*** I’ve left my pause marks in this script. they are for my benefit only as a reminder to me to take a breath once in a while. This message isn’t particularly deep or profound, it is simply an honest effort to tell Abraham's story to someone who has never heard the old old stories of the Bible.
****Second note.... After preaching through this, I have believe that this was too much material to cover in 1 Sermon. If you like what you see here, I would ask that you consider breaking this into 2 messages. Perhaps a part 1 and part 2.
In recent weeks we’ve been doing a fly over of the Old Testament and considering the major players and events between creation and Christ. And one of the things that we want to do is to connect the dots to get a sense of the flow of the story.
And so to be consistent with the flow of what we’re trying to accomplish we’re going to have to rewind back the time clock a bit and go all the way back to where we left off in the account of the creation of the world.
In a previous message, we learned that God is the one who created the heavens and the earth… and everything that has been made has been made by Him.
And after creating the earth, and the sun, moon and stars,
And after creating the plants trees and animals,
And after creating man…. God stood back and said that “It is very good!”
It’s good! It’s good! And It was very good!
-Pause-
Think of it…. Man had perfect fellowship with God!
Adam and Eve were blessed to live in the beauty of the Garden of Eden in paradise and they walked with animals in harmony and the beasts of the field didn’t fear man, nor hold harm for him.
Wouldn’t it be great if things could have just stayed that way?
Wouldn’t it be great if Adam and those following him hadn’t have blown it for us and we were still living in the Eden experience?
-Pause-
Of course you know that’s wishful thinking…. Because there came a point where there was trouble in paradise.
You can read about it in Genesis chapter 3.
God told Adam and Eve… “you guys can enjoy everything in the Garden… you can eat anything here that you want to… I’ve made it all for you to enjoy! I love you!”
“But Guys… there is… there is this ONE thing that you must not do…. You mustn’t eat of the tree that is in the center of the garden.”
And things were ok for a while… but one day, the serpent came to eve and asked her…. "Did God really say, ’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden….
3 but God did say, ’You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’"
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
OOOOOPS!!!! probably doesn’t quite cover it!
Now before we’re too hard on EVE… notice what it says next!
“She also gave some to her husband, “ (who was a clear on the other side of the garden naming the animials)
Is that what it says?
“ who was with her,” and he ate it.
you talk about a wishey washy weak husband…. He was right there with her watching and listening and allowing it all to happen. Adam could have stepped in right there and protected his wife from what the serpent was trying to do…
but instead he too, ate of the tree and sin entered the world.
.
Romans 5:12 (NIV) describes this from a little different perspective, but it tells of the problem that all mankind was now facing…
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
-Pause-
This was a serious deal…. When Adam and eve ate of the tree, sin came into the world and from that moment, the world was now under a curse… listen to just a portion of the curse described here..
16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ’You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
….. Repeat….. since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Romans 6:23 The wages of Sin is……….. DEATH!
Folks, we don’t often bring this out… but could I just tell you that at this point in time…. humanity was in an awful fix!
(** With emphasis) These guys are like the young kids who just broke open the bee hive to get the honey…. There gonna get something alright… but the sweetness of the prize comes at a high price!
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I’m so glad that we have a God who loves us and who didn’t leave us in that awful condition!
God turned to the serpent and said to him…
"Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
now catch this next line…
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
God said to the serpent… You’re gonna be the lowest thing out there!
It’s hard to get too much lower than a snakes belly in a wheel rut!
Worse than that, I’m gonna make it so that things will never be ok between you and the woman again.
Things are gonna be bad between her children and your children.
OH…. And Mr. snake…
This woman is going to give birth to children…. And more children… and her children are going to have children and somewhere down the line there’s gonna be a child who is special…
and from you’re low place in the dust of the ground, you’re gonna strike at his heel…. And as you do….. He’s gonna STOMP YOUR HEAD!
-Pause-
Family of God... that Child…. Is the Christ Child! That Child, that was so far in the future would be God in the flesh…
Jesus, is the promised redeemer of Genesis 3:15…. The messiah!
_pause---
Well, for the time being, man was put out of the Garden of eden…. And things went from bad to worse….
Adam and Eve’s children… showed us the very first murder in the Bible..
Man’s heart became so continually inclined to Evil that God sent a global flood to destroy every living thing on earth except for Noah and his family.
Later men got together and began to build a tower at a place called BABEL who’s top would reach the heavens… and The Bible says that God stooped down low from His place and to have a look…
Q. How many of you know that God’s not pleased with any of man’s own efforts to make his own way to heaven…. And so in response, God confused the languages… and took mankind from having one language to having many languages and peoples scattered all over….
and that brings up to where our story today begins….
from the line of Noah’s son Shem…. Enters a man named ABRAM…
-Pause-
Now, later on, Abram is going to receive a new name and his name will be changed to ABRAHAM but for the sake of simplicity….and so that I don’t get confused,
Let’s just call him Abraham from here on out.
Reaching back to the promise of Genesis 3:15 Abraham is one of the people that God chose to bring blessing to the entire earth.
-Pause-
Q. Now how’s he gonna do that?
Abraham is later going to have Isaac… and Isaac is going to have Jacob…. And Jacob’s name is going to be changed to “ISRAEL” and Israel is going to have 12 sons who will become the 12 tribes of Israel. The promised redeemer, Jesus will referred to as the Lion of the tribe of Judah! He is of Abraham's seed.
From the seed of this man Abraham… later will come Jesus who will redeem the world from the Curse of Sin.
-Pause-
in Genesis 12 God tells Abraham… “go to the land I will show you
Go to the land that I’ll show you and if you will do that…. Then I’m gonna do some things !
Q. There are 5 things that God says that He will do if Abraham, will go to the land that God will show him….
Can you tell me what they are?
1. Make you a great nation
2. Bless you
3. Make your name great
4. You shall be a blessing
5. I will bless those who bless you And curse those who curse you and in you all families of the earth will be blessed!
-Pause---
Q. How old was Abraham when God told him to Go?
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
Q. At what age do we retire from the Lord’s service? NO RETIREMENT
-Pause-
Now as we continue… There are so many stories that we could camp on with Abraham, but we’re going to keep moving kind of fast in places so that we can take time in other places.
In Genesis 14
Genesis 14:11 (NIV)
11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away.
Lot was abraham’s nephew and they agreed together “Let there be no strife between us”
And because Lot was living in the city, he is taken captive.
Abraham hears about it and mounts a rescue and on his way home… He encounters a curious guy named melchizedek Genesis 14:20
This Melchizedek is a type of Christ and he pays a Tithe to him.
Later in Genesis 15 God makes 3 promises to Abraham….
Can you tell me what they are?
1. A son
2. That his decendants will be like the number of the stars.
3. More promise of the land
Genesis 16 Tell the story of ABE and HAGAR!!!
? Abe and hagar conceive
o Sarai despises her…
o Abe tells her to treat her however she feels like
o Sarah mistreats hagar and she flees into the desert
1. Angel comes and finds hagar…
• Tells her her son’s name shall be Ishmael and
• He will be a wild donkey of a man
• His hand will be against everyone and everyne’s hand will be against him
• He will live to the east of all his brothers
• Also tells hagar that God will greatly multiply her descendants so that they will be too many to count!
o This is traditionally where the all of the Arabs who are not Jews come from.
o All of the descriptions that are given here fit the Arabs to a tee!
o This is where the Arab claim on Jerusalem in our modern day comes from
o And this is a huge source of strife….
? Tell the story of CNN tv in Saudi Arabia blanking out because they hate the jews so badly that they will not even allow a news story about Israel to be shown on the tv.
Hagar returns home and bears a son called Ishmael.. who is a son… but he is not the son of promise!
-Pause-
Now in Genesis 17 Abe gets the covenant of circumcision! This is the BIGGIE!
? God establishes his covenant between himself and ABE
o God tells abe, you will be the father of a many nations
o Changes name for abram to Abraham!
o God makes his promises and then calls ABE to keep his part of the covenant …which at this point is circumcision.
o Failure to be circomsized is seen by God has breaking the covenant VS14
VS 15 Sarai gets her new name of sarah! And God promises to bless her with a son the following year.
*****Now in Verse 17 ABE has an interesting response to God’s promise of a son.
Do you see it there?
What’s abes response to the promise?
Abe falls down laughing…. Saying will a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old and will sarah who is ninety years old bear a child.
? God tells ABE to name his new son Isaac
? That same day abe circomsizes Ishmael who is 13 years old and abe is also circomsized at the age of 99 years old!
_____________We’re living under a New Covenant but
____________ This is the Old Covenant _____________
Genesis 18 the lord appears to ABE again and when abe looked up there were 3 men standing before him
When ABE saw them, he ran to meet them and bowed low before them he then fed them and they said to him
Where is sarah?
She was in the next tent
She was secretly listening a the tent door and she heard one of the men say that when he returned next year Sarah would have a son!
In VS 18:12
Q. What was Sarah’s response when she over heard this promise of a son?
Genesis 18:12 (NIV)
12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"
Yes! And then The lord said to Abe why did Sarah laugh?
Did Sarah fess up? Did Sarah say, I’m so sorry for laughing I shouldn’t have done that?
No! Sarah denied it! but the Lord said, “no you did laugh!” WOW!
Q. How successful are we at lying to God? Is it possible to keep a secret from God? When adam and eve hid in the bushes did God wonder where they were?
God knows Everything!
Finally … Isaac is born!
Now here is the true child of the promise in abe’s time.
Not the son of Hagar, but the son of Sarah.
And ABE loved Isaac… and ABE knew that God would use ISAAC to Fulfill his priomise..
Imagine ABE’s surprise when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac on the mountain….
I’ll save you the description of that event, but suffice it to say that ABE’s faith in God was so great that he was even willing to give back his own son…
And God stopped him and said…
Genesis 22:12 (NIV)
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
-pause-
I find it fascinating that there is universal agreement among the ancients that the hill on which Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac, Mt. Moriah…
….. is identified with the area in which the Temple of Jerusalem.
and the hill called…. Calvary!
So in the very spot where God vowed to Abraham to bless him and even take on the curse of death, the Son of God went to his death and paid the price of our redemption.
Invitation and application points….
Point 1.
Hebrews says, abe believed God and It was credited to him as righteousness… This is the 3rd time he had to believe God. 1 go to the land I will show you 2 you are going to have a son 3 you have to sacrifice yoru son and if you do that I will still bless you and keep my promises.
Point 2. Sarah laughs secretly and then lies to God about it…. The Lord asks her…. Why did you laugh? I didn’t laugh…. YOU DID Laugh! Later in the Bible another couple lie to the holy spirit … There names are Ananias and saphira… and God not only knew that they were lying… but he struck them dead on the spot….
You know there are times in our lives when we can begin to tell ourselves something so many times that we begin to believe it even though we once knew it to be a lie…. Family…. It doesn’t matter if you know believe it or if you’ve convinced yourself that it’s ok….. God knows the truth.. and He calls us to truth..
Is there something in your life that you need to set strait? Perhaps its something that you have told others about yourself that’s not quite right? Or maybe you’ve said something unkind about another person that you know deep down isn’t true…. Maybe you even spoke it so quickly that it was out of your mouth even before you realized what you were saying….. But once it was out there…. It was simply too embarrassing and two hard to take back.
Its time to take it back…. It’s time to set it right… and The truth can not only set someone else free… The Bible says that it WILL set you FREE!
Point 3
Remember at the beginning of this message I told you that the reason that Abraham is important… is because Jesus is one of Abraham’s decenents….
Going a step further… God’s people throughout the generations have called themselves the Children of Abraham! And so we come to a powerful question…
As God considers Israel…. As God considers who belong to Him… Who does He think of?
According to the Bible…. Who are Abraham’s children?
Galatians 3:7-9 (NIV)
7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
Those who believe in Christ are the children of Abraham
We sing about this in Sunday School…. “Father Abraham had many sons… and many sons had father Abraham etc.
Just as Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, you and I come by our righteousness the same way.
We come to God with a foreign righteousness… a righteousness not of our own.
It is the righteousness of Christ that has been applied to our account.
And just as Abraham received this righteousness by having Biblical faith, We too receive it by Biblical faith.
Biblical faith is more than just agreeing mentally to something.
Biblical faith is willing to do something in response to God…. Repent,,, Confess,, Be baptized,, Trust in Him alone for the salvation of your soul.
As the Praise team is coming, we offer you His invitation….
