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Seok Hoon Jung

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Text: Genesis 11:30-12:3 Title: God Who Brings Life to a Barren Land

If someone asked you

to name two of the most important people in the Old Testament,

who would you choose?

The Gospel of Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus,

and two key names stand out.

These two people are called ancestors of Jesus.

Do you know who they are?

Matthew 1:1 says: “This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

Abraham is clearly one of the most important people in the Bible.

That’s why today’s passage from Genesis 11 and 12 is so meaningful.

Genesis 12:1-3 is especially important.

Why is that?

Because this is when God called Abraham, the ancestor of Jesus,

and gave him His first promise.

Many Bible scholars call this moment in Genesis 12 a second calling.

In the book of Genesis, there are two major callings from God.

Abraham’s calling is the second one.

So, what was the first calling? The first calling happened when God created the world through His Word. The Bible says: “Let there be light,” and light appeared.

It’s as if God called out to the light, and the light came to Him.

Just like God called the light, the land, and every living thing,

He now calls Abraham, the ancestor of His people.

But Abraham’s calling is not just about one person believing in God. Why not?

Because this is the first time God calls someone to begin building His people.

This is why Matthew 1 connects Jesus, Abraham, and David

—they’re all part of God’s plan.

What does God’s calling remind you of?

It reminds me of Jesus calling His 12 disciples. How did Jesus call them to follow Him?

He didn’t try to convince them with arguments or teach them complicated ideas.

Jesus Calls His Disciples

Mark 1:20: 20 As soon as Jesus saw them, he called them.

They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the workers and followed Jesus.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus called,

the disciples answered right away and followed Him. The disciples quickly said "yes" to Jesus' special call.

But what does it mean that Jesus called these 12 disciples? Can we just say that Peter was saved, or Matthew was saved? Yes, that’s true. They were surely saved by Jesus’ powerful and loving call.

But, as you know, these 12 disciples also stand for something bigger

—they represent the new people of God's kingdom. Jesus called the church to be a new creation.

So, we need to ask an important question: In what kind of situation did God begin His new creation?

God’s new creation is an amazing work.

Did this great plan begin in a happy or hopeful situation?

We humans like to start things in good conditions.

We think,

"If we have a strong foundation and lots of support, we can do something amazing."

But does God begin His work the same way we would? The answer is “no.” The Bible says “no.”

Many Old Testament scholars think this way:

God’s calling of Abram must be understood in connection with Genesis 11:30.

So, what does Genesis 11:30 say? It’s clear that God didn’t call Abram

because his family had a lot of good things going for them.

In fact, it was the opposite.

That’s why today’s sermon starts with Genesis 11:30.

Let’s look at the Bible.

In Genesis 11:10-32, we see a list of family history. It tells us about Noah’s son Shem and his descendants, leading to Abram.

But verse 30 stands out. It doesn’t really fit the pattern of the family history.

This makes it a very special verse.

What does it say? It says, “Sarai was not able to have children.”

Think about where this verse is placed. Family histories usually have a very simple structure: “This person had a child, then lived a certain number of years, and died.”

But in this list, we suddenly see the story of a woman who couldn’t have children.

This is very unusual among the repeated stories of people

having children and continuing their family lines.

And yet, this verse is very important to fully understand Genesis 12:1-3. Through this verse, we learn something crucial about God’s work.

What is it?

The truth is that God’s work doesn’t begin in good or easy situations. God’s work often starts in situations that seem impossible.

God’s work is to bring hope where there is no hope. God’s work is to bring life where there is no life.

This is the most important background

for today’s story about Abraham’s calling.

God starts a new history by choosing a family

that cannot have children and creating a new people. This is how God works.

If you know the story in Genesis 11,

you’ll see that this isn’t just about one family having no hope or future. Why is that?

After God created people, He felt sorry for how they turned away from Him.

So, He chose Noah, judged the world with a flood,

and started over with a new humanity.

But what did those people do? They used their own abilities and wisdom to go against God.

What is this about?

It’s the story of the Tower of Babel. The people came together, built the tower,

and said they wanted to challenge God. They built the tower to make themselves greater than God.

What kind of hope could come from humans who act this way? That’s why Sarai’s inability to have children isn’t

just about one family’s hopelessness.

It also shows that even this new humanity has no real hope.

In this desperate situation,

where there is no way for humans to fix the problem of sin, God, the Creator, begins His work of salvation.

He chooses a family that seems lifeless and powerless.

In Genesis 11, God scattered humanity and brought down their proud tower,

which they built with their supposed wisdom and strength.

But God takes a single useless stone

from that broken tower and begins building His kingdom. This is the new beginning God is making.

This is exactly how God works.

What does the Bible compare to the work of redemption through Jesus Christ?

1 Peter 2:7: 7 This stone is of great value for you who believe;

but for those who do not believe: “The stone which the builders rejected

as worthless became the most important of all.”

The Bible tells us that a stone, thrown away because it seemed useless,

became the cornerstone of a building.

For us who believe, it is a precious treasure.

But from the world’s perspective, it’s true—

God uses stones that others reject to build His kingdom.

The same message is in today’s Scripture. God says He will call people who seem least likely to have life

and make them His people.

He promises to create His people,

as countless as the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky.

But surprisingly, the family where this begins is the one

that seems the farthest from life. It’s a family where the spark of life has already gone out.

This is how God’s new beginning starts, according to the Bible.

So, what about God’s first creation? Was there a perfect starting point? Was there already great life in existence?

The Bible says in Genesis 1:2: “The earth was formless and empty.”

The Bible tells us that God created life

in a place where no life could be found. Why does God start His creation in the middle of nothing, in a hopeless situation?

What can we learn from this part of God’s new creation?

The truth is that God’s work of creation shows His power,

which doesn’t rely on anything from us.

God’s word is powerful and doesn’t depend on the ability of the listener. Since God already has everything needed to create a new nation,

He can begin His work even in the most barren land.

God shows us that He is the One who can bring life to dry and lifeless places.

What is our calling?

When do we experience God’s grace? When we think we can live on our own,

we cannot experience the grace of the Lord.

But when we admit that we have no hope,

then we can truly experience God’s grace.

When we confess that we deserve death,

and when we admit that life is cut off from us because of sin, God allows us to experience the grace of resurrection through Jesus Christ.

In other words,

when we confess we don’t have life,

God lets us experience His gift of life.

I hope we can make this confession: We were hopeless sinners, and we are still hopeless sinners. But we trust that the God who called us is the God of life. He loves sinners with no hope and raises the dead to life.

How does the Bible teach that only God works?

Let’s look at the promises in Genesis 12:2 and 3.

Who is the one making these promises? The promises are made up of five sentences, all spoken in the first person. The subject is God Himself.

“I will make you into a great nation”

“I will bless you”

“I will make your name great”

“I will bless those who bless you”

“I will curse whoever curses you”

This shows that God’s promises are fulfilled by Him alone.

What good news this is!

It’s joyful and comforting

because it doesn’t depend on us

—weak, flawed, and hopeless as we are—but on God,

who speaks and creates life through His word.

So, what do we need in response to the gospel that brings life from death?

We need faith, like the faith Abram had.

The Apostle Paul links Abram’s faith to the resurrection.

Romans 4:17: 17 As the scripture says, “I have made you the father of many nations.”

This promise is true in the sight of God, whom Abraham believed

—the God who brings the dead to life

and creates what does not exist by His command.

What did Abram believe? He believed that God is the one

who raises the dead and brings into being what doesn’t exist.

Abram already knew. At 75 years old,

when he left his home,

he understood there was no chance of new life between him and Sarai. He knew he had no hope.

But the Bible says that when God called him, Abram believed. He believed that God is the one who brings the dead to life

and creates what doesn’t exist.

Abram believed in God’s power

—the power to bring life to a barren land where nothing could grow. He trusted that our God can turn death into life.

Do we have this kind of faith?

What truth are we called to believe? We believe that God accomplishes His work Himself. We trust that God’s life-giving power works, even in the most barren places.

So, let’s not focus on our circumstances or our own abilities. Instead, let’s be people who look to God, the one who is working among us.

The second thing we need is to receive God’s promise

with faith and obey His word.

God said to Abram: Genesis 12:1: The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land I will show you.”

But this was not an easy thing to do. Why? Because God was asking Abram to leave everything he thought would protect him— His hometown, his relatives, and his father’s house.

God was telling him to leave the place where he felt safe.

And then God promised, “I will give you life.”

But to receive that promise,

Abram had to leave the safety of everything he knew.

Through this story, we see an important truth: Staying in a place of safety cannot solve the problem of lifelessness or barrenness.

The truth is, taking risks and trusting God’s Word brings hope.

Letting go of the things you depend on makes a way for new life.

God’s call to Abram is closely connected to Jesus’ invitation.

Mark 8:35: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

So we need to ask ourselves again: Do we truly want to escape from a hopeless situation? Do we have hope for resurrection life even in the middle of lifeless despair?

If we want to leave our hopeless situation,

the Bible tells us we must stop relying on what feels secure

and instead trust in God’s word.

Jesus also calls us to leave what we hold onto and follow Him. Answering His call will come at a cost.

How did Abram respond to God’s call? Genesis 12:4 says: When Abram was 75 years old, he obeyed and left Haran, as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him.

The writer of Hebrews explains it this way: Hebrews 11:8: It was by faith that Abraham obeyed

when God called him to go to a land God promised to give him.

He left without knowing where he was going.

Did you know this? God promised Abram a large land and many descendants. But during Abram’s lifetime, he saw very little of what God had promised: The land he received was small,

and he had only one promised son after waiting many years.

This is the obedience of Abram,

who followed God without knowing where he was going.

What does this mean? It means that

even though Abram didn’t see the results of God’s promises right away,

he still held on to God’s word and obeyed for 25 years.

Yes, there were times when he made mistakes and doubted,

but he never gave up trusting in God’s promise.

I hope we can have the same kind of obedience. The Bible teaches that relying on all the safety measures we think we need

is not true obedience to God.

What are the things we are still holding on to? What is stopping us from experiencing new life?

Even if obeying God’s commands seems risky,