A Call to Faith

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have a Bible, and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to the Book of Genesis…we’ll be in the twelfth chapter this morning, looking at the first three verses.

If you remember, at the beginning of last year, we started our Foundations in Genesis sermon series…we walked through the first eleven chapters together. And so, we’re gonna come back to this book…looking at chapters 12 through 26 for the rest of the year, which mainly speaks about Abraham’s life. In 2025, we’ll look at Jacob’s life in more detail…and then in 2026, we’ll come back and finish Genesis up by looking at Joseph’s life.

But listen, I’ve titled this series, Into the Unknown…and if you’re a younger parent here this morning, that’s not a reference to Frozen…Wendy’s not gonna have that song on our worship list over the next many months…that title, its more of a reference toward Abraham’s faith…he had to walk into constant unknown circumstances as he followed God faithfully. This series, its a series about faith.

And so, if you’re there with me this morning, let’s stand and read this passage together. It says this:

Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)

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. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Thank you, you can be seated.

[Prayer]

And so, I know it’s been a little while since we’ve been in this book, so let me just remind you of some important details here. The author of Genesis, it’s Moses…he most likely wrote this book, along with the other books of the Pentateuch, during the Israelites’ time in the wilderness. And he wrote these books as a historical account for the people of God. The things we see in Genesis…it’s all history and its all meant to be taken literally. Now with that, because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the purpose of this book, along with every other book of the Bible is to point to the person and work of Jesus, there’s other things we see through these stories. We see pictures and things that are meant to remind us or point us to things God wants us to know about Him today. Just because we’re reading a historical account here…it doesn’t mean it’s useless for us today. While it was written to the Israelites, God uses it in our lives to remind us of who He is, to remind us of His faithfulness. The God we’re reading about, it’s the same God that called us out…its the same God that gave us new life…and guys, its the same God we follow today.

And listen, as we start back in chapter 12 this morning, its a shift in the story…a shift from the origins of shared human history…to now an account of the origins of God’s chosen people. In previous chapters, we saw the heads of humanity among the nations and now, with the story of Abraham, its gonna focus on the head of a very specific people group…the Hebrews, the nation of Israel. Through these people would come the key to salvation, the promised offspring from Genesis chapter 3. And so, without Abram, a lineage that leads to Isaac, and Jacob, and Judah, and David, there is no eventual Jesus the Messiah. And so, for that reason, Abram’s calling, in these first three verses, its a major hinge on which the story of redemption turns. It’s the start of God’s plan to redeem His chosen people, even beyond the nation of Israel.

And listen, as we explore this chapter over the next several weeks, there’s two major themes we see here…God’s part in our redemption…its His sole action that leads to our salvation…and second, its the blessing He promises…it goes far beyond land and belongings.

If you remember, when we started this series…we really paralleled what we were walking through with the Gospel of John, right? Of course, the beginning of John, it records the life of Jesus by connecting Him to the first couple verses of Genesis, “In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). If you know that book, John’s also know for the “I Am statements that Jesus says…He says, “I’m the bread of life…the way, the truth, and the life…I am the vine,” right? He makes several “I Am” claims. But listen, John, the book it’s also known for Jesus’s “I will” statements. For instance, in John 6:40, Jesus says of those who believe, “I will raise him up on the last day.” The “I wills” of Jesus, they ground our hope for salvation on the sovereign purpose of God, who alone can be relied on to fulfill every “I will” that Jesus ever spoke.

And listen, in those “I will” statements found in John, its just another connection we see to Genesis. John, through the inspiration of the Spirit, He knew exactly what he was doing. Just like John’s Gospel, Abraham’s life, it speaks of faith in God’s promises. In fact, Paul, he writes about Abraham’s faith in Romans 4.

He says:

Romans 4:20–21 (ESV)

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Which, if you believe God’s Word to be living, to be active…if you believe God Himself inspired these words, if you believe Him to be faithful and true…then it shouldn’t surprise you that God’s call to Abram, here in these first three verses of Genesis chapter 12…it also includes 7 “I will” statements. Statements or promises that fall into three categories…God’s promise to give Abram a new place to live…God’s promise to make him into a new people…and his promise of a new purpose. And listen, if you pay attention to God’s intentions with Abram here…you’ll see the connection and the same purpose that God gives us as He continues to fulfill His grand plan for salvation.

And so listen, as we dive into this text…there’s three points I have for us this morning…number 1, God changes our direction…number 2, God changes our identity…and number 3, God changes our purpose.

And so, let’s dig into the text together.

I. God Changes Our Direction (v. 1)

The first point…God changes our direction.

Look at verse 1 with me again. It says, “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.”

Now, if you were with us last year…we concluded the first part of our Genesis series with an introduction to Abram and his family…and listen, we don’t know a ton of stuff about his past…we know he lived in the east, in the direction of Babylon…we see it’s in the land of the Chaldeans, which through Scripture is typically used in reference to Babylon. These things, they’re at the end of chapter 11. Joshua 24:2, it tells us that Abram and his family served other gods…so pagan gods. And notice, unlike it did with Noah…there’s nothing about him being righteous prior to God’s calling…In fact, Abram stands in stark contrast to Noah. Instead of being introduced as “blameless” or “righteous,” Abram’s simply the son of Terah (Tay-rah)…meaning, there’s nothing to commend Abram for here…at least at the beginning of God’s call. He’s living in a pagan culture, serving pagan gods.

And on top of that, we’ll see next week, when we continue through this chapter, he’s already an old man at the time of God’s calling…he’s done nothing, he’s experienced nothing unusual in his life other than the normal brokenness of the curse. He’s seen family members die according to the surrounding text…his wife, she’s barren and can’t have children. They’re living in Haran (Ha-ran), an undesirable place at the time. I mean, it seems like Abram’s life really has no promise, right?

But guys, God chooses this man to receive the greatest promise in all of history. The calling of Abram, its one the most important moments between the garden and the cross. And yet in this account, Moses, he records that God simply visits Abram…again who’s living in a land of idolatry…and He chooses him on one simple basis…God’s own favor and choice.

Guys, as we dive into the life of Abram…we have to remember that Abram’s call, its based solely on God’s grace and not on Abram’s righteousness. God’s purpose here…its all about His will and what He wishes to accomplish…which is exactly why God’s first and last words to Abram…they begin with an imperative…its Go and Take.

First, we see a triple reference here of Abram’s call to go from or leave his country, his homeland, his father’s house. And then when we get to Genesis 22, we’ll see God’s last commands to Abram…take your son, take your only son whom you love, take Isaac. But notice here, Abram’s told to go and take a land in which Yahweh will show him. The reference to the land here, it’s pretty vague…and so, there’s not much Abram’s able to go on. He’s not told that this land’s gonna be the land of Canaan here in the text.

And so pay attention to what God’s commanding of Abram here, the sacrifice He’s calling him to. He tells him to leave his country…his people…and his nuclear family, right?

Calvin said this concerning the text, “[It’s almost as if] God’s commanding you to go forth with closed eyes, and forbids you to inquire where He’s about to lead you, until, having renounced your country, then you’ve given yourself wholly to Him.” Abram’s asked to renounce everything solely on the bare, naked word of God. I mean think about that. Just put yourself in his shoes, right?

But listen, I start with that because that’s exactly what Jesus calls us to…when He calls us out of darkness, solely founded on His grace. Matthew 4:19, it says:

Matthew 4:19 (ESV)

And [Jesus] said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

“Follow Me!” That was Jesus’s command to His first disciples. Leave what you’re doing…leave your jobs, your homes, your families…put your faith and trust solely in me…not because of who you are…not because of anything you did…but listen, because I’m God. That’s what Jesus is saying. Its the same thing because its the same God. In fact, Jesus talks about this specifically in John chapter 8. “Before Abraham was, I am.” He said that to the Pharisees.

And listen, the reason that’s important, its because while Abram is promised several physical things throughout these next many chapters…what’s important, it’s what all this is pointing to…how it all relates to us…what Abram actually hoped for…that’s what we have to understand because that’s what most applies to us today…which again, Jesus backs this claim up in John 8:56:

John 8:56 (ESV)

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

Abraham, understood the spiritual implications to what God was calling him to…the grand narrative of redemption…which is the grand narrative of Scripture.

And so, what was the promises made to Abram and essentially to us?

Well first, its the promise of a new place to live, right? He doesn’t just tell Abram to leave his home and family, He says, “I’m gonna give you something entirely new”…and listen, He says, “it’s gonna be all yours.” Guys, God will never ask you to give something up where He won’t provide for any lack that may result. In the coming chapters, God, He actually lays out this promise in more specific details…He shows in Genesis 15 that this land, its gonna stretch from the border of Egypt and reach to the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Of course, this promise, it would be fully fulfilled during David and Solomon’s reign…that’s when Abram’s offspring would receive from the Lord all the land He promised.

But you have to understand that there was about 1,000 years or so between Abram and David before this promise would take place…which I think connects to our previous studies in Genesis where we saw God prepare a place first and then place His people…that’s always God’s will. He perfected creation before He placed people. And so, keeping with God’s original intention and design, God promised him a land before giving him possession of it…Abram lived there as a sojourner his entire life.

Listen, I believe while it’s impossible for us to fully know how to take Revelation in this current life, I do think it’s important that you study what we just covered over the last many months and fall somewhere with it, because it does effect how you interpret other parts of the Bible…For example, I believe, in the same ways as Abram, we’re promised something similar to the land through the city that we just studied in the Book of Revelation. The New Testament, it gives us this same promise, in the form of Jesus’s victory and glorious reign in the millennial kingdom and eventually, eternity in the new city. What began as a garden in Eden, it ends as the city of God in the regenerated new creation after Jesus’s return. And as I showed you a couple weeks ago, I think Hebrews 11:10 actually shows us that Abram himself came to this very understanding as well. He didn’t seek God’s promised place in the cities of Canaan or the physical promise land, but rather he looked forward “to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”

And listen, as I mentioned many weeks ago, I believe we live in the promised millennial kingdom now…while Jesus is victorious…and while we reign and have power over sin, we’re living in this foreign land as sojourners, waiting on the promised King to return and deliver us from our enemy…which is the curse of sin. It’s the same idea as Israel awaited their king in David. Our victory today, its in the rock solid promises of God and its been fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus.

Guys, in the same ways as Abram…while we’re called to forsake all. Right? That’s what Jesus says in Matthew 19, 28 and 29. When, we’ve left our homes, and our siblings, and our parents, and our children, and our lands…for His name’s sake…or simply because He’s God…we will receive a promised land…an eternal life…beyond imagination. And listen, that promise of a new place…it completely changes our direction just as we’ve been looking at in Revelation…it causes us, through the Spirit, to live for this new city and these promises…it causes us to desire the things of God.

I mean, as we continue on with Abram’s story, isn’t that what we see happen to him? God’s call changes his direction completely. God’s promise of a new place, it reoriented Abram’s life…and in the same ways, Jesus’s calling us out…Jesus’s promise of an eternal kingdom, it reorients our life.

II. God Changes Our Identity (v. 2)

Point number 2…God changes our identity.

Look at verse 2 with me again. It says, “2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

And so, not only does God give him a new place to live…but now we see Him give Abram a new people. This verse, this calling, it gives a genealogical blessing to Abram. God promises to make Abram “into a great nation.” The language here, it indicates not only that Abram was gonna become a father but also something like a king over a kingdom, right? If you remember, in chapter 10, the Table of Nations, God laid out the heads of all the peoples…and now, He calls Abram here to establish a new nation, a holy nation according to Exodus 19:6.

This calling of Abram…this start to the Israelite nation, its the establishment of God’s people which are for God’s own “possession.”…which of course is also a theme we see all throughout the New Testament about us, right? A people set apart by Him and for Him.

First Peter 2:9 says:

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

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.

In the previous chapter of Genesis, we saw the people of Babylon try and make their own name great, right? And they failed. But here, in Genesis chapter 12, God gives a promise to Abram to “make [his] name great.” And in the same verse, we get the reason why He’ll make Abram’s name great…it wasn’t about pride like those who built the tower toward heaven…it’s all about an outward expression of humility by being “a blessing” to others.

Which of course, poses the question…while its exciting that God’s moving forward with his promise that we saw all the way back in Genesis 3:15, about a promised Savior…how’s Abram gonna take possession of any land or be made into a great nation if he has no offspring?

Next week, we’re gonna examine more of this promise and how Abram responds to God’s calling…but just a little sneak peak, look at verse 7…the Lord says, “To your offspring I will give this land.”

Again, Sarah, Abram’s wife…she’s barren…but the promise of land and a great nation, it just highlights the theme of God’s unconditional grace. Listen, as we continue on with the life of Abram, the struggle to believe that God really would provide a son to be his heir, that was the great test of his life. I mean, at one point…Sarah was so despaired of the promise ever coming true that she arranged for Abram to father a child through her servant. Of course, we know how the story ends…the two do have a son together…Isaac…and of course we see that the Lord was faithful to everything He said.

But the point from the start here, its that God promises something that was beyond probability…and yet it happened…exactly as God had said. And listen, He gave Abram this promise with no conditions…just simply, “I will make you a great nation.” Of course we’ll see Abram come to faith in the next set of verses, but God’s promise, it didn’t depend on Abram’s fulfilling any conditions…it was an unconditional, unilateral declaration of what God was gonna do.

And notice, God didn’t merely promise Abram a people…but guys, He promised Him a nation. Gordon Wenham points out that a nation “[its] a political unit with a common land, language, and government.” This promise of Abram’s offspring as a nation, it wasn’t really fulfilled until the exodus, when Moses wrote Genesis by the Spirit’s inspiration. I mean just imagine the encouragement here for these Israelites as they wandered around in the wilderness and as they read this and as they were reminded of God’s promises to Abram, and ultimately to them. It’s almost like what we saw in Revelation, the same reason it was written to the church…to be an encouragement. They were seeing with their own eyes the fulfillment of God’s promise and they were becoming a “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-6).

Now of course, in the eyes of the world…Israel was far from impressive…they didn’t possess some great military…their economy, it was so basic that the people had to receive daily manna from heaven. Israel would never build cities that would rival places like Babylon or Assyria…they wouldn’t build the kinds of towers or monuments that continue to impress historians today. It wouldn’t be their numbers or the vast lands they’d conquer…the Israelites wouldn’t be known for their great philosophers like the Greeks or the Romans…And so, its easy to sit back and say, “Okay, what makes this nation so great?”

James Boice said this, “The greatness of Israel was a spiritual greatness, and that, by definition, was by the Spirit of God and not by human achievement. They were great because God set His love on them, blessed them spiritually, and, above all, through them sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the world’s Savior.”

I believe, what’s true about Israel…its true about the church today. God gives us a very physical thing, like His promise to Abram and the nation of Israel, to show us spiritually, in the New Testament, what’s He’s promising us. It’s the same thing. The church isn’t some kind of secular government like Israel was in the Old Testament, but we are a vital piece to God’s promise here. Every time believers come to faith in Jesus, join the church through salvation, God’s promise to make Abram into a great nation, it advances closer to ultimate fulfillment.

And listen, just as God promised Abram a blessing that was beyond natural possibility, the same can be said of God’s promises to us in Jesus. Jesus said that sinners who believe in him not only receive forgiveness for all sins, but ultimately that they’ll become perfectly holy. Jesus said in Matthew 13, “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the their Father” (v. 43). It might seem impossible to us as we think about that…as we reflect on our current state, our hearts, the things we struggle with…I mean how could we ever attain to moral perfection like Jesus? The answer, its that God’s promises are fulfilled by God’s power and by the means of His own sovereign devising.

And listen, when we walk in this promise…when we repent and believe in Jesus…not only do we receive a new direction…or better yet a new destination…but we also get a new identity…we’re made into a great nation. We no longer walk in the ways of the world…we no longer belong to this world as Paul says in Ephesians 2…we belong to Christ Jesus and we become a member of His family…a family, that Revelation says, will inherit the city to come and rule in the New Creation for all eternity.

But guys, just because it seems hopeless now, it doesn’t mean God’s promises aren’t true today. If you belong to Jesus, your identity, its found in Him…and your people, your family…its the people of God. Abram, he’s considered the father of Israel, right? And yet, he never saw that nation be established…he never saw that it would lead to the church today…but did it make that promise any less true? No, his entire identity, it was changed at God’s calling.

III. God Changes Our Purpose (v. 3)

And then finally, number three…God changes our purpose.

Look at verse 3 with me again. It says, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Again, this calling from God…it’s almost identical to Jesus’s in Matthew 4:19, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

What purpose does God give Abram with this new calling? That “all the peoples of the earth be blessed through [him].” The nations, they need a blessing, because just as we saw last year, going through the first eleven chapters, they’re all under the curse, linked to the fall that happened in Genesis 3.

And listen, you have to see this…within this call of a global blessing, its a call to a global mission. God’s commissioning Abram and his offspring here to advance His kingdom to all the world. The purpose of Abram and Israel, it was to be a reflection of God and ultimately they were to point people back to Him.

What God speaks to Abram here in our passage, it radiates down through the ages to us as believers. Paul gives us a great explanation of this in Galatians.

He says in Galatians 3:8-9:

Galatians 3:8–9 (ESV)

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

And so, Paul, he points out here that when God spoke to Abram about a blessing coming to the nations through him, he’s not only calling him to a new purpose…He’s actually proclaiming the gospel, far in advance of Jesus’s arrival on the world stage. The gift of God’s grace, it offers humanity through the death and resurrection of this descendant of Abram, it offers the world salvation…and this fulfillment, through God’s own means, is the way in which Abram was to be a blessing to all the nations…the way in which individuals from all over the world would be made right with God through faith.

And listen, the reason Paul re-framed this passage in Galatians, its because it has everything to do with our purpose today. The Great Commission, what Jesus laid out in Matthew 28:19 and 20, its grounded in this Genesis 12 promise. All of us, who are Abram’s spiritual offspring, we get to share the good news about Jesus, the seed that came from Abram…which allows us to join with him in the mission of being a blessing to the world today.

Guys, this calling of Abram here, its a parallel to God’s calling on our lives. We get a new direction, we get a new identity…and guys we get a new purpose…just like Abram. You have to understand that the God we’re reading about here in Genesis 12, its the same God that indwells us now…this is His heart…its always been His heart…Its the essence of His calling then, and its the essence of His calling now. Its all about God’s people, being in God’s place, living for God’s purpose. God’s call to faith, it changes everything about us…where we’re headed, who we belong to, what we live for.

Closing

Listen, as we close this morning…I wanna ask you to bow your head and close your eyes…I’m gonna ask Wendy and the deacons to go ahead and come up. We’re gonna have a time of reflection and then we’ll gather around the Lord’s table for His supper.

But guys, as they do that…I wanna challenge you to reflect on your life. If God changes our direction, as believers, and if He gives us a new place…we should be asking, “Where can I make the most impact right now,” right? If God calls us to a new people and gives us a new identity, “Whom can I make the most impact on right now?” And listen guys, if God calls us to a new purpose, “How can I make the most impact right now?” With a new calling, comes a new mindset and a new heart…we begin to care most about the things God does…and guys, it should be clear here, that God cares about the redemption of His chosen people. As believers, how are you engaged in this mission and how are you blessing others through your calling?

But listen, I wanna end with this…if you’re here today, and you’ve never received Christ…you’ve heard the story of Abram this morning…God called him out and made him entirely new…He gave him a new place, a new people, a new purpose. And listen, Jesus promises the same to us in the New Testament. He tells us in John 3 that when we simply turn to Him and believe in Him, we’ll be given new life…we’ll be reborn. And with that promise, we leave behind this old life…a life that ends in death and damnation because of our sin. With Jesus, we’re forgiven for our rebellion, we’re given new life today, and we receive promises for the future…and like Abram…there’s no prior conditions for this…we don’t have to be righteous in coming to Jesus…In fact, its quite the opposite…we come to Jesus because we’re unrighteous. We come to be made clean.

Listen, I don’t know what you came in here with this morning. Maybe some of you are struggling in your marriages…maybe some of you, you’re struggling with some kind of addiction…maybe its drugs or alcohol…maybe its your impulsive nature with money…maybe its lusting and you can’t break the addiction of porn.

Guys, I want you to look at the life of Abram…before God came to him…before God chose him…all Abram knew was sin and brokenness…all he knew was death and defeat and sorrow. And listen, before Abram did anything, God gave him every promise He could’ve possibly ever made. A place to dwell with God…a people to grow with God…and a new purpose to glorify God.

I heard a pastor say this…there’s not thousands of religions in our world today…there’s two! There’s all the one’s that tell you that the way to heaven is righteousness…and then there’s Christianity, that teaches its all about Jesus’s righteousness…You see, if you ask an orthodox Jew where’d their gonna go when they die…they’re gonna tell you heaven, right? But when you ask ‘em why…they’re gonna say, “Well, I kept all the laws and the commandments..I read the Torah, I’ve memorized it…I’m a righteous man.”

You go to a Muslim and you say, “If you die right now, where would you go?” He’ll most likely say to paradise or heaven…and you’d say, “Why?” “Well, I’ve kept the faith, I’ve honored the pilgrimages, I gave alms, I pray…I’m a righteous man.”

But guys, if you go to the Christian, the real one…and you ask that same question, “If you died right now, where would you go?” He’d say with all certainty, “Heaven!”…”Well, why?”...”I was born in sin and in sin did my mother conceive me…I’ve broken every law God’s ever made…and I deserve nothing but condemnation.” And listen, you’d stop and you’d say, “But I don’t understand!…These other men, I get them…I understand what they’ve done…why they should go there…they’re going there because they’re righteous…but you, you’re telling me with a smile on your face that you’re going to heaven but yet that you deserve death and damnation, the complete opposite. How can it be? They’re going on their righteousness…how are you going there?” And listen, the Christian man, he stops and he says, “I’m going on the righteousness of another…My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! God’s done this thing for me…by His will…by His power!”

You see, every other religion, it tells us what we have to do…that its about our righteousness…But Christianity…its all about acknowledging your brokenness…it’s about acknowledging your sin and defeat and pain and hurt and sorrow, your inability to save yourself…and guys, it’s all about what Jesus did!”

And so listen, turn to Jesus…believe He came to us as the God-man…believe He lived a perfect life…believe He died on a cross for our sins, and believe He rose to life. It’s that simple.

And so listen, as we get ready for the Lord’s Supper…regardless of who you are this morning…you take this time, seek the Lord…confess, repent, allow Him to cleanse your heart…and we’ll close in just a moment.

[Prayer]

Matthew 26:26 (ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:27–29 (ESV)

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”