Genesis Ch25v1-11 - Hope In Death

Well, you may be wondering, why aren't we reading the Gospels and the Resurrection?

Isn't it Easter Sunday?

Well, I think there's hope here.

So let's pray and ask for God's help to us.

Our Father God, we thank you for this day where we, especially as your church across

the world, remember and celebrate Christ risen from the dead and the hope that that brings

to all who will put their trust in you.

Father, we pray that from your word today, we would be encouraged in the hope that we

have, that we would leave this building filled with assurance and confidence of our eternal

destiny with you, filled with a message of hope to a broken and dying world.

Father, help us by your Holy Spirit, we pray.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen.

But it reads like any other obituary.

Look at verse 7.

Abraham lived 175 years.

Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years,

and he was gathered to his people.

Not much to ponder over, is there?

Just another death notice.

Let's move on.

Well, let's not be in such a rush this morning, because it may seem quite ordinary to us, but

these verses, verses 7 and 8, are filled with glorious hope.

Abraham's death tells us with absolute certainty that death is not the end.

In fact, we, like Abraham, can have the same guaranteed hope.

The story of Abraham can be our story too.

So we have a very simple structure this morning, easy to remember, summarised in four words.

Here's the first one.

Abraham lived.

Look at verse 8 with me.

Abraham lived to a good old age.

In fact, he was 175 years old.

Wow, you say, really?

You want me to believe that?

That's impossible.

Nobody lives that long.

Well, the record of Genesis tells us, when we read from the beginning, that people lived

to be hundreds of years old.

However, what we see happening as we read through is a gradual decline in how long people lived.

As the effects of the curse take hold, so the span of life shortens.

In fact, the writer of Psalm 90 would later record this.

He says this,

Our days may come to 70 years or 80 if our strength endures.

That's a pretty accurate assessment for life today.

70, maybe 80 years will live if our strength endures.

But let's not miss the point.

Abraham lived a good old age.

We could say he died a happy and contented man.

A man with a big family dishing out his inheritance.

However, when we take time to look back on Abraham's life,

it's a surprise he even lived so long.

You see, in many ways, Abraham's life was a failure.

He messed up big time.

Remember the different accounts that we've been looking at?

First, there were the lies Abraham told about his wife Sarah.

Whenever they arrived to a new place, they were nomadic people,

so they would travel from one destination to another.

And when they arrived in a new place,

it seemed the ruling lords were known for killing off the men and taking all the women.

So Abraham came up with a wonderful plan.

And this is what he said.

It's recorded for us in Genesis.

He says to his wife Sarah,

This is how you can show your love to me.

Everywhere we go,

say of me,

He's my brother.

It seems it was a regular practice.

Everywhere we go.

Not very courageous of Abraham and not very protective.

It seems he was quite happy to kind of push his wife into danger,

put her into the arms of another man.

Well, as long as he saved his own bacon, that was okay.

Not a great husband.

Then there was the whole business with Hagar,

Abraham's wife's servant.

He went and got her pregnant as he tried to fulfill God's promises for himself.

And it was a disaster.

Desperate family breakdown.

And then, after Sarah died,

chapter 25, verse 1,

Abraham, Abraham, we're told,

had taken another wife.

Which suggests that he actually had more than one living wife.

In fact, the text tells us that he did have others.

Look down at verse 6.

But while he was still living,

he gave birth to the sons of his concubines.

Now, concubines were other women that men took.

Well, they weren't quite a wife or in the category of wife,

just a little bit below.

But they took them to themselves nonetheless.

Whatever happened to God's command about marriage

being an exclusive union between one man and one woman?

Given Abraham's life,

we wouldn't be surprised if God had stepped in and ended it early.

In fact, it wouldn't be a shock to us

if God's patience had run out completely with Abraham.

It seems these 175 years

actually tell us more about God's faithfulness

than Abraham's greatness.

In fact, the only reason Abraham lived as long as he did

is because God promised him many years

and God kept to his promise.

Just look back at chapter 15, verse 15.

There God made a promise to Abraham.

Chapter 15, verse 15.

He says,

You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace

and be buried at a good old age.

The same words that we have in chapter 25.

God kept his promise.

You see, the life we have

is a God-given life.

God made us.

He sustains us.

He provides for all that we have.

We all owe our very existence to God.

Scripture reminds us of that.

Look at the verse on the screen.

This comes from Isaiah the prophet.

This is what God the Lord says,

the creator of the heavens,

who stretches them out,

who spreads out the earth

with all that springs from it,

who gives breath to his people,

and life to those who walk on it.

Job said something similar.

In his hand,

in God's hand,

is the very life of every creature.

And in his hand,

is the breath of all mankind.

Breathe in.

Ah!

Breathe out.

Ah!

That's God sustaining you.

The fact that you are breathing right now,

the fact that you breathe through your sleep,

is God sustaining you.

Not because we're deserving,

but because God is faithful.

And as I look at my life,

both present and past,

I'm amazed at how God has been patient

and persistent with me,

despite all my rebellion,

and all the times I've walked away from God

and ignored him.

My years,

51 though they may be,

is not about the greatness of Johnny Grant,

but the faithfulness of God,

which should lead us all to humble praise and thanks,

to marvel at God's goodness and kindness

to each one of us.

So before you tuck into your Easter roast today,

let me encourage you,

round the table,

to stop and say,

thank you God,

for life.

Thank you God,

for your faithfulness to me.

Your grace and your mercy.

And perhaps,

even sing a verse of,

great is thy faithfulness.

God is good.

Abraham lived.

We live.

This is the story of us all.

So the first word,

lived,

told you it was a very simple outline.

The second word,

died.

Look at verse 8.

Abraham breathed his last

and died.

I was watching a health program the other evening

and in the program we were introduced to a middle-aged mum.

I think she was around about 40.

Her name was Linda.

And a number of tests were arranged.

Her weight was taken,

her height,

her BMI bloods were taken.

She did a stress test.

And then all of the results were fired into this computer program.

It chugged about for a little while

and then it spat out the calculated age

of her predicted death.

74.

12 weeks later,

after a change in exercise,

diet and lifestyle,

the same results were repeated.

All the information fired into the computer.

And guess what?

Age of death?

86.

86.

An increase of 12 years

from 12 weeks activity.

Wow, I wonder,

what if you did a year's activity?

What would that give me?

Well, doesn't that say something about us?

We somehow think

that we can just add years to our life.

And if we're younger,

we think,

wow, we've got buckets of years.

It's kind of an eternity.

We can't even think that far.

I've got so long to live.

But whatever our exercise plan,

whatever our eating habits,

we cannot change the inevitable.

We will breathe our last.

You see, our life is transient.

The list of names in the genealogy,

if you just look forward to verses 12 to 18,

we get this long list of names.

And it helps move the story along

to the next generation.

But it also reminds us

that with every birth comes a death.

So look at verse 12.

This is the account of the family line

of Abraham's son, Ishmael.

Well, what happened to Ishmael?

Look at verse 17.

Ishmael lived 137 years.

He breathed his last and died.

Here today,

gone tomorrow in the blink of an eye.

You see, I think the text is forcing us

to stop and slow down in the busyness

and the rush of life

and all the things that we plan to do

and want to do and say,

slow down and consider your own impending death.

Look what Psalm 39 says.

Show me, Lord, my life's end

and the number of my days.

Let me know how fleeting my life is.

You have made my days a mere hand breath.

The span of my years is as nothing before you.

Everyone is but a breath.

Even those whom seem secure.

Or consider this,

what James says,

the writer in the New Testament.

What is your life?

You know what your life is?

It's a mist.

You know the mist that appears in the morning?

There for a little while.

And then vanishes as it is burnt up by the sun.

You're nothing more than the steam out of a kettle.

Vapour.

You see it and then it's gone.

Think about what days you have.

How long do you think you're going to live?

Our lives are temporary.

We don't last.

We're born and then we die.

The God who gives us life

will one day take our life.

We won't die a second too early

or a minute too late.

It may come at old age,

but it may come through an accident.

One day we will breathe our last.

All the things that we wanted to do,

all the plans for our retirement,

gone in a flash.

Are you ready for your last breath?

Abraham lived.

Abraham died.

And we die.

This is the story of us all.

Well, third.

Gathered.

So Abraham lived.

He died.

And was buried.

Right?

Well, not so fast.

Let's not go to the funeral too quickly.

Look at the text.

Verse 7.

Abraham lived 175 years.

Then Abraham breathed his last

and died at a good old age.

An old man and full of years.

And he was gathered to his people.

You say, what's this gathering all about?

Well, gathered to his people.

It's a rare phrase to find in the Bible

and seen just on a few occasions

throughout the Old Testament.

But it's hinting, it's telling us that

though there's a death,

there is a life after death.

He was gathered to his people.

His soul departed

and his physical body was left behind.

Look at the progression.

We're told that he lived,

he died,

then he was gathered.

And then in the next verse,

we read about his burial.

So this isn't just another term for burial.

He was gathered to his people.

Oh, he was buried.

No.

It's something distinct,

separate from

he was gathered,

then he was buried.

And it's not another term

for an ancestral grave.

Because we know that Abraham

didn't go back to his ancestors.

He was buried in a small cave

alongside his wife, Sarah.

So it seems the author wants us to stop

and take on board

and recognise that,

yes, he lived, he died,

but there is a life after death.

Where you say,

well, isn't that stretching things

a little bit, Johnny?

Aren't you reading a little bit

too much into it?

Well, I don't think so

because the burial that we read of

in verses 9 to 10

point to that.

Look at verse 9.

His sons, Isaac and Ishmael,

buried him in the cave

at Machpelah near Mamre

in the field of Ephron,

son of Zohar, the Hittite,

the field Abraham had bought

from the Hittites.

There Abraham was buried

with his wife Sarah.

Well, you go,

well, what's all the detail

about this burial plot

and the place it is

and that he bought it?

Why not just tell us

he was buried?

Well, remember,

God had made a promise

to Abraham

that he would have a land

that he could call home,

the promised land of Canaan.

And as a sign of his faith

in God's promises,

as we read at the end

of verse 10,

Abraham bought a burial site

in Canaan.

Yes, it was the Hittites,

but the land was known

as the land of Canaan.

And this whole account

of buying the land

is recorded for us

back in chapter 23.

It's not a lot of land

that he manages to buy.

It's just a field

with a cave in it,

somewhere to bury the dead.

But for him,

it was much more

than just a burial site.

It was a foretaste

of what will one day

be received.

You see,

when Abraham bought the land,

he was investing

in his future inheritance.

For Abraham,

this burial site

pointed to something greater

and more eternal.

Go with me, please,

to Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

It's on page 1209,

if you're using a church Bible.

1209,

Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And here we see

a gathering

that Abraham

was looking forward to.

We'll pick it up

in verse 13.

We've read other verses

in chapter 11,

but here's verses

we haven't read.

Chapter 11,

verse 13.

All these people

were still living by faith.

People like Abraham

were living by faith

when they died.

They did not receive

the things promised.

They only saw them

and welcomed them

from a distance,

admitting that they were

foreigners

and strangers

on earth.

They saw life

on this world

as temporary.

Verse 14.

People who say

such things

show that they are

looking for a country

of their own.

But what kind of country

was he looking forward to?

Well, we're told.

Verse 15.

If they had been thinking

of the country

they had left,

they would have had

opportunity to return.

Instead,

they were longing

for a better country,

a heavenly one.

Therefore,

God is not ashamed

to be called their God,

for he has prepared

a city for them.

Now, you can keep

your Bibles open

there in Hebrews.

We're going to come

back to it in a minute.

But look,

when Abraham died,

he was first of all

raised and gathered

to his people.

He joined all those

who by faith

were longing

for their eternal home.

You see,

the physical land

of Canaan,

the place where

he was buried,

was pointing to

not just the promised land,

but the eternal land.

The land of the new heavens

and new earth,

a new country.

An inheritance

that would never perish,

spoil or fade.

In fact,

it was something

that was guaranteed.

It's promised to us

by God.

And he promises

to keep us

for that glorious inheritance.

It's a double security.

You see,

this is what is promised

to all God's people.

We can have the sure

and certain hope

that we will be gathered

with and to his people,

that death is not

the end of the story.

Abraham lived.

He died.

And he was gathered.

And we too

can also be gathered.

This is the story

of God's people.

So fourth,

lived,

died,

gathered,

raised.

You see,

Abraham longed

for a better country.

But why was he

so confident

about his future?

How was he

so assured

of his eternal destiny?

Well,

one word.

Resurrection.

Abraham believed

that God

could raise

the dead.

well,

how do you know that?

Well,

because the Bible

tells us.

Have a look at verse 17,

Hebrews chapter 11,

Hebrews 11:17

verse 17.

This is recording

the account

of when Abraham

was called

to sacrifice

his son Isaac,

although in fact

God never intended

that to happen

because he would

provide

something in place

of Isaac.

but let's see

what it says here,

verse 17.

By faith,

Abraham,

when God

tested him,

offered Isaac

as a sacrifice.

He who had

embraced

the promises

was about

to sacrifice

his one

and only son

even though

God had said

to him,

it is through Isaac

that your offspring

will be reckoned.

Even though

that the promised

blessings

rested

in Isaac

and in his family

to come,

Abraham believed.

What did he believe?

Well, look at verse 19.

Abraham reasoned

that God

could even

raise

the dead.

Abraham

knew God

to be faithful

and he would

never break

his promise.

So Abraham

reasoned

in the faithful

God that he is.

He calculated.

He weighed it

all up about

the character

of God

and all his

promises made.

that even

if his son

was sacrificed,

even if his

son died,

God

could take

Isaac by the

hand

and raise

him from the

dead.

That's what

he believed.

And that's

what gave

Abraham

his confidence

and assurance.

God

could

raise

the dead.

God

would

say,

God

could

raise

the dead.

God

could

raise

the dead.

Did God

raise the dead?

Was Abraham

right to put

all his hope

in God?

God

Well,

what Abraham

reasoned

we have

had

fulfilled.

You see,

we have

something

better and

greater.

What Abraham

longed for

for God

to do,

we now

look back

on to what

God has

already

done.

We have

something

better and

greater,

don't we?

because we

know that

God has

sent his

son,

his only

son,

the son

he loved,

to die

for us.

He died

to deal

with all

of our

failures

over all

the years

that we

may live.

He takes

our

disobedience

on himself

and he

is punished

in our

place.

He dies

our

death.

But more

than that,

the scriptures

tell us

that three

days later

Jesus

bodily

and

physically

walked out

of that

grave,

out of

the tomb

of death

came a

life that

destroyed

death.

So all

who put

their faith

in Jesus

have absolute

confidence

and complete

assurance that

death is not

the end,

it is only

the step

into our

eternal

destiny,

that better

country,

that heavenly

city.

you see,

the death

of Abraham

gives us

a picture

here of

how we

should

understand

our own

death

and

resurrection.

all

centred in

and founded

upon the

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ as

he looked

forward in

faith,

we look

back in

faith.

For

Abraham,

a resurrection

has happened

and a

resurrection

is yet

to come.

Well,

what do you

mean?

Well,

first for

Abraham,

when he

first died,

his soul

was raised.

He was

gathered to

be with

his people,

the people

of faith.

His physical

body remained.

It was left

to decompose

in the grave

alongside his

wife Sarah.

But his soul

was raised,

gathered with

the company

of God's

people.

Now,

that is true

for Abraham

and that

is true

for us

if we

put our

faith

in God.

The moment

we die,

our soul

will be

raised,

gathered

to be

with the

company

of God's

people.

But second,

there's another

resurrection,

isn't there?

For Abraham,

way back

then,

he was

waiting

for the

Lord's

return.

When Jesus

would come

again and

his soul

would be

reunited

with his

body,

a brand

new body,

not a body

that would

get corrupt

and get

sick,

but a body

that would

never get

sick and

never suffer

again.

And when

the Lord

Jesus would

come again,

at that

moment in

the future,

Abraham

believed

that what

he longed

for would

become a

reality.

He would

step into

that new

creation,

that promised

land.

Not just

a soul,

but a

physical

being

made new.

That isn't

just true for

Abraham,

it is true for

all who

trust in

God.

Well,

how can we

be so

sure?

Well,

go with me

to 1st

Thessalonians.

It's on

page 1188.

1st

Thessalonians

chapter 4,

it's on

page 1188.

We're going

to read

these verses

together,

because I

think they

bring a

conclusion

to what

we've been

thinking

about.

We're

thinking about

a gathering

to be with

God's

people,

that's our

first

resurrection,

and then

when Christ

returns,

that full

and final

resurrection,

where we

will be

gathered

with all

God's

people.

Verse 13,

we'll pick

it up,

chapter 4,

verse 13.

Brothers

and sisters,

we do

not want

you to

be uninformed

about those

who sleep

in death.

Now,

what's sleep

in death?

Well,

there's a

similar phrase

at the end

of verse 14,

where it says

about fallen

asleep in

him,

and the

end of

verse 15,

the same

thing,

fallen

asleep.

It simply

means that

those who

have died

trusting

in God.

People

like

Abraham,

any

person

who has

died

and has

been trusting

in God,

sleep

in death.

Their

soul is

raised.

So let's

read from

verse 13

again.

Brothers

and sisters,

we do

not want

you to

be uninformed

about those

who sleep

in death,

who died

trusting

in God,

so that

you do

not grieve

like the

rest of

mankind

who have

no hope,

because we

do have

hope.

Verse 14,

for we

believe that

Jesus died

and rose

again,

and so we

believe that

God will

bring with

Jesus those

who have

fallen asleep

in him.

According to

the Lord's

word,

we tell you

that we

who are

still alive,

that is,

if we're

still living

by the time

Jesus is

coming again,

who are

left until

the coming

of the

Lord,

will

certainly

not

precede

those

who have

fallen

asleep.

For the

Lord himself

will come

down from

heaven with

a loud

command,

with the

voice of

the archangel,

and with

the trumpet

call of

God,

and the

dead in

Christ

will rise

first.

So people

like Abraham,

people that

we know of

who've died

trusting Christ,

will rise.

And what

about us

if we're

still alive?

Verse 17,

After that,

we who are

still alive

and are

left will

be caught

up together

with them

in the

clouds to

meet the

Lord in

the air,

and so

we will

be with

the Lord

forever.

What a

sight!

What a

gathering that

will be!

All of

God's

people from

all time

and all

history

gathered

together as

one new

people,

raised from

the dead,

given their

brand new

body,

looking forward,

enjoying and

experiencing that

heavenly country,

the new

creation,

where there is

no more

suffering and

no more

death.

Verse 18,

Therefore,

encourage one

another with

these words.

So you

see,

Abraham's

death

didn't end

in death.

He lived,

he died,

he was

gathered to

his people,

and he

along with

us are

looking forward

to the

Lord's

return,

where he

will gather

all God's

people,

and we

will reign

with him

forever.

What hope

we have,

what encouragement

for us

today.

Let's pray.

Father,

we thank you

for the

life of

Abraham.

We thank

you for

his life

and his

account

recorded

for us,

telling us

all about

what he

did,

how he

died,

how he

was gathered,

how he's

longing and

looking forward

to that

final

resurrection.

thank you

Lord,

that with

the same

faith,

we too

have hope.

We have

hope in

death today,

life to

come for

all eternity.

Peace

with you,

rest at

last.

Thank you

Lord Jesus

for your

victory

over death

today.

Please

will you

send us

with that

word of

encouragement

and may

we

encourage

all those

we meet

with the

truth of

our risen

saviour.

Amen.