Gen # 8

Northside Church

Gen #8

Jamey Mills

11/19/23

Good MORNING Northside… My name is Jamey Mills, I’m the lead pastor here at Northside. It’s always good to be with you guys.

We are already in our 8th week of our series on Genesis, bringing chaos to Order.

I’ve really enjoyed it and we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. Just a reminder that if you’ve missed any and want to catch them you can find them on FB or YT.

Genesis is so incredibly important to your understanding of God, His truth, His design, and what that means for you. Understanding it well… should impact the way you see life… and every aspect of it. We’ve continually talked about how important it is that you start with God… that’s exactly what Genesis does.

Genesis reveals God as the creator of it all… who is the author of life… in every sense of the word… He creates humanity and this space where humanity would live their lives experiencing God’s favor (grace), blessing, and presence… Eden, and what it represents was the ideal… and even now… this idea of living our lives in God’s presence… experiencing His blessing… understanding and honoring His design… is huge.

In Eden, humanity chose the knowledge of evil… sin came into the world… and every human since has been born with this sinful nature… instead of wisdom and freedom, Adam and Eve found shame and captivity…

The first sacrifice in history… was when God provided an animal hide was to cover the shame and nakedness of sinful people… one of the many times Genesis clearly points to the coming of and our need for Jesus.

God creates… lines out his desire and design… and then shows the impact that sin has when we choose to walk away from it… the impact it has on us, on marriage, on family, and on culture…

Literally, the first baby that was ever born became the first murderer… as Cain… Adam and Eve’s son, killed his brother.

Sin… brought this downward spiral… we see it to this day in our culture… I’ve experienced it in my own life…

At one point God saw that everything humanity thought and did was wicked and it says it broke God’s heart… but there was ONE… only one man that walked with Him and found favor with Him. God told Noah he was going to flood the earth… to build a huge boat for himself, his three sons (Shem, ham and Japath) as well as 2 of every animal…

God flooded the earth… and when it was done he told those families on board to multiply… and fill the earth… and they did their best.

It says that everyone lived in the same place and spoke the same language… and in an attempt to make their own name great they started building a tower whose “head was in the clouds”... it really sounds more like a temple to themselves and their own greatness… it was an attempt to create a new humanity… a new way… a new image for themselves…

God saw the tower and thought… How far will they fall? We talked about severe mercy… these times when God allows or even brings about things that we would never choose for the good and protection of us, humanity, or even His Kingdom. God confused their language… scattered them…

And that’s where we are today.

We talked about Noah’s three sons… how Ham brought shame to his father and how his line eventually became enemies to God’s people…

And we talked about how one of the names in Shem’s line of descendants was Eber.. which means… and God passed by… It is the line of God’s presence…

The tower of babel points to the universal need that humanity has for a solution… that that solution would come through the line of Shem…

As you follow Shem’s genealogy you come to a man named Terah… who like everyone else was a product of Babylon… as God scattered them, Terah ended up in a place called Ur… a larger city in Mesopotamia… now southern Iraq.

The end of Genesis 11 teaches us a few important things about Terah’s family.

Terah had 3 sons… Abram Nahor, and Haran.

That somehow his son Haran died there in Ur.

That Lot (Haran’s son) was taken in either by Tarah or Abram.

That Nahor and Abram both married in Ur… Abram’s wife was named Sarai.

Sarai was unable to become pregnant… there was a weight to that then and now in ways many people don’t understand unless they’ve faced it. In that culture… part of the value that a wife brought was in producing children for her husband… this was a place of pain and shame for Sarai and Abram.

For some reason… we don’t see it in Ch 11… it sounds like Terah suddenly packed up Abram, Sarai, and Lot and set out toward Canaan…

Though… they had no idea where they were actually headed…

But they came to this place called Haran and it says they stopped and settled there… and… that this is where Terah Died.

So many questions…

Why did Ur leave… Where were they going? Why did they stop in Haran?

Why did God choose this family or specifically Abram?

There are other passages in the Bible that help add some clarity… one is

Acts 7:2–4 (NLT)

Acts 7:2–4 NLT

This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. 3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

Gen 11 makes it sound like this was Terah’s doing… but the reason they left Ur in the first place was the fact that God called Abram while they were still in Ur. As far as i can tell… it’s why they left…

The way that it sounds is that Abram told his father what God had called him to leave and this man who’d already lost one son was unwilling to let this one… Abram… to do something like this alone.

This family was also a product of Babylon… meaning… when God confused their language and scattered the people with their own national identity… it came with other baggage too…

Joshua 24:2 (NLT)

Joshua 24:2 NLT

Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

2 Joshua said to the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

Terah… and his family… worshiped other gods… in fact some scholars believe that Terah made and sold idols… these small… images… created by human hands that began to take the place of God in their lives…

And so we see Abram, this man who didn’t know God was being called by God out of this land and family of idol worship… and into this new life…

In so many ways, Abram seems like this incredibly unlikely choice.

… who is Abram that God would call him out of that… and into this place of incredible privilege and blessing… into this new life.

God often chooses the unlikely to accomplish His purposes…the weak… the poor

This is the way we read it in

Genesis 12:1–3 (NLT)

Genesis 12:1–3 NLT

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

God calls Abram out of Ur to a land that God will “show” him. Gen 11 lets us know something that Abram didn’t know… he was headed to Canaan.

And as God points to this universal need for a solution because of sin and all that death, decay and brokenness it brings… through the line of Abram…

Not only is God pointing to the solution, God is also beginning to point to what that life of “faith” will look like through Abram too.

I feel like God through this passage in Genesis 12 is wanting us to make this really important connection… There are things that God is Abram from… in the face of all that God is calling Abram to… and… you cannot have one without the other. They are most definitely connected. Gen 12:1-3 is often called the Abrahamic Covenant… this idea of covenant is so important… more on that next week.

Before ever leaving Ur, it sounds like God told Abram to leave the safety and security of the only land he’d ever known and his father’s family…

In order for God to do what He needed to do in and through Abram… he was going to have to break away from the things that were standing in the way… the influence and leadership of an idolatress father… and the comfort and security of the land he knew… he had to step out of the old to take hold of the new…

But… Abram doesn't completely obey…

As you look at the map… we realize that the journey God took Abram on wasn’t a straight line… and there are two things we can take away from that I think…

God make the trek longer… as a way of breaking Abram free from those things and influences that hold Abram back…

As they came to Haran it says that Terah… settled there… we don’t know why… maybe he was too old and the journey was too hard… one preacher I know who faced a very sort of pain suggested that when they came to a land that bore the name of the son that he lost… Terah just stopped and planted his flag… this is where I will live and die.

But Abram stopped too… ½ way to where God was calling him to go… and it makes me wonder if there are things in our own life that cause us to hesitate… to stop ½ way when it comes to what God is calling us from and calling us to. Some sin, comfort, pleasure, unhealthy relationship… that keeps us from taking hold of that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of us.

They stop there… Tarah dies there…

And then God calls Abram again…

We’ve talked about what God was calling him out of…. What God was calling him to was so much bigger and better… and through the promises that God lays out we see echos the damage that sin had caused… and I dont think it's an accident… God is pointing toward a new reality for Abram and humanity.

God promises land that’s tied to His presence (Eden)

God promises to make Abram’s name great (Babel)

God promises to bless all people in what He’s doing through Abram.

… that in other passages is described as flowing with Milk and honey… it was a productive and fruitful land… that reminds us of Eden…

It would be a land that God would “Show” them… which speaks of God’s powerful presence… God would go with Abram… again reminding us of Eden.

That God would make his name great: where did we see that? The T of B… right… humanity was trying to make their name great… God is reminding us that He is the one in which we find meaning…

Trying to make a name for ourselves… our big opportunity is not… sports jobs education… Is Christ alone…

His descendants would become a great nation…

Problematic with Sarai’s inability to have kids.

That somehow… the entire world would be changed and blessed by what God is doing through Abram…

Literally

What God is doing right here is SO big that rest of the OT literally follows this family and documents their journey.

document their journey… and what God is doing that really started at creation… but is becoming clearer in Abram.

It was a promise of God’s presents, direction and purpose…

Genesis 12:1-3 is often referred to as the Abrahamic covenant.

This idea of covenant is really important… more on that next week.

I try to put myself in Abram’s shoes…

I think one of the most powerful statements of faith that we see in scripture… is in vs. 4… when it says… “so, Abram left”.

His faith became legendary… Throughout history Abram is a man known for this great faith…

Hebrews 11 Hall of faith. These men and women had 3 things in common.

1. Their faith was imperfect.

2. They did things that few were willing to do.

3. God used them in powerful ways.

is like this hall of faith… these men and women who used in incredible ways… and every single one of them have 3 things in common…

They and their faith were imperfect… some of them wouldn’t pass a basic background check.

They did things that few others were willing to do… because they believed what God said.

God used them.

And in this Hebrews 11 hall of faith passage… Abram easily takes up the most real estate…

Hebrews 11:8–16 (NLT)

Hebrews 11:8–16 NLT

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

11 It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. 12 And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. 13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

And what I hear in that is the power of a heart that is turned toward God.

The history of God who is completely faithful… and what He can do in and through an average… everyday… once far from… person.

Through Abram… God is not just pointing at the solution of what is to come… but to the role faith will play within it. So powerful.

Genesis 15:6 (NLT)

Genesis 15:6 NLT

And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

This man that didn’t really know God, certainly wasn't walking with God found himself being called away from his old life and everything that he knew… and into this new life… and… he went.

Abram obeyed… one author said it like this… obedience is always at the center of a faith response to God.

A person who truly believes God in his heart is made evident by what they do with their lives.

He believed God in ways that impacted his life and changed the direction of his life… and it’s such an important question… Do you? Do you trust God in ways that have and continue to change the direction of your life?

But here is the funny thing…

If you only read the beginning of Gen 12 and Heb 11… you're likely to believe something that isn't completely true.

As we continue to follow and look at Abram in the weeks to come… you are going to see how this man in some ways stands alone as a man of incredible, life changing… painful… full of struggle and failure… messy and difficult faith.

It reminds us that

This is not a story about the goodness of Abram… but of goodness and faithfulness of God who called him to better things.

but of the God whose goodness and faithfulness who called Him to better things.

This relationship of faith… this journey of faith would not be perfect or easy…

It makes us ask the question… What kind of faith did Abram have?

And at least for me there is this incredible peace… in understanding that through all the ups and down… the failures that seem massive to me… God continually called Abram back.

What kind of faith did Abram have? Imperfect. Often… just enough to take the next step

… and that kind of faith… is not only the same kind of faith that God calls you to… but it is the kind of faith that changes the overall direction of your life.

It says that eventually… Abram arrived in Cannan but it was inhabited by the Cannanites… he set up camp there… and

The first thing Abram did in Canaan was build an altar and worshiped God.

the first thing he did was build an altar to God… This landmark… memorial of God’s presence and provision… this beacon that would call Abram to remember God and God’s relentless faithfulness… and it says that he worshiped God there.

Babel… humanity wanting to make their name great… points to this universal need for a solution that would come through what God is doing right here…

It’s all pointing to Jesus… Jesus instituted communion for a very similar reason… this altar… this sacred monument of sorts reminds us of God’s radical faithfulness and provision… of Him calling out of the life we knew and into this new life of faith…

Jesus said… communion… the bread and the juice… Jesus said do this as often as you gather… remembering me. Every time we see it… every time that we participate in it… pointing us back to the cross…

We see the first sacrifice in Genesis… God covering the shame of two people…

We see the last sacrifice in Christ… coving the sin and shame… declaring all who believe… right… with God.

If you are a believer… I want to invite you to take communion with us today… its on the table in the back… anytime over the next two songs, feel free to get up and get it and take it whenever your ready…

Just a reminder… every sunday… we have a couple people in the back that are ready to pray with you… about what we talked about or anything else for that matter. They’re here for you… they have orange lanyards on.