That Guy?!

Abraham

Marvel Movies are some of my favorite. The first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic universe, was just hit after hit. All of the movies from Captain America to hulk to Iron Man, culminated in the two movies Avengers Infinity War and End Game. It was at this point that I loved these movies because they told one unique storyline throughout the massive 22 movies.

If we begin at the front of the bible and read it starting in Genesis all the way to revelation, We see a better story. We see a true story that starts before time was even created until the return of Christ. We often can take these stories out of the whole narrative of scripture and lose sight of what they truly point to. This morning we are going to look at the story of Abraham, and what I want to do is position it for you so that you can understand the story of Abraham in context of the whole scripture. So If you will turn to genesis 11. but we will begin in Genesis 3. We will be covering over 23 chapters of scripture this morning. While I would love to read them all, Im sure that you have lunch plans already.

When we get to Genesis 3 God has created the heavens and the earth, he has populated it with birds, land animals, bugs, plants, trees and Man. Man was the crown of his creation. God made man in his own image and He created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden. In this garden he placed two trees, one was the tree of life and the other was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave man three commands in the garden first, Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Be fruitful and multiply, and Have dominion over God’s creation. Adam and Eve did not follow the commands of God and sinned by eating from the tree in which they were commanded not to eat. Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they did not follow God’s command thus, Sin entered the world. God in the midst of the sin and guilt that Adam and Eve had, God provided to them a promise. That he will defeat sin and death once and for all. That there would be one that would come from the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent, while the serpent would only bruise the heel of the seed.

You may be wondering why start here? Why do we need to start in Genesis 3 to understand Abraham. We need to start in Genesis 3 because of this promise right here. God in their sin and rebellion made a promise of good news. This is the first instance of the gospel in scripture. That God would defeat sin and death through the seed of the woman. Well we know that Eve bore two sons. Cain and Able. We know what happens to them, dont we? Eve is expecting one of these men to be the promised one that would fix their parents wrong. However, it seems that sin is being passed down from Adam to Cain. Cain kills his brother Able. Able cannot be the seed that was expected because he is dead, and it is not Cain because he murdered his brother. If we were reading Genesis for the first time, We would be wondering is it That guy? Cain? nope not him. That Guy? Able. nope not him. Well Adam and Eve, listened to God and they were fruitful and their descendants were fruitful, humanity began to spread. However, so did sin. Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God decided that he would flood the earth, to provide a new start. He found Noah and his sons. Could Noah be this promised seed? Well after the flood subsided Noah sinned. So it couldn't be him. Noah and his sons were fruitful and multiplied however their children all huddled in one place. They did not listen to God.

We are still waiting, Waiting on the promised seed. Where is he? Where is he coming from? Wickedness is still going throughout the land. Where is this seed that will defeat sin and death once and for all, the one that would crush the head of the serpent. Moses, who is the writer of Genesis, gives us someone else.

Turn to Genesis 11:27-30 “Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.”

You would think that God would choose the Nahor to use to bring the seed through. He had a wife Milcah who could have children.

However, Look at chapter Genesis 12:1-7 “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.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had ap…”

We are introduced to Abram and Sarai. We are told here that Sarai was barren and had no children. God is going to use this guy? Are you serious? His wife cannot have any children and he is old. He will be a great nation? Through Abraham all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Well it doesnt take long to see that the effect of Adams sin is on Abram. First, Abram was from the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans worshipped false Gods, and it was likely that Abram did the same. Secondly, what we see in verses 10-20 of chapter 12 is Abram fled to Egypt to leave a famine and then lie about who his wife was ultimately giving her up to be the Pharaohs concubine. What in the world? This guy is going to be the one in which all the nations are blessed?

Turn to Genesis 15. There are some things that happen in between here concerning his nephew Lot, Lot and Abraham separate and then there is a mission impossible style saving of Lot from some kings. Then Abraham is blessed by some priestly figure named Melchizedek and Abraham gives him a tenth of all that he had and the he was blessed. When we get to chapter 15, God came to abram and said Genesis 15:1-21

Genesis 15:1–21 ESV

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Abram is wondering how he was going to be able to possess the land and be a great nation, if he had not been given an offspring. And something weird happens with a cow, goat, and some birds. What we see here is God making a Covenant with Abram. A covenant is a promise made by two parties to keep. However, God makes a promise that he will give this land to the offspring of abram. God issues Abram to take these animals and cut them in half then after Abram was put to sleep God walked through between the halves of the animals. This act was God saying that the covenant that he was making with Abram was based on himself. If God did not follow through on his promises then God would be treated like these animals. He would essentially put his life on the line for the covenant. Making Abram just a recipient of the blessings of the covenant. The covenant that God made with Abram wasnt dependent on Abram. God was providing a means for Abram to be blessed, He was not relying on Abram to do anything for the blessing of the covenant to occur.

This was good for Abram.

We see in Genesis 15:6 “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” “And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.””

There is something doctrinal that happens here for Abraham. We see a man that followed other gods, that lied, that commited adultery, that had doubt in God, was counted as righteous. There was a judicial exchange that happened here. It wasn't the obedience to the law of God that caused God to see Abraham as righteous. It was faith. It was trusting in God and the promises that God gave. Abraham believed that God would do what he said he was going to do. In that moment, God saw Abraham as righteous.

It is as if everything that Abraham had done or was going to do was forgiven, the unrighteousness was covered by the Lord, and from that point forward all that God saw was a man in right standing before him, perfectly justified.

This is the same for us. There is nothing that you and I can do to make ourselves righteous before God in and of ourselves. We had to have someone to justify us. We are not justified in the presence of God through works. It doesn't matter how many old ladies that we walk across the street, how much money we give to the poor or to the church, if we attend church, if we read our bible, if we pray, these acts or works do not justify us.

We need someone who is righteous in our place. This act of justification or being made right with God, is only found through faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith in Jesus’s death burial and resurrection in our place is what makes us righteous. God has a standard for righteousness. Ultimately, his standard is himself. God as creator has the ability to define the standard for righteousness. In our world today, morality tends to be defined by subjective standers such as peoples feelings. However, to be morally righteous is defined by the creator himself, he is the standard. We cannot reach that perfection. However, in his love and mercy Jesus came and was perfectly righteous, then he went to the cross and became sin for us.

thus through our faith in Jesus we are made righteous just like Abraham was.

maybe this is you today. Maybe you realize that you have thought that you need to be good to receive salvation. Leave all your works behind and believe today..

church, our faith needs to be in Christ alone. Not our positions, pastors, or families… maybe you have misplaced faith. Maybe you like we see with Abraham faith is weak and it causes you not to wait on the Lord to work. See Christ today. See your never ending need for him, his mercies are new every morning as we sojourn to the promise land. the church should help grow one another’s faith. Help each other grow faith. Cultivate spiritual growth by bearing one another’s burdens, praying for one another, and edifying all here in the church.

What we see in the next chapter, is Abram and Sarai continue to mess up. They like us decided to not wait on the Lord and take things into their own hand. Good thing for Abram that the promise was not based on his own ability to obey God but it was based upon God’s promises and God’s ability to keep those promises. Abram then had a child with their servant Hagar. However, Man’s failures does not effect God’s sovereign plan. God does bless Hagar and her son. But the promise child for Abram was still to come. Gods plan was to still use Abram’s offspring through Sarai to fulfill his covenant promise.

In Chapter 17 we see a sign of the covenant given. This sign of the covenant was issued from God as Circumcision. That those who were part of the covenant with God would circumcise themselves to show outwardly that they were a part of the people of the covenant. God issued new names for Abram and Sarai. Abraham the father of many nations. and Sarai will be now called Sarah. There was a promise that God gave Abraham in Gen 17:16 “I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”” That God would now give them a son named Issac. That the covenant promise would continue through the seed of Issac. This promise is fulfilled in chapter 21 of Genesis. Sarah does indeed have a son and his name is Issac. Abraham gives the sign of the covenant to Issac, he circumcises him.

In chapter 22, God calls for Abraham to take his son Issac and offer him as a burnt offering. Abraham obeys traveling three days to the top of the mountain with his son. Issac is older than we normally see him here. Issac would be around 15-18 during this time. He isnt a small boy. Issac helps carry the wood to the top of the mountain. Issac is a smart boy too.

He notices that Abraham did not have a lamb to be sacrificed. And he asks his father, where is the Lamb. Abraham reply that the Lord will provide a lamb. He lays down and Abraham lifts the knife to sacrifice his son. His offspring. The one that he has been waiting for. The promised one of the covenant.

As he is about to plunge the knife into his son, there is a voice that stops him. Saying Abraham, Abraham. Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now i know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

Abraham looks up and there is a ram in the thicket. Abraham sacrifices this ram. and the there is a reminder of the promise given Gen 22:17-18 “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.””

Jesus is the lamb that Abraham was waiting for.

When Abraham was going to sacrifice Issac, Abraham was waiting for a lamb. But a ram was given. The walk to the mount where Abraham set up to provide the burnt offering for the Lord took three days. Abraham would have grieved for his son for the three days, and on that third day, God provided a ram in the place of his only son. To Abraham, Isaac was resurrected. Abraham did not understand what God was going to do but he understood and trusted in the promises of God. Abraham believed God when he said that he would have an offspring not matter the outcome of this sacrifice.

Jesus the son of God came and was the lamb that what promised. Jesus is the lamb that was dead for three days and rose again. Just as the ram went in the place of Isaac so does Jesus die in your and my place. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. For the wages of sin is death, death you and I deserve, and what we see in Christ is that he died the death that we deserve taking the punishment that we deserve. He is our lamb. Just as John the baptist testifies concerning Jesus in John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Behold the Lamb of God today.

I want to focus on one last thing

The Promised Seed: We began following Abraham looking for the promised seed that would come and make things right. As we saw it wasn't Abraham, but a further promise was made to him. Genesis 22:17-18 “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”” “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,”

There was a promised one that would bless all the nations that would come from the linage of Abraham. If you go on to read the rest of Genesis you are left wondering again who this promised seed is. It isnt Issac, Jacob. At the end of Genesis all the people of God are in captivity. God brings the covenant people of God out of the land of Egypt through Moses. The seed isnt Moses, he dies without seeing the land

Paul in Galatians 3:16 “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”

As we read through the whole of scripture we are left wondering who this promised seed is, until we get to the gospels. Here we find that This seed is fulfilled in Jesus. The one that was promised at the beginning. The Jesus came and lived a perfect righteous life. He went to the cross and crushed the head of the serpent. He defeated sin through his death because he took the penalty for sin upon himself even though his was righteous on his own. He died even though he didnt deserve death. He satisfied the wrath of God for sinners through him drinking the full cup of wrath. He defeated death through rising from the dead. The promised seed has come. The one offspring that is promised in Genesis 22:17 and 18. The one that blesses all nation with salvation, redemption and restoration.

Maybe today you come here needing salvation. You see your sin separating you from God. You see your need for a savior. Today is the day of salvation, Repent from your sins and turn to Jesus. He is the only one that will save. Have faith in his death burial and Resurrection.

remeber that promise of blessing to the nations, that the offspring of Abraham would bless all the nations of the world. the purpose of this is seen in Galatians 3:14 “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

See church we are the ones who were the promised nation. We are the ones who are Abraham descendants. Because we have been brought in to the new covenant through the blood of Jesus. It is our faith that has justified us. Just as it was Abrahams faith that Justified him.

We church are the blessing to the nations. How are we a blessing? because we come with the good new of the saving work of Jesus Christ. We come to make disciples, we come to point people to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

If we are honest, do we believe this? Christianity is not a religion of comfort. It is not a stagnant devotion. It is a death to the material, to the comfortable, to familial aspects. We must take up our cross, die to ourselves, and follow Jesus.

Church lets not miss this picture here. Lets continue to labor for the Kingdom of God.

Abraham may seem like a short story in a complex book of stories, but I hope it has been clear for us today, it is more than this. It is a story that points to the best story that was ever written about Jesus Christ.