With your Bibles in hand this morning, I invite you to turn to Genesis 12.
Of the great figures of the Bible, Abraham is one of the greatest. You may have heard of him as a friend of God or a prophet.
The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary describes him as
“an Old Testament patriarch regarded by Jews as the founder of the Hebrew people through his son Isaac and by Muslims as the founder of the Arab peoples through his son Ishmael”
There has been much history that began with this man.
Most of us here are not Hebrew people, nor are we Arab.
And since we are not Hebrew nor Arab – how does Abraham’s life impact you?
I pray that today each of us will see through the actions of this Godly man how we are to answer the call of God you own life.
Look at Genesis 12:1-3;
“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.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)?
Let us pray
In Genesis: 11:27-32, we come to the city of Haran. This is the place where Abraham’s family resided after his brother died. Haran was located on main trade route. And it is here in Haran that Abraham, then called Abram heard the call of the Lord begin his journey of faith in God.
Abram’s life challenges us to:
I. Hear God’s call
Genesis 12:1 says;
“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.” (Genesis 12:1 ESV)
The Lord to told Abram to leave his family and go to the land the Lord will show him.
The Lord told him to leave his country, his relations, his father’s house. Why? Couldn’t Abram simply bring his family along with him to conquer this new land? Or what about the more different route – Couldn’t Abram stay where he was and blessed right where he was?
The Lord wanted him to leave because the family and the land was tainted with idolatry.
The family worshipped other idols. Joshua, in Joshua 24, makes a point to identify Terah, the father of Abram, specifically as an idol worshipper. (Joshua 24:2-3)
Haran is referred to in texts from 2000BC as the temple for “Sin” the moon god. The temple was so significant that the Babylonian’s restored these temples when they cam to power.
God wanted Abram away from this culture.
So God called Abram to leave his country and his relatives.
And he calls us to do the same thing.
Matthew 5:29-30 says;
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30 ESV)
Now, of course, this is not a specific literal command, but figurative. However, the point is that we are to separate ourselves from sin. Find what is drawing us into sin, and remove it.
And it is interesting how we grow accustomed to sin when its all around us.
In 2005, The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a study about sex scenes on TV.
The Foundation found that 3,800 of the over 1,100 shows reviewed contained sexual content.
In 1998 56% of the shows on television had sexual content.
Now, in 2005 70% of the shows on television have sexual content.
Interestingly enough, they haven’t done another study since 2005, I guess the study is completely obvious at this point.
During the seven years between 1998 and 2005, Americans became accustomed to the sin that is on television that we now don’t even see a problem.
Twelve years later, we are raising a generation of kids completely accustomed to this lifestyle.
We are to live differently. We are to be set apart.
Abraham was called to move away from the land of idolatry. In the same way, each of us are called to walk away from the temptations of our land and live a pure life.
And when we purify our lives we can;
II. Consider God’s Promise
V 2-3
“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.” (Genesis 12:2-3 ESV)?
God promised Abram that he would bless him to become the father of a great nation.
God was going to take Abram and begin a new nation. A nation of worshippers of him.
It was God who created the heavens and the Earth.
It was God who created male and female.
It was God who cause the great flood.
It was God who rescued Noah.
And it is amazing to me that just nine generation later, the nation was worshiping other gods.
And now God was going to establish a new nation of worshipers of him.
He was founding this nation on Abram, who would leave and become pure; following only God.
Now, in our cost-benefit society, we want to slip in our “If” in verse 1 and “then” at the beginning of verse 2.
If you “Get out of your country”,
And then “I will bless you”
No, that isn’t the case. There is no If. And there is no then.
When God gives a promise it is not an idle threat
nor is it a reward for behaving ourselves. It is a free gift it is Grace.
The Bible is full of promises;
He gives us;
Wisdom in James 1:5
Rest in Hebrews 4:9
Peace in John 14:27
Restoration in Isaiah 57:18
Liberty in Romans 8:2
Joy in Isaiah 35:10
But we accept them including the promise of the good news.
There is nothing to earn, not an “if – then”, but a free gift. All you and I must do is accept the Good news.
And it is these promises of God that motivate us to:
III Obey God’s command
V4
?”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.” (Genesis 12:4 ESV)
?
Abram departed as the Lord instructed.
In the military we are accustomed to moving. It is a tremendous task to undertake. And here we see Abram traveling on foot or by animal from Haran, located near the border of modern Turkey and Syria, to the land of Israel.
And Abram departed as the Lord Instructed.
Wouldn’t that be nice if the same things were said about us?
If someone were to write a book about you are they going to say he or she obeyed as the Lord instructed?
While God’s word contains numerous promises; it also contains commands.
Are you raising your family as the Lord instructed?
Are you doing your job as the Lord instructed?
Are you being spouse as the Lord instructed?
Are you being a single soldier as the Lord instructed?
Are you obeying as the Lord instructed?
As we obey and grow to know the Lord better, we are able to
IV Experience God’s Blessing
V 7
?“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 appeared to him.” (Genesis 12:7 ESV)
Abram reaches Canaan and God tells him this land will given to Abram’s Children. God assured Abram that he would be faithful in His promise.
Abram didn’t know the future. He did not know he would have a son. He didn’t know this would be the beginning of a nation of people who even this day call him their father.
But Abram trusted God. He trusted that God would provide a way for his promise to be kept.
That is what Faith is—trusting in God no mater how impossible it may seem.
And as we look back in history we see that God was faithful. We see that Abram did become the father of a great nation;
that he was blessed; that he is famous;
that he did become a blessing to others;
that God does bless those who bless Abram;
that God does curse those who bless Abram.
And look at the last part of verse 3
“and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3b ESV)
How are we blessed through him?
If you look at Matthew 1:1-16, you will see Abraham’s name at the top of the list in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
All nations are blessed through Abram. Because it was through Abram – Christ would come to earth to be the sacrifice for our sins.
Do you want to experience God’s blessing?
When you come to understand that from the beginning of time, at the very forefront of sin and it was passed down from Generation to Generation – God was developing a plan of Salvation
It started in the Garden,
Then moved to Abram,
And down the family line,
The Bible says;
“So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:9 ESV)
And when you trust in Christ to be the substitution for your sin, you experience a blessing that is beyond compassion.
And when you see that blessing at work in your life all you can do is
V. Worship God’s Glory
V 7
?”??Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your ??descendants I will give this land.?” And there he built an ??altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”
Abram built an altar.
We don’t build these very much anymore.
In fact, many of us don’t even know what an altar is.
An altar is a place of sacrifice. The word altar translated from Hebrew word means “place of slaughter”
Why don’t we offer sacrifices now? Because, the sacrifice has already been made by Christ on the Cross.
But this was the way worship was done before Christ. This is how the people of the Old Testament looked forward in faith toward Christ and the Cross.
They would worship God and his glory.
We worship now through the study of his word, through prayer, through music, and through ordinances or sacraments of the church.
But worship is the highest form of praise to God. We should not take worship lightly.
Abram built a new alter every where he went. Every where he traveled he set up a place of worship. Is that true of us?
Yes, we are in Korea – and you are in Chapel.
It is important that we worship together. And it is important that others be invited to join in worship.
But, what about our personal life?
Abram set up these altars. He didn’t travel alone. But Abram built an altar, where he worshiped the Lord.
Stretching the definition of Altar to mean a place of warship, do you have person altar to the Lord?
A place or a time that you simply worship God?
While I was preparing this message, I was reminded of an altar that I once had at Fort Campbell.
I was a geo-bachelor for about three or four months prior to my first deployment and I found a little table at a local thrift store for $8.00. It was big enough for me to place my Bible for reading and my Journal for writing. I simply kept those two books, a clock, and a candle on it.
Every morning, it was my place of worship.
I never thought of it as an altar, but it was my place of worship. I have looked back at that little table as an example for years ever since.
We serve an awesome and mighty God.
And a God that simply deserves our worship of him.
He sent his son to die on a cross to make that worship possible for all of us.
We are each called to purify ourselves to approach him.
We are promised so much.
There is so much to do, if we will be faithful.
But we can experience the Blessings of God’s only Son, and worship his Glory.
We serve a mighty God.
Let us Pray to him now.
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This sermon was delivered at Warrior Chapel, Camp Red Cloud, Korea on 16OCT16
All scripture marked ESV: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.