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Abraham: The Gospel Call Text; Gen 11:10-12:9 “Within the book of Genesis,” writes Gordon Wenham, “no section is more important than Gen 11:27-12:9.” Why would Wenham say this? Today’s text introduces Abraham. All three of the world’s great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity—claim Abraham as their father. And the story of Abraham begins here. Abraham’s story is essential to world history. It goes back 4,000 years, into prehistory. This is one of the oldest, recorded stories in Western culture. It occurred 1400 years before Buddhism started and 2600 years before Islam. Jew, Muslim, and Christian all look to Abraham as their “father.” However, from God’s perspective, Abraham is only the Father of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. Main Point: Abraham’s call was all of Grace. Grace is favor shown to the unworthy. Grace is reward given to those that deserve punishment. The gospel call is always about this kind of grace. Beginning with Genesis, the call has always been the same—we come to God by faith alone through grace alone. Today’s text is about three things. 1st A gracious genealogy, 2nd A gracious call, and 3rd Gracious promises. A Gracious GenealogyThe arrangement of the first 11 chapters of Genesis are designed to convince us that God is gracious and eager to bless. Show the chart: Shem’s Desceendants. In Gen 9-11 Noah is a second Adam. Adam was the first man created. He sinned and forfeited paradise. He had three sons. The first, Cain, murdered his brother. Cain’s descendants became progressively worse. Gen 4 gives us a bare-bones description of Cain’s descendants. Then Seth replaced Abel. God’s promises came through Seth. Gen 5 traces Seth’s descendants to exactly ten generations with great detail. God spared one descendant, Noah, then destroyed all humanity with a flood. Adam was the beginning of the first creation. Like Adam, Noah is the beginning of the new creation. Like Adam, Noah has three sons. Like Adam Noah commits a great sin. Like Adam’s son, Cain, Noah’s son, Ham, commits a greater sin. Like Cain’s genealogy in Gen 4, Ham’s generations are recounted in Gen 10 with no details. Like Seth’s generations (the chosen son of Adam) in Gen 5, Gen 11:10ff (today’s reading) traces Shem’s genealogy in exactly ten generations. The genealogy of Seth was in great detail. Cain’s was not. Seth’s genealogy terminates 10 generations later in Noah. Noah’s genealogy terminates 10 generations later in Abraham. The Message? With the exception of Noah, Seth’s descendants died in the flood. God was not being cruel. The flood was an expression of God’s perfect and righteous justice. Seth’s descendants merely got what they deserved. Remarkable is the contrast between Seth’s tenth descendant, Noah, and Noah’s tenth descendant, Abraham. God preserved Noah, but he preserved him through a terrible judgment. But, through Noah’s tenth descendant, Abraham, God turned the tables. He gave grace. He blessed the world. God does this to Abraham’s generation despite the fact that Ham’s descendants have turned the world into a veritable “Babel” of worldliness. This means that the earth deserved the same treatment it received during Noah’s day. But, instead of judgment, unmerited favor proceeds from God in torrents. This blessing is utterly undeserved. It is all of grace. Additional pointers to God’s desire to bless lie buried in Shem’s genealogy. Eber, the 14th generation from Adam (Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber) was the first person called a Hebrew. (The word “Hebrew” comes from the word, Eber). 7 is the biblical number for perfection. In other words, in two times seven, or in the fullness of God’s perfect wisdom the Hebrew people began their own identity with the descendants of Eber. In addition, Abraham is exactly the 21st generation from Adam. In Hebrew thought 3 is the number for emphasis and 7 is the number for perfection, completion, or fullness. 3x7 is 21. In other words, the blessing that came through Abraham was the perfection, fullness, or completion of God’s blessings. Exclamation point!Genesis is truly a book of blessing. It is a book about blessings received by grace through faith alone. Grace is unmerited favor. Genesis is about God favoring men with blessing that don’t deserve it. A Gracious Election Shem’s genealogy follows a pattern, and the pattern is designed to speak to us. After the birth of each descendant, this phrase appears, “_____ had other sons and daughters.” So for example Arphaxad’s genealogy reads, (11:12) “When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13 And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.” Moses, the author of Genesis, wants us to know that there were other children, but only the son mentioned was God’s elect. Election is all of grace! This is what the apostle John meant when he opened his gospel with these words. (John 1:12) "12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. In the same way, the call of Abram was all of grace. He did nothing to deserve it. He didn’t go to God. God came to him. The facts in this text make that clear. When God called Abram, he lived in Ur of the Chaldees. As we learned a few weeks ago, Ur was in the vicinity of Babylon. The values of Babel/Babylon thoroughly saturated Ur. When Archaeologists excavated Ur in the 1930s it became clear that its citizens worshipped the Sun and Moon. More importantly, they worshipped with human sacrifice. In his farewell speech to the Jewish people, Joshua confirms Abraham’s idolatry. (Joshua 24:2) "2 ‘‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.’"Abram and his family were idolaters. They were polytheistic. We have no reason to believe that Abram was any different than his neighbors. He was 75 when God called him. That means that he had lived his entire life in this environment. He probably participated in moon worship, and joined his neighbors in human sacrifice. In his commentary on Genesis, Kent Hughes notes—“Terah’s tiny, inbred family were moon worshipers residing in the leading center of lunar religion. The city was dominated by a massive, three-staged ziggurat built by Ur-Nammu during the beginning of the second millennium B.C. Each stage was colored distinctively, with the top level bearing the silver one-roomed shrine to Nanna, the moon-god. The royal cemetery reveals that ritual burials were sealed with the horrors of human sacrifice.”Show a map of Abraham’s JourneysSo, this begs the big question. Why did God call Abraham? This text is working overtime to convince us that it wasn’t because he was good. No, God called Abraham for the same reason he called each one of us. He didn’t call him because he performed—because he was good—he called him to make him good. The words of the apostle Paul, called from a similar way of life, describe this same glorious grace—(Ephesians 1:4-5) God 4 “chose us in [God the Father] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will."(Ephesians 2:8–10) "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."Here is how the Bible describes God’s election of Abraham. (Genesis 12:1) "1 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."Stephen tells us in Acts 7:2 that the call was not just verbal, it was also visual. (Acts 7:2) "2 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.” Out of all the people on earth, God chose Abram and called him. We don’t know why. However, we do know that Abram’s call was all of grace, and that God called Abram to a special role. God called Abram to be the Father of God’s people. Abram means “exalted father.” Abraham means “Father of a multitude.” The church of the living God proceeded from Jesus who proceeded from Abraham. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ shares Abraham’s faith. That means they are a child of Abraham, and therefore, a recipient of Abraham’s blessings. Gracious promises 12:1-3 We have stressed that blessing is a major theme of Genesis. Although God blessed all that he made on the 7th day (Gen 1:28), Adam’s sin soon reversed God’s good intention. Then after the flood God blessed Noah and his descendants (Gen 9:1), but Noah’s sin of drunkenness coupled with Ham’s disrespect soon reversed God’s gracious intention. Now God calls Abram. He intends to carry out his intention to bless, and Abram is his man. His promise to Abram uses the word “to bless” five times. 1Now 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. 2” 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. 3 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.” In this passage, God makes seven promises to Abraham. They are conditioned upon Abraham’s response (Next Week). Each promise is of grace. They divide into two categories—blessings to Abraham and blessings through Abraham. Three Blessings To Abram 2 And I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you And make your name great, 1st God promises to make Abram into a great nation. It characteristic will be family. The Bible never calls Abraham a king, a president, a prime minister, or a general. He is always “Father” Abraham. The great nation that will proceed from Abraham will be a “family.” That will be its defining feature. They will be spiritual brothers and sisters, members of one family with God as their Father. But they will be a nation. (Exodus 19:5–6) "You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”"(1 Peter 2:9) "9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.”The promise to make Abram into a “great nation’ could only be received by faith. Why? Sarah was barren. How could Abram become the father of a great family/nation with a barren wife?2nd God promises to bless Abraham. God’s blessing is in direct contrast to God’s cursing of the Serpent and the ground (Gen 3), Cain (Gen 4), and Canaan (Gen 9). The curse on Cain ended in the flood, and the curse of Canaan ended in the dispersal at Babel. 3rd God promises to make Abram’s name great. This is huge! Remember, the citizens of Babel sought to make a name for themselves. But now the exact opposite occurs. God promises to make Abram’s name great. The condition for this blessing is a life of faith and trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty. God will make the name of the man who trusts and obeys him “great.” God will exalt the name of the man who spends his life exalting God’s name. “He who loses his life will gain it.” Four Blessings Through Abram Abraham’s blessings are not just personal. They are universal. Through Abraham God promises four blessings to the world. 2b So that you will be a blessing. 3 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.” 1st “You will be a blessing.” Again, the main theme of Genesis is blessing. Through Abraham God’s passion to bless will migrate to the nations. This took place to some extent through the Jewish people. But fundamentally, it took place through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, who was a son of Abraham. (Galatians 3:13–14) 13 “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 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."2nd and 3rd God promises to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who dishonor him. In other words, how people relate to Abraham is how they relate to God. (Matthew 10:40) "40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."4th And last, in Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed. How are the families of the earth blessed through Abraham? Again, Jesus was a Jew. He was directly descended from Abraham. Matt 1:1 “Jesus Christ, son of David and son of Abraham.” Whenever someone believes the gospel they are united with Christ. Christ’s descent from Abraham becomes theirs, and in God’s eyes, the Believer becomes a direct descendant of Abraham. They become an heir of God’s promises to Abraham. In this way, “all the families of the earth” —Japanese, French, Canadian, American—are blessed in Abraham. This is why Jesus promised that, before the End comes, the gospel will be preached to “all nations” (Matt. 24:9). This is also why Jesus told us to “make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do everything that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). This promise to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham was the second promise of the gospel in scripture. (Gal 3:8) “Scripture…preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’” Application: Exult in God’s Grace 1st Grace: To the degree that sin is bitter grace will be sweet. The bitterness of God’s judgment on Noah’s generation and the citizens of Babel makes the nature of God’s unmerited favor to Abraham especially sweet. 2nd Election: The call of God never occurs on the basis of performance. It is not because you performed. It is produce performance fueled by gratitude for grace. It is all about the grace to the unworthy, it is about God richly blessing those that deserve to be cursed. 3rd Love: On this basis Paul writes that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. 4th Self Knowledge: Know yourself. If you tend to presume upon God’s grace, if you take his grace for granted, then get serious about the fear of God. On the other hand, if you tend to fear God, and find it hard to believe that he loves you, then get serious about the grace that came to Abraham and is available to you. Whichever error you tend towards the cure for what ails you is found at the cross. 5h Repentance: True grace always motivates repentance. That is the subject of next week. ................
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