The Call of Abraham

The Call of Abraham

​Gen12:1-5

Genesis 12:1–5 (CSB)

1 The Lord said to Abram:

Go from your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s house

to the land that I will show you.

2 I will make you into a great nation,

I will bless you,

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,

and all the peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.

I. God initiates all relationships. (v.1)

Back then, they had no issue recognizing gods. They had pantheons. They had difficulty recognizing there was one supreme Creator who remained involved in our lives. Monotheism was difficult. Aside from the Jews, it was an odd thing. During the early days of Christianity The Romans called Christians Atheists, people against the gods. Why? Because we declared there were no other beings worthy of worship. All beings, spiritual and human were created by the One True God. That was incomprehensible to the Romans. We find them silly. But they like Abrahams family were the prevailing culture.

You mean you are going to follow ONE god? Why not bank on a few? Why not take what you want morally from the ones who fit your lifestyle and why not ignore the the ones you don’t want.

Today, people People find all sorts of ridiculous excuses to deny God exists today.

2 Corinthians 4:4 CSB

4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

NOTHING ILLUSTRATION

Romans 1:20 CSB

20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

People today want to claim they are so smart but they literally bank their eternal destiny on NOTHING!

At least Abs parents understood the reality of the spiritual realm.

II. He invites you to join His plan. (v.1)

a. There is a cost.

b. You will have to leave old ways.

Joshua 24:2 CSB

2 Joshua said to all 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 worshiped other gods.

What relationships do you have that are a blessing?

Is there an area in your life you know God will not bless?

What have you determined to do about that? (v. 4)

Is there someone or something that holds you back from following God fully?

c. You will feel discomfort in the world.

III. He desires to bless. (v.2-3)

1 Peter 3:12 CSB

12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.

IV. The sooner you trust Him the sooner you experience His blessing.

Psalm 24:3–5 CSB

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not appealed to what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

What dream do you have from the Lord for life?

What would it take for you to follow Him and experience His blessing?

Gen12:1-10

Genesis 12:1–10 CSB

1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. 10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.

• First thing to understand here - Abraham did not seek out God...instead God sought out Abraham.

• See God uses man to accomplish His purposes in this world.

• ...and He'll call out whom He wishes to make that happen.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

• Make no mistake about it...God has called you out...

• Are you ready?

• Have you answered the call?

*I’ve had conversations with people – who have admitted that they just really don’t know when the right time is to get involved in ministry…

· Maybe they’ve had a bad experience…

· Maybe they’re just nervous..

· I would actually say this – If you are a PROFESSING believer in Jesus Christ – and you TRULY ARE a believer (follower) – THEN you already ARE in ministry.

· You don’t have to SIGN UP to be in ministry…you ARE – RIGHT NOW – in ministry.

· So the question becomes – How’s your ministry going?

· SEE – Just like with Abraham…GOD INITIATES!!

• And so yes...God establishes with Abraham a covenant.

• So there are really 3 promises that are apart of this covenant between God and Abraham.

SLIDE:

1. Land

2. Descendants

3. Blessing

- God promised that out of Abraham's line, that a deliverer will come to rescue mankind (as promised back in Genesis chapter 3).

…God promised to bless Abraham, so that he would be a blessing to every family on the earth

NOW - A covenant is a solemn promise by which 2 or more parties commit themselves to the rights and responsibilities demanded by their relationship and accept the serious consequences of breaking faith.

• So basically, a covenant is a picture of "relationship built on promise".

• And so looking at these promises, we see:

SLIDE: The Call of Abraham: Die to Self

The Call of Abraham

Listen to what God said to Abraham....first thing

Genesis 12:1 ESV1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

• The first thing that God asks is for Abraham to "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you."

• Who would have checked out at that point?

• "Go from your country, your kindred, and your father's house"...

• So basically, leave everything you've ever known... (DIE to SELF)

• ...AND head out, and I'll tell you later where you're going.

• So no option to compare destinations (leave here and go here).

• It was just - Go, head out, and I'll tell you later where you're going.

• Just think of the implications here:

• He's told to leave his country...

• ...his culture...his profession

• All without knowing where God was sending him.

• NOW the world would hear about this and cry out - "How DARE God operate this way"..

• And we miss so easily how we SHOULD respond..."How dare I question Him".

• What does this call require of Abraham?

• Possessions - lay them down

• Security - lay it down

• Familiarity - lay it down

• Comfort - lay it down

• His own future plans - lay them down

• His time - lay it down

• Everything that we hold so tightly...required of Abraham.

• Most of you know I’ve worked at IMARC with Harold and Sandy for the past 14 years…

IN those 14 years I spent about 4 of those years in Human Resources...

• ...and so I've seen my fair share of resumes.

• I've seen resumes that are 12-15 pages long, and I've seen resumes that are 1 page.

• One day while I was looking thru a bunch of resumes, I stopped and asked myself...

• "what does my spiritual resume look like?"

This was BEFORE I decreased my hours at IMARC to devote more time to ministry… • Because I thought...we all have one...every person on this planet has one...

• Except A LOT of people's only has their name on it...

• ...AND they'll be accountable for the blank page.

• But what does my spiritual resume look like?

• What’s my Spiritual Experience?

• Have I literally laid down possessions for Jesus?

• Have I literally laid down comfort for Jesus?

• Have I literally laid down my own future plans for Jesus?

• Have I literally laid down my precious time for Jesus?

• Have you?

• Or are we holding a blank page...with our name on it??

• All of these things required of Abraham...

• All of these things required of us.

• AND YET – we can TRUST God…

We can TRUST His promises…

And the first promise associated with this Abrahamic Covenant was:

The land that God promises Abraham is the land of Canaan.

Genesis 17:8 ESV8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

• The land of Canaan, reserved for Abraham and who?

• His offspring...

• His offspring?

• At the time of the Call of Abraham, he was 75...

• ...not exactly the prime of childbearing.

• Abraham says to God in chapter 15:

Genesis 15:2–3 ESV2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”

• What's God response?

Genesis 15:4–6 ESV4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

• So we have land promised to Abraham as part of this covenant...

• ...and NOW - descendants promised to Abraham as part of this covenant.

• The last promise that was apart of this covenant was that "in Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

• And so God's plan for Abraham is not that Abraham would receive all these blessings from God merely for Abraham...

• ...BUT that Abraham would be individually blessed, for the purpose that now thru Abraham, this blessing would extend to the whole world.

SLIDE:

Abraham was blessed...to be a blessing

The Call of Abraham

• How many of you have been blessed by God?

· How did that blessing come? Thru someone else?

· Are you grateful that that person OBEYED God in BEING a blessing?

• Have you ever considered that you have been blessed for the purpose that now THRU you, that blessing would extend to the world?

• ...to your family?

• ...to your neighbors?

• ...to your coworkers?

• ...to the communities?

• ...to those around you?

• This is the pattern we see...this is the point.

• BUT why did God wait?

• Why did God wait until Abraham was old and unable to have children before He gets into a covenant relationship with him and fulfills His covenant promises for him?

SLIDE:

God waited to show that the benefits of the covenant rest in the power and in the grace of God alone!

- God will OFTEN take the IMPOSSIBLE…and make it POSSIBLE…

- He OFTEN DOES the impossible…

- WHY?

The Bible tells us why…

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

• God wasn't standing on the side saying - Ok Abraham, I'm going to help you become great...

• ...and I'll be your cheerleader as you cooperate with the gifts I've given you...

• so that you can become the head of a great nation.

• No, Abraham is incapable of receiving the blessings of the covenant apart from the supernatural power of God.

• This is God's plan.

• BUT - - are we all just putting too much faith in this process here?

• Is all of this really just laced with false hope - -

• ...given that we're dealing with mankind here?

• I mean, how many times has mankind messed this thing up already?

• The Fall

• The Flood

• The Tower of Babel

• I mean, we're 0-3 at this point.

• What are the odds we mess this up now?

• What are the odds that Abraham just goes rogue and blows this thing up?

• Pretty good right?

• Well, Here’s the thing:

God knows this, and so this is where God shows us that He's in control...complete control.

• God enters into a covenant with Abraham and his family, and thru him...

• ...the blessing and salvation promised in Genesis chapter 3 will come to the nations.

• In Genesis chapter 15 we see God take matters into His own hands, sealing that promise for ALL OF ETERNITY!

As a church – we’ve walked thru this COVENANT many times…

But we’ll walk thru it again…

- It’s such a VITAL piece of the OT…

- And why we’re even here today…

Genesis 15:8–11 ESV8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

• Here we see God executing a covenant ceremony...

• ...and He orders Abraham to lay out pieces of dead animals to create an isle (a blood path) that can be walked down.

• Ordinarily when a servant would enter into a covenant with a lord, the SERVANT would pass thru the dead animals as he made his promise of faithfulness.

• This was a way to say - If i'm not faithful to this promise i make today, may i be torn into pieces and killed like these animals.

• The servant is agreeing to take on the curse of the covenant if he does not keep his oath.

We just talked about it - SO FAR - Mankind has proven that HE IS GOING TO FAIL in this!!

• Now with this in mind...let's look at what happens here.

Genesis 15:17 ESV17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

• So instead of Abraham passing thru the dead animals...

• God does!

• In the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch, God passes thru the blood path (the dead animals), and as He does, He promises to bless Abraham in all the ways He has promised.

• And then- - the ceremony ends.

• Abraham never walks.

• This means that God promises to take the curse of the covenant upon Himself...

• NOT ONLY if He fails to obey the covenant, but if Abraham does.

• He offers to die and be torn to pieces if humanity fails so that He can give us the blessings of the covenant...unconditionally.

• What manner of love is this?

• You remember the myths we discussed about the OT when we started this series?

• How can the loving, merciful God of the NT be the same wrathful God of the OT??

• Do we see a wrathful God here?

• People sin...People face the consequences...God redeems.

What did we see today?

Two Calls...

SUMMARY:

A Call to Mankind

That they would GO OUT and populate the earth!

What do they do?

Disobey - stay in one place - Build a tower TRYING to make a name for themselves...

God judges them...

The Call of Abraham

- Initiated by God

- Die to Self

Promises of God

Land

Descendants

Blessing

And these physical promises here - were PHYSICAL foreshadowings of a Spiritual Reality that was and is to come...

The physical land of Canaan = was a physical foreshadowing to Heaven itself…promised to those of FAITH

The physical descendants of Abraham - were a physical foreshadowing of the Spiritual descendants that would come from his line...

Those who would come to believe in Jesus...

Even you and I today (we are considered - Children of Abraham)

The blessing promised was the spiritual blessing that would come through the generations…to those would be BELIEVE!

- And ALL of it – SEALED with a promise from God – that should mankind FAIL in this – He Himself would take on the punishment due mankind…

And as we know - God makes GOOD on that promise - Sending His Son Jesus - God Himself in the flesh - to DIE for YOU

Today we’ve seen…

• the Call and the Covenant of Abraham.

• Next week, we'll look at Abraham's response to this call.

let's pray...