MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(PowerPoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #373.)
Text: Genesis 12:1-7; 1 Samuel 16:7
ILL. I want to read part of what Danny Dutton, an 8-yr-old 3rd grader, wrote in an assignment to "Explain God." He wrote, "One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.
“He doesn’t make grown-ups, just babies. I think that’s because they are smaller & easier to make. That way, He doesn’t have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk & walk. He just leaves that to mothers & fathers.
“God sees everything & hears everything & is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t waste His time by going over your mom & dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have.
“You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, & if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God.
“If you don’t believe in God you will be very lonely because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He’s around when you’re scared in the dark, or when you can’t swim very good & you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.
“And you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here & He can take me back anytime He pleases. And that’s why I believe in God." (Adapted from Jeff Strite & Brian Mavis (SermonCentral.com) quoting Danny Dutton)
SUM: Now Danny wrote more than that, but one thing I noticed about his explanation of God is this: Danny believes in a God who makes people, listens to them, & is nearby when you’re frightened or lonely. His God cares about us!
ILL. A few years ago Baylor University sponsored a poll by the Gallup Organization on the “Values & Beliefs of the American Public.”
Concerning belief in God, it found that about one-half of those interviewed saw God as an angry, critical being who is just waiting to punish people. Others visualized Him as a remote God, not really interested in what is happening to us.
But it did find that about 1/4th of Americans think of God as a benevolent, caring Father who wants a relationship with us. (From a poll conducted by the Gallup Organization.)
Now that last group believes in a God who listens to them, cares about them, & who is nearby when they're frightened or lonely. And that is the kind of God the Bible reveals to us.
I. ABRAHAM AND GOD
In the 12th chapter of Genesis we read about one of the most dramatic relationships any man has ever had with God.
In fact, a little over 1/4 of the book of Genesis is dedicated to telling us about Abram, or Abraham as we know him best. And much of the rest of the O.T. testifies to his importance as it mentions again & again “Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob”.
The reason Abraham is so important in the O.T. is because God began His promises to the people of Israel with him.
The relationship that God had with Abraham was unique because Abraham wasn’t what you would call a great leader. Abraham didn’t have any followers or disciples. He didn’t write any books that we know of. He wasn’t a great teacher or politician or warrior.
In fact, the only real claim to fame Abraham has was that God chose him & made special promises to him. In Genesis 12:2-3 God promised him:
1. I will make you into a great nation & I will bless you.
2. I will make your name great, & you will be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, & whoever curses you I will curse.
4. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
5. And in vs. 7 God added: To your offspring I will give this land.
What God was telling Abraham was: "I want a relationship with you. I will be with you - to listen to you, to walk beside you, & be there for you when life gets lonely & frightening."
And more than that, God was promising to make Abraham such a great man that he would not only affect the lives of his descendants – but even the entire world.
II. WHY DID GOD CHOOSE ABRAHAM?
But why? Why did God pick out a fairly obscure man like Abraham to give all these blessings to?
Like I said earlier, he wasn’t a man of great accomplishments, renown, or power. As far as we can tell, he was probably an older, moderately successful herdsman that may have lived with his dad!
Why would God choose him? The only reason that makes any sense is that God saw what was in Abraham’s heart. God knew his potential. As God later told the prophet Samuel: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
Joshua 24:2 tells us that Abraham's father, Terah, worshiped idols, yet Abraham rebelled against the idolatry that surrounded him. Both Jews & Arabs have a common ancestry in Abraham, & they have some interesting legends concerning him.
ILL. One long & fantastic legend states that Abraham's father was an official in the court of King Nimrod, & when Abraham was born a star appeared in the sky & seemed to swallow up all the other stars.
Nimrod took this as a sign threatening his power so he ordered the death of the baby Abraham, but Abraham was hidden in a cave & his life was saved.
According to the legend it was in that cave that Abraham first began wondering about God. It says that when he came out of the cave & stood looking up into the night sky that the moon was shining brightly & the sky was filled with stars. So Abraham said, "The moon must be God, & the stars are His servants!" So he knelt down & worshiped the moon.
But the night passed & the moon & stars all faded out of sight. Then the sun arose in all its blazing glory & Abraham said, "Surely the sun is God, the Creator of all!" So he knelt down & worshiped the sun. But when evening came the sun sank in the west, & darkness prevailed once again.
So Abraham said, "Truly the sun is not a God either. I will worship only the God who created the sun, the moon, & the stars." (Adapted from "The Legends of the Jews" by Louis Ginzberg, www.Philogos.org)
ILL. Another legend says that Abraham's father, Terah, not only worshiped 12 gods, one for each month, but he also made idols for sale.
One day, when Abraham was minding the shop for his father, a woman came in with a dish of meat to offer to the gods.
After she left, Abraham took a club & smashed all the idols but one, in whose hands he placed the club he had used. Terah returned & was very angry at the destruction he saw.
Abraham said, "My father, a woman brought this dish of meat for your gods. They all wanted to have it & the strongest knocked the heads off all the rest to keep them from eating it."
Terah said, "That is impossible for they are all made of wood & stone." And according to the legend, Abraham answered, "Let your own ears hear what your mouth has spoken." (IBID)
SUM. Now those are just legends, but they do give a picture of Abraham searching after God, dissatisfied with the idolatry of his people. So when God called Abraham, he was ready to answer.
III. WHEN GOD CALLED, ABRAHAM OBEYED
When God said to him: "Leave your country, your people & your father’s household & go to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) Abraham simply packed up his tent & left. There’s no argument, no excuses. When God says "Go" - Abraham went.
Now, contrast that with how another great man in Scripture dealt with a similar call from God.
In the book of Exodus God appears to Moses in a burning bush. God speaks to him & says: "I want you to go down to Egypt & tell Pharaoh, 'Let my people go.'"
How does Moses respond? He makes excuses: He asks “Who am I to do this? “What if they don’t listen to me?” “I can’t talk well enough” And God answers every question Moses asks, & every objection he raises.
Finally, Moses comes right out & says “O Lord, please send someone else to do it." (Exodus 4:13) That was how Moses responded to God.
But not Abraham. Abraham didn’t argue. He didn’t offer excuses. When God called, Abraham obeyed.
Now, God had close relationships with other people before Abraham came along.
There was Adam & Eve. God gave them a wonderful place to live. He cared for them, & listened to them, & walked with them in the Garden. Then there was Enoch. He walked closely with God for 300 years. And, of course, there was Noah whom God entrusted with building the Ark.
But if you put together all the verses in Genesis that mention them – Adam & Eve & Enoch & Noah - you wouldn’t have one-half the amount of attention spent on them as was spent on Abraham.
Why would that be? I believe God spent so much time telling us about Abraham because He wanted to show us something.
With Abraham, God was beginning to do something new. He was making a covenant (a contract, agreement) that was to be the foundation of everything else God planned to do - including His ultimate sending of Jesus to pay the price for our sins.
IV. WHAT DOES GOD WANT US TO REALIZE?
So what does God want us to see in this story of Abraham?
A. 1st – He wants us to see the kind of relationship He desires. He wants to bless us - not because we’re accomplished, rich, or successful - but because He loves us & we are made in His image.
ILL. Over the years I’ve visited in many homes. In some of them their refrigerator doors were covered with pictures. And the great majority of those pictures were of their children, grandchildren, & even great-grandchildren. Sometimes there were so many pictures that you could barely see the door itself.
Those pictures proclaimed that these children were precious to them. Oftentimes you could see in those pictures the image of their parents, & know that they’re dearly loved.
Now imagine a great refrigerator in heaven, & your picture is on that refrigerator. Your picture & mine are there because we’re precious to God. He loves us. We’re made in His image.
And because He loves us, He blesses us. God is so serious about blessing us that He gets upset when others don’t bless us too.
God tells Abraham “I will bless those who bless you, & whoever curses you I will curse; & all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3)
ILL. Jeff Strite, a preacher, tells this story. He says, “Back in Bible College somebody told me that this promise was only for Abraham.
"He tried to convince me that only Abraham had been promised that those who blessed him would be blessed & those who cursed him would be cursed. But I felt certain that this promise also applied to me as a Christian. So I set out to prove that I was right. And I did.
“In Matthew 10:42 Jesus said: ‘If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.’ In other words: God promises to bless those who bless us.
“Then in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 Paul tells the Christians in Thessalonica, ‘God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.’ What is he saying? God will curse those who curse us.
Jeff says, “Now I find great comfort in that. I am pleased that God is focused on my needs. He cares so much for you & me that He will reward people who watch out for us - & He will deal harshly with folks who hurt us.”
But it doesn’t stop there. Just as God told Abraham that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him - so also, God intends everyone you meet to be blessed through you.
God wants to bless your children, your grandchildren, your co-workers, your neighbors. They all should be affected by the relationship you have with God.
Jesus said: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
And if the fruit of God’s Spirit that is obvious in your life - "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" - (Galatians 5:22) – causes them to begin looking to God it can ultimately lead to their wanting God for their Father as well.
God wants to bless you. And He wants to bless others through you.
B. The 2nd thing God wants us to realize is that we, too, have a decision to make. It’s not enough for us merely to see the blessings God offers & then want those blessings.
Before Abraham could receive the blessings God offered him, he had a decision to make. "The LORD had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people & your father’s household & go to the land I will show you.' (Genesis 12:1)
"Make the decision, Abram! I can give you your heart’s desire - but you have to decide to leave where you have been & how you have lived. You have to leave your old life behind."
ILL. I’m told that there are toll booths at the Golden Gate Bridge. Every once in a while, people get to those booths & don’t have any money. They can’t turn around & they can’t go ahead. There are cars lined up behind them & they have to do something.
The toll booth operators have a solution: If you don’t have any money, you can still cross the bridge - as long as you leave some-thing that has a value greater than the cost of the toll.
So drivers have left such items as: A can of motor oil, a frying pan, a set of silverware, a new book, Cassettes, & wedding bands – (mostly men’s wedding bands.)
One elderly man left his dentures & returned the next day to redeem them. The owner of a diamond wristwatch valued at $7,000 left it for the toll but never returned to claim it.
You see, In order to get to the other side, they had to leave something behind. (Adapted from Jeff Strite, SermonCentral.com)
And God tells us the same thing is true of our salvation. In order to get to the other side, we have to leave our old life behind.
As Jesus said: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
INVITATION
(Much of this message has been gleaned from “The Abraham Factor” a sermon by Jeff Strite on SermonCentral.com)
