Evangelizing Abraham
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 12:1–9 (NIV)
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all 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 set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. 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 went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Introduction
Introduction
Context
Context
In some ways this account doesn’t make sense
It makes no sense that God bother with humanity anymore
Cycle 1: God provides – Creation; Man rebels – Fall; God judges – Exile from the garden
Cycle 2: God provides – Seed; Man rebels – Murder; God judges – Exile of cane
Cycle 3: God provides – Another son; Man rebels – Corruption and violence; God judges – Flood
Cycle 4: God provides – Ark; Man rebels – Babel; God judges – Destruction of the tower
It makes no sense that God would choose an idolatrous, aging nomad.
75
Idolatrous
Joshua 24:2 “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.”
Nomadic
Genesis 11:31 “31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.”
Our savior specializes in doing things that make no sense
And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?
— Charles Wesley
God’s Blessing on Abraham
God’s Blessing on Abraham
People
People
2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
God promises to make Abram a great nation
The word “nation” emphasizes an organized government rather than merely a loosely affiliated clan.
Abraham is given a kingly description. Like Adam before him and David after him, he is going to be a leader of a nation.
The establishment of God’s kingdom is a restoration of the pre-fall earth.
Plan
Plan
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Ultimately God’s blessing on Abraham will be a blessing on the whole world.
This is an anticipation of the gospel
Galatians 3:8 “8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.””
Place
Place
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. 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.
This promise is anticipated in v. 1 where God promises to show him the land
Application
Application
What does a promise made to nomadic herdsman almost 4,000 years ago have to do with us?
This passage is an example of faith!
This passage is an example of faith!
Abraham is the New Testament model of faith.
Romans 4:3 “3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.””
Galatians 3:7 “7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.”
Hebrews 11:8–10 “8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
Just as Abraham was called to abandon the idolatry of his family and the security of his home we are called to leave our earthly security behind and trust Jesus.
Leave your happiness
Leave your security
Leave your righteousness
This passage is an announcement of the gospel!
This passage is an announcement of the gospel!
Example of a specific kind of faith – faith in Christ.
8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
God’s plan to crush the seed of the serpent with the seed of the woman is still in tact after the flood and Babel
The curse will be undone
People - effect on the woman
Plan - curse on the snake
Place - exile
The world that seems to be beyond God’s grasp is accomplishing his plan - turn to him