Untitled Sermon (5)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
How many of you love the olympics? What are you favorite sports at the Olympic games?
Hockey, swimming, snowboarding, races
What’s so cool about the olympic games? So many different type of nations and countries are represented!
Right after Noah left the Ark, nations began to develop once again.
Problem: they still sinned! Made the tower of Babel and attempted to replace God in their pride. God scrambled their languages so that they would go about the whole earth and subdue it
Since creation: the good land and good people have been marred by sin. We saw that God promises a savior and also last week with Noah that GOd promises not to destroy the earth until the end times.
Today: God begins to develop this promise of salvation with a man named Abraham
HI: God Promises salvation by bringing blessing through Abraham
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Elements: God will:
1. Make Abraham a great nation
2. Bless Abraham
3. Make Abraham's name great
4. Bless those who bless him
5. Curse those who curse him
6. Bless all nations
Abraham will: Go from his land and bless others
God’s blessing to Abraham results in two key promises which begin to show us how God is going to reverse the curse of sin! God promises to restore the land and redeem a people.
God Promises to Restore the Land
God Promises to Restore the Land
Explanation
Get out of your country in Haran and go to the land of Canaan (See map)
He promises to give them a brand new land
Promises to make them a great nation. This includes the promise of people but it also involves a land. Any nation needs a piece of land
Land promises:
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Why is it so important that they have this land?
Well you can’t have a king without a land right?
More importantly: remember how we started off this study by saying that man was in the garden of Eden? Well, God promises this new land to the people of Israel because he wants the people to possess a new land that will one day be restored!
What exactly is God promising here? I think two things:
First, he’s promising specifically to give the people the land of Canaan to be their possession
Second, I think he’s foreshadowing a time when the earth will be re-created and we’ll live on a new land: a new heaven and a new earth!
Illustration
Rachel and I just bought a house. There’s some things we want to change to it, and we look forward to the day when it’s done and finished just as we like. Now I know the George’s are moving soon, and maybe some of you other ones have moved recently.
Point: We live now but we hope for a day when the world will be as it should be!
Application
Here’s a question I want some feedback on: what are some hard things you have to do when you work or do chores?
Perhaps take out the smelly trash? You get ticks or bugs on you when you go outside, you get sunburnt at the beach (let me tell you, I get REALLY burnt at the beach)
We live in a world that is no longer perfect because of the curse of sin.
This promise looks forward to a perfect heaven and earth:
What would a perfect heaven an earth look like?
Trees in abundance, amazing fruit, what cool houses we could build if they’re perfect, what type of new jobs will we be able to work?
Transition: So God through Abraham will revers the curse of the land, but he’ll also redeem a people! He’ll reverse the curse of sin on people!
God Promises to Redeem a People
God Promises to Redeem a People
Explanation
Back to
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Great nation, great name
Includes people.
Blessing to Abraham
Implies he’ll have a number of offspring
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
This refers yes to his physical offspring: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and then all who were in Egypt who came out during the Exodus (about 600,000 men not incl women and people under 20, around 1.5-2 mil?)
In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
God promises that these people will possess that land as well
Blessing/Cursing to other nations
Develop later into a great nation
All nations will be blessed (Christ)
From this large group of people blessing would come. What is that blessing? Well, true redemption comes from the people of Israel
Note: the true children of Abraham are physical Israelites, yes. However, we are Abraham’s spiritual children because we are Christians!
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Because Jesus is the true offspring of Abraham, he brings ultimate blessing to the nations. We who have been saved are blessed through Abraham
Christ is the true seed of Abraham which will bring blessing to the nations. We as Christians are saved by Christ which makes us spiritual descendents of Abraham. We have the same faith as Abraham and the same saving promises which God gave to Abraham apply to us as christians!
Application
Jesus promises to create a new people. Remember he fixes the problem of both the corrupt land and the corrupt people. Well, this blessing of all nations points towards the time when Jesus will bless all people:
What are some ways that we are blessed in Jesus:
Forgiven of sin!
Adopted as GOd’s children
Given new life
We have the power to obey God, we have a right relationship with God
Conclusion
Conclusion
God fixes: land problem and sin problem
This is the greatest story ever told! Encourage you to talk with your family about all the good things that Jesus has done for us.
Next week we’ll be looking at how the people of God should live: God’s covenant with Moses.