Two Calls of God
Old Testament Survey: Genesis 12: 1-3 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:14
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Today - as we come out of last week where we looked at the Spread of Evil...
After the fall of mankind...
We’ll see a comparison today...
We’re going to compare (the people of the earth) - THEIR response to God’s command...
Up against...
Abraham’s response to God....
• There are 196 countries in the world today, with anywhere from 6800 to 6900 different languages.
• We know if we travel to France, people there will speak French.
• ...Travel to Spain, and people there will speak Spanish.
• Anyone who has traveled to a foreign speaking country knows how difficult it can be complete the simplest of tasks.
• Ordering food
• Getting directions
• Answering basic questions
• General communication
• Reading signs (knowing where you're at)
• It can be extremely difficult to survive in a foreign country, or at least take a while before you feel like you can get by.
• Do you know it hasn't always been this way?
• At one point in time there was one universal language.
• Can you imagine?
• Your cable stops working, you call technical support, and no matter where your call gets directed, the person who answers speaks your language...
• Now that would be a miracle...
• But no, this is true.
• After the flood, God tells Noah and his family to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth".
• And so God calls for Noah and his family to disperse, to scatter, and to fill the earth.
• That's chapter 9.
• Remember when we mentioned that even after the flood, there was still a problem on the earth...
• ...and that problem was "mankind".
• That sinful man was still on the scene...and therefore rebellion against God was still prevalent?
• Well...2 Chapters later (Chapter 11), we read this...
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
• So mankind at this point (Noah, his family, and his descendants), know they're to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
• What's their response?
READ v4
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
• Are we seeing a pattern here?
• God says - "Do this"
• Sin says - "Let's do the opposite"
• *I remember the days when I could get my kids to do anything I wanted them to do...
• How?
• Tell him not to do it.
• These people here decide to directly disobey God.
• He tells them to spread out over the earth and multiply.
• Instead they decide to do what was convenient, not what was commanded.
• Sound familiar?
• How often do we follow our convenience instead of God's command?
LISTEN - it’s not EASY to WALK INTO persecution
It’s not EASY to walk into - your own family disowning you
HATING you...
BUT YET - we’re called to TRUST and Obey GOD ...
I think - MORE OFTEN than not - we DO NOT
• What drives this?
• Pride.
• Ignoring God's clear command, and following their own wisdom.
• What does it say?
Read v4
• See the problem didn't get washed away in the flood.
• This all goes back to "only evil continually" we saw last week in chapter 6 of Genesis.
• It's from this basis that we now see mankind saying "let us make a name for ourselves" in chapter 11.
· And I fear that this mindset has infiltrated the church itself…
· ALL of US fall prey to this…
· Go to youtube tonight and type in – Worship Song Cover
· What will you see?
· You’ll see church, after church, after church
· Worship leader after worship leader after worship leader…trying to create the next coolest video…
You’ll see an EMPTY warehouse…cool lighting…multiple camera angles…
WHY?
· To…worship…Jesus
NOW – of course not all of these videos are evil…
· We can’t judge all motives…
· BUT – evidence is much that this mindset of – “Let’s make a name for ourselves” – has creeped in…
These people in the land of Shinar decided they’d rather DISOBEY God and make a name for themselves… THAN OBEY HIM...
• This is the perfect description of unredeemed man...past and present.
• We are not basically good...
• ...we're basically bad and completely sinful.
• Sure you can look around and see good things being attempted and noble tasks being achieved...
• ...BUT the problem is not simply with our attempts or achievements.
• The problem is with our hearts.
• Until we come to bow the knee to Jesus Christ as King of the universe, our own agendas remain on the thrones of our hearts.
• And that means that even our best deeds are godless deeds.
• And so for all the homeless shelters, cancer research centers, and orphanages out there...
• ...NONE of those efforts will carry over into eternity UNLESS they're done in the FAITH – faith in Jesus Christ...and in His power.
• So some of us do "only evil continually" by blatantly rebelling against God...
• ...and others of us do "only evil continually" by failing to acknowledge God as the giver of every good and perfect gift.
• Each lifestyle is a godless one, and each as we'll see is worthy of judgment.
• Where "only evil continually" in chapter 6 leads to the judgment of the flood...
• ..."only evil continually" here (chapter 11) leads to another judgment by God.
7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
• So God scrambles their language, foils their plans, and scatters them over the whole face of the earth.
• They wanted to make a name for themselves, and now they can't even pronounce one another's names!
• They wanted to ensure that they wouldn't be scattered over the face of the earth...
• ...and yet, this is what happens...except it comes through the judgment of God.
• Think of the results of God's judgment at Babel.
• Where once all communication was common, now we're left to deal with foreign lands and foreign languages.
• Where once there was a common lifestyle, we're now left to deal with differing cultures and everything that comes with that.
• It would seem at this point that God had had enough of his creation and was done with them...
• But that's not the case.
• There's a pretty clear pattern that's been established so far in the early goings of the OT.
SLIDE:
People sin
People face the consequences
God redeems (repeat)
• Adam and Eve: They sin...God brings judgment, but also reveals that a descendant of Eve's (Christ) would crush the head of the serpent...
• A few chapters later, we find mankind continually sinning, to the point where God destroys everything except one man and 7 others. God then makes a covenant with Noah saying He would never again curse the ground because of man, nor would He destroy every living thing again by a flood.
• Then, a few chapters later, mankind gathers in Babel, in defiance of God...God renders judgment, but then reveals His plan for redemption.
• People sin...people face the consequences...God redeems
• God knew what was to come, and He knew He would use mankind to carry out His purposes and to reveal His plan.
THIS was the call that went out to MANKIND - it ended at Babel...
And God JUDGED their DISOBEDIENCE...
• 292 years after the flood, a man named Abram was born.
• It was through Abram that God would reveal His plan of salvation.
• We'll finish out this week looking at the CALL OF ABRAHAM...
• And then next week we'll look at the response of Abraham.
The Call of Abram
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.
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.”
SLIDE: The Call of Abraham: Initiated by God
The Call of Abraham
The Call of Abraham
• First thing to understand here - Abraham did not seek out God...instead God sought out Abraham.
• See God uses man to accomplish His purposes in this world.
• ...and He'll call out whom He wishes to make that happen.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• Make no mistake about it...God has called you out...
• Are you ready?
• Have you answered the call?
*I’ve had conversations with people – who have admitted that they just really don’t know when the right time is to get involved in ministry…
· Maybe they’ve had a bad experience…
· Maybe they’re just nervous..
· I would actually say this – If you are a PROFESSING believer in Jesus Christ – and you TRULY ARE a believer (follower) – THEN you already ARE in ministry.
· You don’t have to SIGN UP to be in ministry…you ARE – RIGHT NOW – in ministry.
· So the question becomes – How’s your ministry going?
· SEE – Just like with Abraham…GOD INITIATES!!
• And so yes...God establishes with Abraham a covenant.
• So there are really 3 promises that are apart of this covenant between God and Abraham.
SLIDE:
1. Land
2. Descendants
3. Blessing
- God promised that out of Abraham's line, that a deliverer will come to rescue mankind (as promised back in Genesis chapter 3).
…God promised to bless Abraham, so that he would be a blessing to every family on the earth
NOW - A covenant is a solemn promise by which 2 or more parties commit themselves to the rights and responsibilities demanded by their relationship and accept the serious consequences of breaking faith.
• So basically, a covenant is a picture of "relationship built on promise".
• And so looking at these promises, we see:
SLIDE: The Call of Abraham: Die to Self
The Call of Abraham
The Call of Abraham
Listen to what God said to Abraham....first thing
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.
• The first thing that God asks is for Abraham to "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you."
• Who would have checked out at that point?
• "Go from your country, your kindred, and your father's house"...
• So basically, leave everything you've ever known... (DIE to SELF)
• ...AND head out, and I'll tell you later where you're going.
• So no option to compare destinations (leave here and go here).
• It was just - Go, head out, and I'll tell you later where you're going.
• Just think of the implications here:
• He's told to leave his country...
• ...his culture...his profession
• All without knowing where God was sending him.
• NOW the world would hear about this and cry out - "How DARE God operate this way"..
• And we miss so easily how we SHOULD respond..."How dare I question Him".
• What does this call require of Abraham?
• Possessions - lay them down
• Security - lay it down
• Familiarity - lay it down
• Comfort - lay it down
• His own future plans - lay them down
• His time - lay it down
• Everything that we hold so tightly...required of Abraham.
• Most of you know I’ve worked at IMARC with Harold and Sandy for the past 14 years…
IN those 14 years I spent about 4 of those years in Human Resources...
• ...and so I've seen my fair share of resumes.
• I've seen resumes that are 12-15 pages long, and I've seen resumes that are 1 page.
• One day while I was looking thru a bunch of resumes, I stopped and asked myself...
• "what does my spiritual resume look like?"
This was BEFORE I decreased my hours at IMARC to devote more time to ministry…
• Because I thought...we all have one...every person on this planet has one...
• Except A LOT of people's only has their name on it...
• ...AND they'll be accountable for the blank page.
• But what does my spiritual resume look like?
• What’s my Spiritual Experience?
• Have I literally laid down possessions for Jesus?
• Have I literally laid down comfort for Jesus?
• Have I literally laid down my own future plans for Jesus?
• Have I literally laid down my precious time for Jesus?
• Have you?
• Or are we holding a blank page...with our name on it??
• All of these things required of Abraham...
• All of these things required of us.
• AND YET – we can TRUST God…
We can TRUST His promises…
And the first promise associated with this Abrahamic Covenant was:
The land that God promises Abraham is the land of Canaan.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
• The land of Canaan, reserved for Abraham and who?
• His offspring...
• His offspring?
• At the time of the Call of Abraham, he was 75...
• ...not exactly the prime of childbearing.
• Abraham says to God in chapter 15:
2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
• What's God response?
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
• So we have land promised to Abraham as part of this covenant...
• ...and NOW - descendants promised to Abraham as part of this covenant.
• The last promise that was apart of this covenant was that "in Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
• And so God's plan for Abraham is not that Abraham would receive all these blessings from God merely for Abraham...
• ...BUT that Abraham would be individually blessed, for the purpose that now thru Abraham, this blessing would extend to the whole world.
SLIDE:
Abraham was blessed...to be a blessing
The Call of Abraham
The Call of Abraham
• How many of you have been blessed by God?
· How did that blessing come? Thru someone else?
· Are you grateful that that person OBEYED God in BEING a blessing?
• Have you ever considered that you have been blessed for the purpose that now THRU you, that blessing would extend to the world?
• ...to your family?
• ...to your neighbors?
• ...to your coworkers?
• ...to the communities?
• ...to those around you?
• This is the pattern we see...this is the point.
• BUT why did God wait?
• Why did God wait until Abraham was old and unable to have children before He gets into a covenant relationship with him and fulfills His covenant promises for him?
SLIDE:
God waited to show that the benefits of the covenant rest in the power and in the grace of God alone!
- God will OFTEN take the IMPOSSIBLE…and make it POSSIBLE…
- He OFTEN DOES the impossible…
- WHY?
The Bible tells us why…
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
• God wasn't standing on the side saying - Ok Abraham, I'm going to help you become great...
• ...and I'll be your cheerleader as you cooperate with the gifts I've given you...
• so that you can become the head of a great nation.
• No, Abraham is incapable of receiving the blessings of the covenant apart from the supernatural power of God.
• This is God's plan.
• BUT - - are we all just putting too much faith in this process here?
• Is all of this really just laced with false hope - -
• ...given that we're dealing with mankind here?
• I mean, how many times has mankind messed this thing up already?
• The Fall
• The Flood
• The Tower of Babel
• I mean, we're 0-3 at this point.
• What are the odds we mess this up now?
• What are the odds that Abraham just goes rogue and blows this thing up?
• Pretty good right?
• Well, Here’s the thing:
God knows this, and so this is where God shows us that He's in control...complete control.
• God enters into a covenant with Abraham and his family, and thru him...
• ...the blessing and salvation promised in Genesis chapter 3 will come to the nations.
• In Genesis chapter 15 we see God take matters into His own hands, sealing that promise for ALL OF ETERNITY!
As a church – we’ve walked thru this COVENANT many times…
But we’ll walk thru it again…
- It’s such a VITAL piece of the OT…
- And why we’re even here today…
8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
• Here we see God executing a covenant ceremony...
• ...and He orders Abraham to lay out pieces of dead animals to create an isle (a blood path) that can be walked down.
• Ordinarily when a servant would enter into a covenant with a lord, the SERVANT would pass thru the dead animals as he made his promise of faithfulness.
• This was a way to say - If i'm not faithful to this promise i make today, may i be torn into pieces and killed like these animals.
• The servant is agreeing to take on the curse of the covenant if he does not keep his oath.
We just talked about it - SO FAR - Mankind has proven that HE IS GOING TO FAIL in this!!
• Now with this in mind...let's look at what happens here.
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
• So instead of Abraham passing thru the dead animals...
• God does!
• In the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch, God passes thru the blood path (the dead animals), and as He does, He promises to bless Abraham in all the ways He has promised.
• And then- - the ceremony ends.
• Abraham never walks.
• This means that God promises to take the curse of the covenant upon Himself...
• NOT ONLY if He fails to obey the covenant, but if Abraham does.
• He offers to die and be torn to pieces if humanity fails so that He can give us the blessings of the covenant...unconditionally.
• What manner of love is this?
• You remember the myths we discussed about the OT when we started this series?
• How can the loving, merciful God of the NT be the same wrathful God of the OT??
• Do we see a wrathful God here?
• People sin...People face the consequences...God redeems.
What did we see today?
Two Calls...
SUMMARY:
A Call to Mankind
That they would GO OUT and populate the earth!
What do they do?
Disobey - stay in one place - Build a tower TRYING to make a name for themselves...
God judges them...
The Call of Abraham
- Initiated by God
- Die to Self
Promises of God
Land
Descendants
Blessing
And these physical promises here - were PHYSICAL foreshadowings of a Spiritual Reality that was and is to come...
The physical land of Canaan = was a physical foreshadowing to Heaven itself…promised to those of FAITH
The physical descendants of Abraham - were a physical foreshadowing of the Spiritual descendants that would come from his line...
Those who would come to believe in Jesus...
Even you and I today (we are considered - Children of Abraham)
The blessing promised was the spiritual blessing that would come through the generations…to those would be BELIEVE!
- And ALL of it – SEALED with a promise from God – that should mankind FAIL in this – He Himself would take on the punishment due mankind…
And as we know - God makes GOOD on that promise - Sending His Son Jesus - God Himself in the flesh - to DIE for YOU
Today we’ve seen…
• the Call and the Covenant of Abraham.
• Next week, we'll look at Abraham's response to this call.
let's pray...