Seeing God through Abram

Genesis 12:1–4 NASB95

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

INTRO: Today, we move into a look at Abram. We know him better as Abraham. Abraham is a popular character in Scripture - Do you know his story?

Well, if you grew up in church, as I did, you probably remember singing a song about “Father Abraham” And, just to help you wake up and get in the mindset, I’m gonna ask you to join me in singing part of it:

Father Abraham had many sons Many sons had Father Abraham I am one of them and so are you So let's just praise the Lord

That was fun, don’t you think? Ok, well the book of Genesis has about 13 chapters that tell different aspects of Abraham’s life.

We see his faults and his failures along with the things that Abraham is praised for. But ultimately Scripture is given not to testify of good men, but of our Great God. So, we are going to look at just these first few verses this morning as we seek to learn and grow in our relationship with God.

Hopefully, you picked up a bulletin on your way in this morning. If so, I invite you to use the provided sermon guide as you follow along. As always, I hope you’ll make use of the discussion questions in your small group or family time this week.

Let’s learn together how we can See God through Abram.

Now, as we look at Gen 12:1, the first thing we see is

Abram’s Story Demonstrates God’s Character (1a)

This is kind of subtle, but let me just emphasize the first part of v.1.

“Now the Lord said to Abram...”

I know it doesn’t seem like much, but this shows us a few things:

It shows us that God is sovereign.

Out of all the people who descended from Noah- through Babel and past, God spoke to Abram. Look back at all these descendents of Shem in Chapter 11 and even the other names listed in chapter 10. All these people, and God spoke to Abram.

Why did God choose Abram? Because He wanted to.

It was not because of Abram’s outstanding character or talents. It was not because he was a champion or even because he was the best available choice.

Abram had no merits, but God chose to speak to him.

It also shows that God is merciful and that He is the initiator in relationships.

You see, Abram was part of a people that were idolators- worshippers of false gods. We see that in Joshua 24:2. It was a great act of mercy that God spoke to Abram, otherwise he would have continued in his sinful ways.

By the way, God continues to show his mercy in this way. Paul reminds us

Colossians 2:13–14 NASB95

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

I am so thankful that God is still the same! You and I can praise God because He saw fit to open our eyes to the wonderful truth of the Gospel- that He would draw us through His Holy Spirit into a relationship that is reconciled through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!

We can confess that we too were once lost- separated from God and headed toward eternal punishment, but because of God’s character, I heard the Gospel and responded. I am washed clean, wrapped in righteousness because of God’s character, not my own.

Discuss: How is God’s character demonstrated in your story? How does it compare with Abram’s?

Abram’s story demonstrated God’s Character. Secondly,

Abram’s Story Expresses God’s Requirement (1b)

Let’s consider what God was calling Abram to do: (READ 1b)

God called Abram to a radical abandon of his whole world.

He was called to leave his country- the land he knew and depended on. This was a complete separation from a culture of sinful practices. Some might suggest that this was some sort of monastic call, but if we look at the three-fold call to leave country, family, and even his own father’s house, we can recognize that this is a call to forsake his old way of life.

Everything he trusted, every habit he developed, every cultural practice, every family ritual was to be abandoned in obedience to God

Now, this might seem kind of extreme, but God was not looking for Abram to integrate worship of Him amidst his other practices. In fact, God is very consistent here. When we look through the books of Exodus and Joshua, we see that God commands Israel to eradicate the people from the land. This was not to be cruel, but rather to keep people from minimizing the person of God and His worthiness to be praised.

ILL: This reminds me of what rehab doctors tell their drug addict patients. If a drug addict goes back to the same area, hangs out with the same people, and has the same enabling factors, they will most likely relapse.

The same is true in the life of a believer. God calls us to repent. Repent simply means to turn away from or abandon one way of thinking and life and turn to another. This was the message of Jesus and the disciples in their ministries.

Matthew 4:17 NASB95

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Luke 24:46–47 NASB95

and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Peter’s first sermon in Acts is followed by the instructions

Acts 3:19 NASB95

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

We are called to abandon our old sinful patterns. In fact, Jesus tells us that we are to die to ourselves (Luke 9:23) and follow Him and Paul reiterates saying that our old self is crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6).

We testify to just this in the ordinance of baptism, which is one really good reason to practice baptism by immersion. In baptism, we are signifying a death to the old life and a raising to life in Christ.

Abram’s story teaches us of God’s compassionate character - His sovereignty and merciful initiative in pursuing mankind. It also highlights God’s requirement to forsake the old, sinful way of life in pursuit of His directives.

Discuss: What all did Abram have to give up in obedience? Has God required you to abandon something?

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly,

Abram’s Story Testifies of God’s Generosity (2-3)

Let’s read these 2 verses again, shall we? (READ)

Notice all that God promises that He will do

For Abram, this is a promise of a legacy and an impact on the future

Abram will have a role in blessing the world even as God blesses him.

Now, I’m sure that Abram was a good guy in the midst of his people, but everything that he could ever hope for, God promised him. This was more than man would ever accomplish- even as we come from the account at Babel where man sought to make a name for himself and was frustrated - Now we see that God promised Abram that He would not only make him a great nation, but that he would be the instrument through which all the world would be blessed.

*NOTE* - This promise is specific for Abram. We don’t get to claim this promise. Don’t go out of here telling folks that God has promised to make you a great nation or to make your name great...

But, I would like to point us to God’s consistency in generosity. To do that, I want to take us to a couple NT passages.

2 Corinthians 8:9 NASB95

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Next, I’d like to point us to the parables of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13.

First, there is the parable of the buried treasure. Do you remember this one?

Matthew 13:44 NASB95

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Likewise the parable of the pearl

Matthew 13:45–46 NASB95

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Jesus is explaining that what He offers in His kingdom is far more valuable than all the possessions we could ever accumulate.

Finally, I’ll remind you of

John 3:16 NASB95

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

God’s generosity is such that we cannot even begin to fathom it. We try to write songs about God’s kingdom. We read the scenes in Rev. 21 -22 and long for that day.

Discuss: What are some of God’s generous promises? How seriously do you take them?

Now, you may be thinking- “OK, so we’ve seen God’s character through Abram/ Abraham. So what?”

Well, we’ve looked at God’s compassionate character in choosing Abram. We’ve seen God’s requirement of full abandon and we’ve caught a glimpse of God’s generosity.

Folks, It is by God’s grace and compassion that you have have heard the Gospel message. That we are all sinners, separated from God by our rebellion. That the wages of sin is death and we deserve hell and eternal separation from God. But God, being rich in mercy and generously compassionate sent His son to take on flesh and endure the penalty that we owe so that we might be reconciled to Him.

Do you remember at the beginning of our time how I talked about Abraham being a highly esteemed character in Christian history? Do you know what made him great? Let me tell you:

He believed God. He believed Him in Gen. 12:4 and he believed him later in the birth of His son and even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his son in obedience and reverence to God.

Folks, what we truly believe about God will determine our eternity. If we believe that Jesus is God’s son- fully God Himself, and that He took the penalty for our sins, then we will lay down this life of sin and gladly live in surrender to Christ.

Abraham’s name was recorded in the role call of faith in Hebrews 11. Your name will be recorded in the book of life if you truly believe in Christ.

As we close, I’d like to invite you- if you have never laid down your sinful life to be raised in newness with Jesus, you take this opportunity to repent of your sins- to lay them down, knowing that Christ has nailed them to that old cross, and give your life in surrender to Him this morning.