter? Sarah will be the mother of my people!”

God already knows it’s a miracle, that’s why He’d doing it!

That’s why it’s a mistake to project our limitations on God

If it’s impossible with us, it must be impossible with Him...

Our barriers are not God’s barriers

How foolish when we think God can’t handle the things we can’t handle

That’s not who God is, that’s who the enemy wants us to think He is

If you shrink God to someone who can’t give a child to a 90 and 100 year old couple...

You’ve fallen for Satan’s trap, he has you where he wants you

That’s because he knows you won’t turn to a God like that when you’re in trouble

So Sarah does have this miracle baby, telling us God has kept his promise

And look who else keeps his promise

Genesis 21:3–4 (ESV)

3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Abraham kept his promise also

Remember back in Gen 17, God gave Abraham something to do as well:

Genesis 17:9–11 (ESV)

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

God days, “Abraham, I’m going to give you all this! Land, descendents, a relationship with God!

And I want you to keep a sign...

There’s a great lesson in this for us

See, Abraham has a covenant with God

God promised him land for his descendents

Abraham has been able to live in it, but it’s never been his

He’s had to live as a nomad this whole time

God promised him descendents, but he’s only going to see his grandkids

Sometimes with God, we make conditional promises to Him

God, if you get me out of this I’ll go to church!

Why aren’t you going to church before you get out of you jam?

God, if I win the lottery I’ll buy the church a new building!

Why aren’t you giving of the riches He gives you now?

We have no business trying to tell God to go first and we’ll respond

In many stories in Scripture, including Abraham, God asks us to go first

Abraham, get up and move...

And he had to wait until he was 100 to see the beginning of his end of the deal!

He asked Abraham to go first

Hebrews 11:8–9 (ESV)

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Abraham went first and only got a taste before he died

But his ultimate promise is even better, just like ours

Hebrews 11:13–16 (ESV)

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Abraham left, knowing he wouldn’t get the land in this life

But he wasn’t content with that old land

He could have gone back, but didn’t! Why?!

Because he knew there was ultimately a better place

The promised land, yes...

But Abraham wanted heaven...

Today, do you think Abraham thinks heaven was worth leaving Ur?

Do you think his eternal life was worth missing the fullness of the promises during his life?

I would say, “Absolutely! Yes!”

What God delivers Abraham is amazing

Not just Israel, but heaven!

Not just the life of Abraham’s son Issac, but the life of His own Son, Jesus

He simply asked Abraham to go first, and it would pay eternal dividends!

Doesn’t God have the right to ask Abraham to go first? Yeah!

And doesn’t God have the right to ask us to go first?

Sure, but He doesn’t

God could ask us to go first, but He doesn’t

For everyone in here, Christ died for you before He was born

The Patriarch’s and Matriarch’s of the faith established the way for Christ to come

But for us, we are allowed to reap the benefits of their sacrifice

Of the covenant they set with God

Because Jesus already died, nothing we do is actually going first

As believers, everything we do is in response to what god has already done

That’s a luxury and kindness and I don’t think we fully appreciate

God’s okay with going first because honestly, He’s not waiting for us to do anything!

We’re not going to earn our salvation anyway

And God isn’t going to not follow through because we fail

Genesis 21:5–7 (ESV)

5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

When Abraham learned he would have a son at 100, he laughed

And he said, “Oh yeah, Ishmael!”

Do you remember how Sarah reacted when she heard?

Genesis 18:10–15 (ESV)

10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

When Sarah learned that she would have a son at 90, she laughed too

When the Lord called her out, she denied it...

Scripture tells us over and over again not to doubt

Too much doubt hinders our walk with God

Replacing it with faith enables us to do amazing things!

And yet, doubt is something we all deal with

Our doubts hinders us, but not God

It’s interesting that God tells Abraham and Sarah to name their boy, “Issac”

Isaac means, “one who laughs.”

I think this is a beautiful and kinda funny reminder from God

Every time Abraham or Sarah holds Isaac...

His name is a reminder that their response to his coming was laughter - incredulity

And yet, here he is...

Because God does what He says He’ll do, even if it’s ridiculous...

As if God is saying, “who’s laughing now?!”

We can doubt the promises of God all day long - but they’re going to come anyway

If God says it is so, it is so!

Genesis 21:8 (ESV)

8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

When a child was about two years old back then, this was a big step

The child mortality rate was horrible in those days

If a baby made it to 2, it was considered that the child had made it

They had dodged the dangers of infancy

As a result, Abraham celebrates

God’s promises give us reason to celebrate

How often does God do something in amazing in our lives, and we just move on?

It’s important that we celebrate what God does!

Probably 10-15 people come up to me every Sunday and say, “Hey, can you pray for me?”

But only 3-4 come up and say, “Hey, praise God! He answered our prayers!”

That could be because God isn’t answering our prayers… but I don’t think so

I think we get our answers, we’re thankful, and then we forget - on to the next thing

It’s important to respond to God with celebration

It’s remembering those victories that brings us through the hard things we go through later

At the worst times in my life, I cling to those moments where things are good

I try to remember that if God was kind to me then, He’ll be kind to me again

It reminds me that whatever junk we’re dealing with, it’s only temporary

Charles Stanley: “I have complete confidence that God is able to take care of any situation and provide an answer to any question or problem - He has all the resources of the universe to draw upon in helping each one of us through any type of crisis if we will trust Him.”

When we forget those victories, that’s when we are consumed with doubt

Instead, we remember God’s promises in spite our doubt

I can’t do it, it’s impossible!

Scripture says, “all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me.”

I have to do this, it’s never going to stop!

Scripture says, “Come to me all who burden and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

I’m overcome with stress and anxiety!

Scripture says, “…cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.”

I don’t know where to go!

Scripture says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

Here’s the reality, as believers, God is moving in our lives

He is constantly fulfilling promises

We just need to learn to recognize that

In return, our entire life should be lived to Him as a huge worship celebration

Let every moment of our lives be given to the Lord in celebration of His promises!