So Abram left
June 20th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens
Image from visualbiblealive.com
Throughout this summer we will be doing a fast-paced overview of the “Big Story” of the Bible – the underlying plot that ties the smaller stories of Scripture together. If you’ve missed anything, you can find all the posts indexed here!
After Babel, people scattered over the earth and largely stopped believing God yet again. Generations later in the affluent city of Ur there lived one man named Abram who was singled out to follow God in a unique way.
“The LORD had said to Abram,“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
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 left, as the LORD had told him…”
Genesis 12:1-4
God calls Abram out as His own and then He makes three distinct promises:
- Land – “…go to the land I will show you…”
- Nation – “I will make you into a great nation…”
- Leader – “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
God promises that Abram, currently childless, will one day have offspring that will comprise an entire nation. This nation of people would occupy their own land, and one day, all nations would be blessed through Abram.
So, why are we calling this the “Leader” promise? In Galations 3, Paul makes a very interesting statement about this passage.
The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
Galatians 3:8
So, where is the Gospel in the promise of God blessing the world through Abram? In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve have a glimpse of Jesus in the promise that one day the serpent would be crushed. In Genesis 12, Abram is given another glimpse – his future son would become a great nation, and through that nation would come the Promised One – and through that Promised One, the serpent would be crushed and the entire world would be blessed.
Adam had responded to God’s promise by naming Eve.
Abram’s response?
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him… (Genesis 12:4)
Three simple words. So Abram left. God communicates with him these unbelievable, incomprehensible promises with eternal ramifications. Did Abram ask for clarification? No questions are recorded. Did he hesitate, did he long to continue his life in Ur? We’re not told. All we know is this: God said go, and so he left.
When God tells us about the Redeemer, real faith demands action.
Friends, we cannot say that we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, claim to love Him, and then cling to our past and our physical comfort and our own dreams for what life should be like in our “Ur.”
Jesus Christ is the Promised One. Through Him, all the world has been and will be blessed. He is the promised offspring of Eve who crushed the serpent. This is truth.
Have you left your “Ur?” Real faith is willing to leave it all behind.
Because God’s promise is better than Ur.
- 5 Comments »
- Posted in Genesis, One Story
June 21st, 2011 at 6:01 am
[...] had promised Abram three things: offspring that would eventually become a great nation, a land of their own, and eventually the [...]
June 28th, 2011 at 8:09 am
[...] he had done more than thirty years before… Abraham left. He obeyed God without a clue how the events before him would unfold. We don’t know what all [...]
July 7th, 2011 at 8:12 am
[...] waiting while the family of Jacob, later named Israel, grew to a number great enough to become the nation of people He promised. He waited until the hearts of the Egyptians were bitter and hard against Him and His people. He [...]
August 5th, 2011 at 6:04 am
[...] had made those three promises to Abraham – promises of vast numbers of descendents who would form a great nation, a land for this [...]
August 9th, 2011 at 11:27 am
[...] come. In the Garden, Adam and Eve heard the first echo of what was to come. Abraham later learned more particulars – the Promised One would come through his family and would bless the whole world. In 2 Samuel [...]