Genesis Ch11v10-12v9 - Gracious Blessing

Genesis chapter 11.

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

We come to the end of our series in Genesis, these foundational chapters.

If we want to understand the story of the Bible, we really need to start at the beginning,

and we've been looking at these first foundational chapters, which really shape and help us understand the whole of the story.

So if you've missed any of the talks, maybe you've been teaching on Sunday School and you've missed them,

they're all recorded for you, they're all online, and they're there for you to follow up and to go over.

So we're going to read this morning our last part of the beginning of Genesis.

We're going to start chapter 11, verse 27, through to chapter 12 and verse 5.

Let's read, let's hear God's Word.

This is the account of Terah's family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Aaron, and Aaron became the father of Lot.

While his father Terah was still alive, Aaron died in Ur of the Chaldeans in the land of his birth.

Terah, Abram, and Nahor, both married.

The name of Abram's wife was Sarai.

The name of Nahor's wife was Milcah.

She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson, Lot of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the father of his son Abram.

And together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.

But when they came to Aaron, they settled there.

Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

And the Lord said to Abram,

Go from your country, your people, and from your father's household to the land I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.

And I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse.

And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.

Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Aaron.

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot,

All the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Aaron.

And they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Well, great words.

Let's pray and ask for God's help.

Father, we thank you for this account of beginnings.

The beginnings of the true story about God our Creator,

God our Redeemer.

Father, we pray that as we look at these words together,

they would shape us afresh to understand who you are,

and the people you have called us to be.

Would you open up our hearts and our minds

to receive your word?

Make us attentive.

And may we be obedient to what we hear.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, little Johnny sat down for his art class.

And in his excitement,

he accidentally put a streak of paint across his page.

So he put up his hand,

and he asked teacher for a clean new page.

You can have another sheet of paper,

but you must be more careful.

Johnny took the page,

promising that he was going to do better.

Well, it wasn't long into his painting

that Johnny got distracted again,

and he used green paint instead of blue paint for his sky.

So once again, he put up his hand,

and he asked teacher for a new clean page.

Teacher came down.

This is not good.

I warned you.

I told you to be careful.

I'm going to give you another sheet of paper,

but this is the last one.

Johnny was grateful,

and he promised teacher

that he wouldn't make any more mistakes again.

So being extra careful,

Johnny painted away,

and he was just putting his finishing touches

to his picture

when he knocked the water

for cleaning the brushes

all over the page.

Poor Johnny didn't even bother

putting his hand up.

Can you relate with little Johnny?

I can.

We promise, don't we,

that we're going to do better.

I promise I'm going to be more careful.

I'm going to try harder.

But we just keep messing up.

Using up all our chances,

we blow it again,

and again,

and again.

Well, that's been the story of Genesis,

hasn't it?

New beginnings

and failure.

Fresh starts

and falling.

Of course,

there's always the hope

that the next son,

the next generation,

is going to be better

than the one before.

But it seems,

no matter how many times

there's a restart,

it ends up

the same.

Humanity,

individually

and collectively,

insist

on living their own way.

Instead of representing

God's goodness

and reflecting

his greatness,

we've replaced

God with self.

We've put our self

at the centre

of the universe.

How is God

going to respond?

Is he going to give up?

Is he like

a teacher

who comes down

wagging his finger

and says,

I've given you

your last chance,

that's it,

no more?

Well,

thankfully,

God does

as he always does.

He responds

in grace.

He gives us

a clean,

fresh start.

A fresh start

that lasts

for an eternity.

Follow on screen.

No matter

how drastic

human sin

becomes,

destroying

what God

has made good

and bringing

the world

to the brink

of uncreation,

God's grace

never fails

to deliver

humankind

from the consequences

of their sin.

That summarises

the story

of Genesis.

Let me read

it again.

No matter

how drastic

human sin

becomes,

destroying

what God

has made good

and bringing

the world

to the brink

of uncreation,

God's grace

never fails

to deliver

mankind

from the

consequences

of their sin.

So in our text

this morning

we're going

to see

that God

acts

through one

man,

through Abraham,

later to become

Abraham,

to show us

that God

does not

give up.

Just as

Genesis

opened up

the words

with the words

of,

and God

said,

and brought

about the

creation of

the world,

this new

beginning,

so God

now speaks

again,

chapter 12

verse 1,

the Lord

said

to Abraham.

God's

word to

Abraham

signals

a restart,

a new

beginning,

but not

just to

Abraham

and his

family,

but to

all humanity,

to all

nations,

to all

people,

including

you and

I.

And

together

we're

going to

see

that

God

saves

by grace

through

faith

in God's

promise.

God

saves

by grace

through

faith

in God's

promise.

So let's

look at

each of

those in

turn.

First,

called

by God's

grace.

God's

act of

salvation

always

starts

with grace.

In other

words,

salvation

begins

with God's

initiative.

Look at

verse 1.

The Lord

said to

Abraham,

go from

your country,

your people,

and your

father's

household to

the land

I'm going

to show

you.

Now,

why

would God

choose

and call

Abraham?

Of all

the people

that there

are from

the family

line of

terror,

why

would God

choose

Abraham?

Well,

the answer

to that

is both

surprising

and shocking.

Keep your

finger in

Genesis 12

and go

forward to

the book

of Joshua.

So it's

Genesis,

Exodus,

Leviticus,

Numbers,

Deuteronomy,

Joshua.

Joshua

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24.

Joshua.

Joshua.

And here

at the end

of Joshua,

he's reminding

God's people

of the

account

of Abraham.

We're

giving an

insight into

his calling.

So chapter

24,

and we're

going to

pick it up

in verse

2.

Joshua

said to

all the

people,

this is

what the

Lord,

the God

of Israel

said,

Long ago

your

ancestors,

including

Terah,

the father

of Abraham

and Nahor,

lived beyond

the river

Euphrates

and worshipped

other gods.

But I

took your

father Abraham

from the

land of

the Euphrates

and led

them throughout

Canaan and

gave him

many

descendants.

Now just

from these

couple of

verses we

learn three

things about

Abraham.

Here's the

first one.

He was

from a

family,

verse 2,

who worshipped

other gods.

They had

replaced the

one true

creator god

with their

own gods.

Gods whom

they could

manipulate and

control,

gods who

weren't going

to interfere

with them and

tell them what

to do.

They set up

their own

gods.

But not

only that,

second,

Abraham was

not seeking

the one

true god.

As we saw

back in

Genesis 11

as the

people increased,

they settled

down.

They were

meant to

scatter,

but they

settled down

building their

own life,

seeking to

establish a

name for

themselves.

And that's

what Abraham

and his

family were

doing.

They were

settling down.

building a

name for

themselves.

He's not

looking for

God.

He's not

seeking God.

He's not

calling out

for God.

But yet,

third,

he's

confronted by

God and

called by

God.

Look at

verse 3.

God

took

Abraham

from the

land beyond

the

Euphrates.

I took

him.

Literally,

God is

saying,

I turned

his heart

towards me.

I

intervened

into his

life in

such a

way that

he was

compelled

to follow

me.

It wasn't

Abraham's

will,

but it

was God's

will to

change his

heart and

to turn

him around

so that

he would

follow God.

You see,

the thing

is,

there was

nothing

special

about

Abraham.

There was

nothing in

his family

background,

nothing in

his religious

practice.

The only

thing that

he had

going for

him was

that he

was a

rebellious

sinner who

was neither

looking for

God nor

wanting God

and yet

God intervened

into his

life.

Doesn't that

surprise you

and doesn't

it shock

you?

You see,

we work

and we

live on

the basis

of merit.

It's all

about our

past performance.

It's all

about our

family pedigree.

It's all

about your

looks and

your success.

Everything

that we

have is

earned and

deserved.

Merit,

merit,

merit.

God

works on

the basis

of grace.

It's got

nothing to

do with

anything we

do or

anyone who

we are.

In fact,

it's not

even based

on our

future

performance

because if

we were to

take time

to read

through the

life of

Abraham,

we will

discover he's

a liar,

he's a

coward,

he's a

cheat,

he's a

doubter.

He's a

failure just

like you

and I.

But God's

grace to

Abraham is

one of

God intervening

by his

love,

giving to

him what

he doesn't

deserve.

It's God's

action to

save sinners

who cannot

even save

themselves.

You see,

the account

of Abraham

reminds us

that our

salvation,

the new

beginning and

the fresh

start that

we receive

is all

by grace.

It's not

your past

action,

it's not

your present

behavior,

it's not

even your

promise of

future goodness.

God calls

us and

God chooses

to show

grace towards

us simply

because he

delights and

he takes

great pleasure

in saving

broken,

messed up

people like

you and

I.

God saves

by grace

through faith

in God's

promises.

Isn't that

wonderful?

wonderful.

It's

amazing.

So,

first,

God calls

by grace.

Second,

he does

it to

receive

God's

promise.

God calls

Abraham by

grace,

let's go

back to

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

God calls

Abraham by

grace so

that he

might know

and experience

God's

great

promises.

And what

are those

promises?

Well,

let's read

again chapter

12,

verse 1.

The Lord

said to

Abraham,

go from

your country,

your people,

and from

your father's

household to

the land I

will show

you.

And I

will make

you into

a great

nation,

and I

will bless

you,

and I

will make

your name

great,

and you

will be

a blessing.

I will

bless those

who bless

you,

and whoever

curses you,

I will curse.

And all

peoples on

earth will

be blessed

through you.

Now,

there's different

ways we can

approach these

promises,

different ways we

can divide them

up or look at

them.

But broadly

speaking,

there are two

great promises

from God

to Abram.

We're going to

look at them

each in turn.

Here's the first

one.

Here's the first

promise.

Blessing

instead of

curse.

blessing

instead of

curse.

Remember Adam

and Eve,

right back

at the very

beginning,

living life

with God

in the

garden,

a perfect

life,

a good

life,

enjoying

his presence,

living under

God's rule.

But all

that changed

when they

followed the

desires of

their own

heart,

and they

believed the

lie of

Satan,

when Satan

came to

them and

said,

you can be

like God.

And they

started living

as if they

were God.

And by

taking God's

place,

everything

broke.

Everything

went out

of sync.

Disorder

and chaos.

And God's

response was

to curse

the world

and its

people.

They were

removed from

the land

of the

garden,

where everything

was beautiful

and good,

and brought

into a land

that produced

thorns and

thistles.

Not only

that,

they would

suffer

conflict.

Conflict

with each

other,

husband and

wife,

siblings,

and child

bearing

would become

hard and

difficult.

And now

God comes

to Abraham

and he

says to

him,

I am

now going

to bless

you,

not curse

you.

God

promises

a new

land,

verse 1

of chapter

12,

go to

the land

that I

will show

you.

I am

going to

bring you

into a

new place

to live,

a place

where you

can enjoy

God's

presence,

where he

will dwell

with you

once again.

And God

promises to

Abraham,

verse 2,

I am

going to

make you

into a

great nation,

I am

going to

give you

a great

name,

you are

going to

have

many

children,

your

family is

going to

grow and

to expand.

God is

going to

undo what

is broken

and he is

going to

put it

right,

he is

going to

reverse the

curse and

bring the

blessing.

Because

knowing

God's

grace is

to receive

unnumbered,

countless

blessings

from God.

so that's

the first

promise,

I am

going to

bring

blessing

instead of

curse.

And here is

the second

big promise,

this blessing

is going to

be for

all nations.

Look at

verse 3,

I will

bless those

who bless

you and

whoever

curses you

I will

curse and

all peoples

on earth

will be

blessed

through you.

God's

desire,

God's

intention

is not

just to

bless this

one man

Abram and

his family

but he is

going to

bless all

the nations

of the

world

through

Abram.

All the

peoples of

China,

all the

peoples of

Russia and

Afghanistan,

Iran and

Sudan and

Fiji and

Ireland and

all the

nations,

they are to

be blessed.

All peoples,

every language,

every culture,

every tribe,

God will

pour out his

goodness and

his kindness

and his love

on all peoples.

No nation is

to be excluded

or barred or

forgotten.

What amazing

great big

promises

that God

makes.

But you

know what,

if we've been

attentive to

reading Genesis,

promises,

we'll know

that these

are not

new promises.

These are

promises from

God that he

had stated

and he had

given right

from the

beginning and

they are

beginning to

be worked

out.

Let's have a

look back at

Genesis chapter

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

3.

Genesis chapter

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

3 recounts

how the curse

came,

the disobedience

of Adam and

Eve and how

God responded.

And in the

middle of all

the cursing

that God

does,

God makes

a promise

that will

shape the

history of

the entire

world for

all eternity.

And here's

the promise

that he makes.

The whole

Bible is

founded on

this one

promise.

Chapter 3

verse 15.

God is

speaking to

Satan and

he says to

Satan,

verse 15,

I will put

enmity between

you and the

woman and

between your

offspring and

hers.

And he,

that is one

of the

offspring of

the woman,

will crush

your head

Satan and

you will

strike his

heel.

A victorious

champion has

been promised.

Do you see

what God says

to Satan at

the end of

verse 15?

He will

crush your

head.

He, that

is a seed

from the

woman.

One of

her offspring

is going

to come.

The woman's

seed will

be one

just like

Adam, a

man, the

son of a

woman.

But unlike

Adam, he

will love

God and be

loyal to

God.

He's not

going to

sin and

mess up.

Instead, he's

going to

inflict a

blow that

will ultimately

crush Satan's

head.

The seed of

this woman

will be

victorious and

defeat Satan.

He will

destroy his

hold over

humanity.

He will

take the

curse and

break the

curse and

bring the

blessing.

That's the

promise of

God.

Go back to

chapter 12.

So with that

in mind, we

ask the

question, who

is this

promised

seed?

Who is

this son

who's going

to come

from the

woman to

bring the

blessings?

Well, at

first reading,

as we get

into chapter

12, it

seems like,

it appears

like, that

it's Abraham,

that he's

the long

awaited

promised

son.

After all,

God makes

him lots

of promises.

But as

we've seen

already, if

we're to

read on in

the story

of Abraham,

he fails

and he

sins and

he messes

up the

whole time.

You see, the

promises are

made not

just to

Abraham, but

to Abraham

and his

family.

Look at the

end of

verse 3.

And all

peoples on

earth will

be blessed

through you.

Go down

to verse

7.

The Lord

appeared to

Abraham and

said, to

your offspring,

and the

note there

at the

bottom of

your page

is singular,

to your

seed,

meaning one

person, I

will give

this land.

In other

words, one

from the

family line

of Abraham

would come

and bring

blessing.

The New

Testament, of

course, makes

that abundantly

clear to

us.

Let's go to

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

Turn with

me to

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 in

the New

Testament.

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

chapter 3.

And

verse 16.

Galatians

Galatians 3:16

3 verse

16.

So we're

thinking of

the promise

that God

had made

that one

would come

from the

woman.

Is it

Abram?

Well, it's

certainly one

from his

family line.

Here we

come, chapter

3 verse

16.

The promises

were spoken

to Abraham

and to

his seed.

Scripture

does not

say and

to seeds,

meaning many

people, but

and to

your seed,

meaning one

person who

is Christ.

You see,

God uses

the family

line of

Abraham to

lead us

to the

promised

son.

Because

Jesus Christ

is the

promised seed

from the

woman that

God had

said all

along, right

back from

Genesis 3

15.

He is the

faithful,

obedient son

who will

live the

perfect life

for us so

that we can

receive the

blessings from

him.

Because all

the blessings

are now

in Christ.

So how do

we get to

receive all

the blessings

if they're

now in

Christ?

Well, go to

verse 26.

Galatians 3

Galatians 3:26

verse 26.

So, in

Christ Jesus

you are all

children of

God through

faith.

For all of

you were

baptized into

Christ, have

clothed

yourself with

Christ.

there is

neither Jew

nor Gentile,

neither slave

nor free,

nor is there

male and

female, for

you are all

one in

Christ Jesus.

If you

belong to

Christ, then

you are

Abraham's

seed and

heirs

according to

the promise.

Anyone who

comes to

Christ, anyone

who trusts in

Christ, whatever

their nationality,

whatever your

past might

have been,

become the

children of

God, brothers

and sisters of

the Lord Jesus.

So all that

now belongs to

Christ, now

belongs to

us.

We become

co-heirs with

Christ.

We receive the

promised blessings

because we are

now through

faith in

Christ.

Can you see

what God is

doing?

In Christ,

God is

bringing about

a new

nation, a

new people

who are

brought together

just as

God had

promised

Abraham.

And in

Christ, God

is bringing a

people together

who can know

God and who

can enjoy his

presence

forever, just

as he

promised.

So as we

come to

Christ, we

are united

together to

be the

family of

God.

There is

no superiority,

there is no

inferiority.

We are

children under

God who've

been forgiven,

who are

loved, who

are treasured.

We become

co-heirs with

Christ, all

that is

his, now

becomes

ours.

Every

blessing that

belongs to

Christ is

now ours.

God saves

by grace

through faith

in God's

promise.

promise.

So, number

three, we've

looked at

grace, we've

looked at

the promise,

and it

comes through

faith in

God.

God calls

Abraham by

grace so

that he

might receive

the great and

good promises.

But if

Abraham is

going to

know and

experience

these promises,

he's got to

believe it.

faith.

There's got

to be

faith.

And his

faith is

seen in

three ways.

Let's look at

it together.

We need to

go back

again to

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

Let's see

Abraham's

faith.

Here's the

first one.

Faith is

expressed in

obedience.

Look at

verse 1.

The Lord

said to

Abraham,

Abraham,

go from

your country

and from

your people.

Verse 4.

So Abraham

went as

the Lord

told him.

You see,

faith is not

a feeling.

It's not an

idea.

It's not a

philosophy.

Faith is

obeying

what God

says.

It's

active.

God said

to Abraham,

Abraham,

go.

This is

my promise

to you.

Go.

And he

went.

It's a

call to

respond to

God's

word with

obedience.

Abraham

didn't know

where he

was going.

God

didn't give

him the

full plan

of what

the years

were going

to be like

as they

unfolded or

what the

land was

going to

be.

He didn't

know what

was going

on.

Scripture

even tells

us that.

Look at

the screen.

By faith,

Abraham,

when called

to go to

a place

he would

later receive

as his

inheritance,

obeyed

and went

even though

he didn't

know where

he was

going.

Now that's

what faith

is.

Faith is

expressed in

obedience all

the time.

And throughout

Scripture,

God continually

confronts us

with the

word of

his son.

Jesus says

to us,

the word

comes to

us and

says,

come to

me,

all you

who are

weary,

and I

will give

you rest.

How are

you going

to experience

that rest?

By obeying

the word.

Go to

Jesus.

And Jesus

says to

us,

come,

follow me,

and I

will make

you fishers

of men.

How are

we going

to experience

that change

and direction

in our

life?

By obeying

the word

and what it

says.

Go to

Jesus.

Of course

we'll have

questions.

We don't

know the

plan of

our life

and all

what it's

going to

entail

and what

it's

going to

look like.

Yes,

we will

have fear,

but that's

what faith

is.

It's

obeying

God's

word

because

God

said it.

He's

the

creator.

We're

the

created.

Faith

is always

expressed

in

obedience.

Second,

faith

is

treasuring

God

more than

anything

else.

It's

treasuring

God

more than

anything

else.

Look at

verse 1

again.

The

Lord

said to

Abraham,

go from

your

country,

from

your

people,

and from

your

father's

household,

to the

land I

will

show

you.

Now,

that to

me sounds

a little

bit like

a call

to

discipleship,

doesn't

it?

Put

yourself

in

Abraham's

shoes

for a

minute.

Out of

the blue,

God

says,

I want

you to

leave

Ireland.

I'm

going to

send you

to another

country.

Say

goodbye

to your

family.

Sell

your

house

because

you're

not

coming

back

here.

Or

maybe

God

comes

along

and

says,

I

want

you

to

leave

Cork

because

I'm

sending

you to

help

in a

church

plant

somewhere

else

in

Ireland.

You're

not going

to know

anyone

where you

go,

and you're

going to

feel like

an outsider.

Or

maybe

God

says,

I want

you to

leave your

career

for another

one.

It's

going to

mean less

pay,

but it's

going to

give you

more

time.

You're

going to

have to

downsize

your

house

and move

to a

new

place.

Where

you're

going to

go is

going to

be really

strange,

but I

want you

to go.

How

are you

going to

respond?

You

see,

you don't

get it,

do you?

Life

is good

here right

now.

I've

got my

family.

My

family are

all around

me.

And I've

got a

job.

I've

just got a

promotion.

I'm doing

quite well.

I've got a

good salary.

We're doing

well.

And my

kids,

they're all

settled.

They're in a

great school.

They've got

lots of

friends.

and I

mean all

the different

clubs and

all the

different

activities they

go to.

We're not

going there.

In other

words, what

we're saying

is, I

treasure my

comfort and

my security and

my familiarity more

than anything

else.

That's what's

important to

me.

How did

Abram respond?

Abram, I

want you to

go.

And he

went.

Why?

Because he

treasured God

more than

anything else

or anyone

else.

In other

words, he

trusted that

following God

and stepping

out in

faith,

whatever the

cost,

whatever the

hardship,

whatever the

suffering,

was nothing

compared to

walking in

obedience and

all the

blessings that