THE FATHER OF BLESSING

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 19, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Father’s Day Sermon Message; June 19, 2022 from Genesis 12:1-3

Theme: As the story of Abraham shows us, a godly father blesses his offspring through a faithful and obedient trust in the promises of God.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Today, I’d like for us to look at the example of a great father. I believe he qualifies as the greatest father in all of human history. And as followers of Jesus—whether we have a biological connection to him or not—the Bible teaches us that this man is our father in the faith.

His name was Abram. But we know him best by the name God gave him later in his life—Abraham. And I ask you to turn with me to Genesis 12:1-5—to the place in the Bible where Abraham’s personal story begins. It’s there that we’re told;

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-5).

There are a lot of great fathers for us to think about on this day. But I suggest that this man Abraham stands above them all—even though, for a long time, he could not even be a father. His wife Sarai was barren. But by a great miracle, God gave him a son through Sarai—a son that they named Isaac. Then Isaac himself had a son, and named him Jacob. And Jacob went on to have twelve sons—all of whom became fathers of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. So Abraham was a great father because he was the father of the nation of Israel.

But there’s more. One of those twelve tribes was Judah. And from Judah—many generations down the line—was born King David. And after many generations, from out of the lineage of David was born our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—the Son of David, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So, Abraham is an even greater father because he was the father of the people group from which our Lord Jesus was born according to the flesh. Matthew 1:1 calls our Lord “the Son of Abraham”.

And I would say that there’s a third way that this man Abraham is a great father—a way that touches us personally. And that’s in the fact that he is the father of all those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s not just me who says that. The Bible itself tells us that—even though he was an old man and hadn’t had a son—he believed God’s promise that he would become a great nation. God counted his faith as righteousness. And so, he is the father of all those—Jew or Gentile—who believe in salvation. He is the father of all who are saved by faith.

What a great father this man Abraham is. He’s our father. And like all good fathers, he sets an example for his children. As we look at the beginning of his story in Genesis 12, we see that he sets a very fatherly example of faith before us. He teaches us that a godly father blesses his offspring through a faithful and obedient trust in the promises of God.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; Abraham’s story in Genesis 12 begins when he was at the age of 75. And so, there are many years of our spiritual father’s life that we don’t know much about. But there are a few things we can know through some hints that are given to us in the Bible.

We know, for example, that he grew up in a city called Ur—the capital city of the ancient Sumerian empire—located at a place in Mesopotamia that was not far from the northwestern tip of the Persian Gulf. Archeologists have unearthed the remains of this ancient city of Ur; and they have found that it had been a remarkably prosperous and cultured place. There had been lots of travel and trade going back and forth in that region; and archeologists have found lots of jewelry and fine pottery in Ur; and also the evidence that it had been a very strong, secure, well-built metropolis. So, our father Abraham grew up and lived for most of his life under the cultural influence of this ancient prosperous city. It may even be that he himself had become a wealthy man, and personally enjoyed much of the prosperity of that city.

But archeologists have also found evidence of a lot of paganism and the worship of false gods in that city. Ur was the center of the worship of a moon god named—coincidentally, from our perspective—Sin. And it’s very clear that Abraham came from a family that worshiped the false gods of Ur. In Joshua 24:2, Joshua spoke to the Jewish people and said;

“Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods” (Joshua 24:2).

So; this man, who is called our father, grew up in a cultural atmosphere of affluent paganism—in what you might call the original ‘Sin City’. It may even be that—for much of his own early life—Abraham also partook of the worship of its false gods.

But something very significant happened to Abraham at some point along the way. Sometime before the things we read about in our passage this morning, he had an encounter with the one true God. Acts 7:2 tells us;

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran … (Acts 7:2).

And that encounter changed Abram from then on. He no longer worshiped false gods. He only worshiped and served the one true God—the God of glory—the God of the Bible.

Now; the Bible tells us that his father Terah had taken him and his barren wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot, to a place called Haran—some 600 miles away from Ur. Why did Terah do this? We’re not told. But I have a very strong suspicion that the life-transforming encounter that Abraham had with God had also influenced his own father Terah. The Bible seems to suggest to us—in Genesis 31:53—that Terah ceased worshiping false gods and also became a worshiper of the one true God.

So; they all went together to Haran. And while they dwelt in Haran, Terah died. And it was then that God made the announcement to our father Abraham that we find in Genesis 12:1-3.

* * * * * * * * * *

If you’ve never read the story of Abraham from the Book of Genesis, I strongly urge you to do so. You will find that he was a man whose chief characteristic was that he trusted in the promises of God. He trusted God’s promises so much, in fact, that he was willing to give up the temporal things of this world in order to pursue the promises of God concerning a world yet to come. He was willing to give up the things that he could see with his eyes and touch with his hands, in order to receive the riches and treasures that he could only see through the eyes of faith.

So; let’s look together at Genesis 12:1-3; and let’s see how Abraham teaches us—we who are his children in the faith—the example of faithful trust and obedience to the promises of our heavenly Father.

First, his story teaches us about …

1. THE CALL FOR SEPARATION.

God had called Abraham to separate himself from the life and the world that he once knew. Verse one says;

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you (v. 1).

Now; just imagine what it would be like if you had lived almost all your life in a rich and prosperous city. Suppose that you had worked hard your whole life long to develop a treasure, and to make a name for yourself among your fellow citizens. Suppose that you had reached the age at which it was time to retire, to kick back, and to enjoy the fruits of all the years of hard work. Imagine that you were surrounded by family, and friends, and a whole network of close relations—and all in a beautiful home, and in a town with which you were familiar, and in a language and a culture with which you felt accustomed.

For a few of us, that’s not necessarily too hard to imagine. Some of us may have all of those things already. But imagine if God had suddenly appeared to you—in the midst of that comfortable life—and told you to leave it all behind, go very far away from all of your relational ties, pull up your roots; and travel to a land you didn’t know, and to a people group that was strange to you, and to a language you didn’t understand. Imagine that you were absolutely sure that it was God telling you to do this. Wouldn’t you still want to know, before you left, where it was that God was sending you—and what would happen once you got there? And just imagine further that all that God told you was that you could trust Him to take care of you, that He would show you the place once you got there, and that He would bless you after you arrived.

Would you obey a call from God like that? Would you be willing to trust in the promise of God that much? Well; you need to know that that’s what our spiritual father Abraham did!

Look carefully at the things God called him to do. He told Abraham to ‘get out’ of his ‘country’. God was calling for him to say ‘goodbye’ to the social and cultural ties that he had lived with for 75 years. Very often, when God wants to use someone in His service in a great way, He first requires that they separate themselves from the social and cultural ties that had held them in place. Would you be willing to say ‘goodbye’ to such things if God calls you to?

And then, in an even deeper way, God called our father Abraham to go out from his ‘family’. Family ties are among the most binding human ties that there are. Some people will pursue God’s will for their lives only so far as it’s okay with their family—with the family’s values, or the family’s priorities, or the family’s expectations, or even the family’s beliefs and religious traditions. Would you be willing to say ‘goodbye’ to family ties if God calls you to?

And then—again in an even deeper way—God called our father Abraham to go out from his ‘father’s house’. This is speaking not only of kinfolk, but also of all the expectations and hopes that come from the whole network of family kinship. Such things might include the security of an inheritance, or a house, or a business, or even a prosperous future. It might include a sense of family history and companionship and approval. It might even include a reputation. Would you be willing to say ‘goodbye’ to all of that security and comfort if God called you to?

And look at what God called Abraham to ‘go out’ to. He simply told him that it would be to a place that He would show him. There was no description given of the place. There wasn’t a brochure. There wasn’t any advanced information. There wasn’t anything told to Abraham except that God would show it to him when he got there.

And yet, we don’t see any hesitancy in Abraham. We don’t read of him delaying at all. We’re simply told that Abraham departed. He completely trusted himself to God’s promise, separated himself from his place of comfort and security, and went far away in obedience to God’s command.

You know; Abraham isn’t our only example of this sort of thing. It’s what the Lord Jesus did for us. He left the rich glory of heaven—in obedience to the Father’s call—and was born into the human family as one of us in order to save us. In Philippians 2, the apostle Paul wrote;

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

He ‘went out’ for us. And if we want to enter into the saving grace of God by faith in Jesus, then we need to also heed the call to ‘go out’ for Him. In Philippians 3, Paul wrote;

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ … (Philippians 3:7-8).

So; just think of what a great example our father Abraham gives us of faith. He demonstrated what it means to follow the command of separation—and to ‘go out’ at God’s call.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; Abraham wasn’t just given the call to leave everything behind and go away to a strange land. God told him more. Verse 2 goes on to say that God promised him;

I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

And so, Abraham also gives us an example of what it means to ‘go out’ with trust in …

2. THE PROMISE OF BLESSING.

God told Abraham that if he would leave his country, God would make him into ‘a great nation’. That was a remarkable promise for a man to hear who was 75 years old—whose wife was 65 years old—and who together had not been able to have any children. But God was telling him that he wouldn’t just have a child. He’d have a whole nation of children! In fact, God kept this promise by making Abraham the father of many nations. But most significant of all, He made him the father of a ‘great’ nation—and that’s the nation of Israel.

God also told Abraham that if he would go out from his family, God would ‘bless’ him. ‘Blessing’ is a big theme in this passage. The Hebrew word for ‘blessing’ (bārak) occurs five times in just verses 2-3 alone. I suspect that what God was telling Abraham was that even if he left the comforts and securities and ‘blessedness’ of family ties in obedience to God’s call, God would ‘bless’ Abraham with an abundance of what he left behind. And Abraham trusted God’s promise. As Jesus said;

everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29).

God also told Abraham that if he would go out from his ‘father’s house’—saying ‘goodbye’ as it were to security and reputation and honor from men—God Himself would ‘make his name great’. A name means much more than just the letters of a word. It is a figure of speech for someone’s security and reputation and honor. God promised to give those things to Abraham. And in a sense, he quite literally made his name great. In Genesis 17, after he had obeyed God’s call, God changed his name from ‘Abram’ (which means ‘Exalted Father’) to ‘Abraham’ (which means ‘Father of a Multitude’). Abraham trusted God to keep this promise; and God did!

Finally, God told Abraham that if he would go out to the land that God would show him, then He would ‘make’ Abraham ‘a blessing’. It wouldn’t just be that Abraham would receive a blessing from God, but that God would actually make him into a blessing to those who would be followers of his example of faith! Can there be a greater honor for a father than that?

Truly, God kept every promise He made to Abraham. And Abraham—our father in faith—is an example to us of obeying God with complete trust in His promises.

* * * * * * * * * * *

And that leads us to one more thing. Verse 3 goes on to say;

I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (v. 3).

This leads us to one more example we learn from Abraham. When we are faithful to trust in and obey God’s promises, it spreads out to the blessedness of others. Here’s where we see …

3. THE RESULT FOR HUMANITY.

God told Abraham that, if he went out at God’s call, God would make Abraham the source of blessing for everyone else. He said that He—God Himself—would bless those who bless Abraham, and that He would curse him who curses Abraham. It’s my belief that this blessing or cursing was not tied to Abraham alone, but was also attached to the people who would come from his body as a result of the promise of God. The whole world—and every nation and people group throughout history—would be judged by how they treat the people of Israel; because they are the chosen people of God through whom God has provided the Redeemer of all humanity.

By the way; have you ever noticed the number of persons in that promise? We’re told that God would bless “those” (plural) who bless Abraham; and that He would curse “him” (singular) who curses Abraham. It seems that God’s expectation is that the numbers of those who would receive the blessing through Abraham will be greater than those who receive the curse. What a picture this is of what it says in Romans 5:20; that because of what Jesus has done for us, sin abounded … but grace abounded much more!

And finally, notice how God declared that—in Abraham—“all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Do you remember the time in Genesis 22 when—after God had given Abraham his son Isaac—God tested Abraham’s faith? He commanded him to go to a place called Moriah, and to there offer Isaac up as a burnt offering. And do you remember how Abraham obeyed immediately—trusting God to, somehow, keep His promise; even if it meant that God must raise Isaac from the dead? Well; that place—Moriah—is in what came to be known as Jerusalem; and it may have been the very same hill on which our Lord Jesus was crucified for our sins. God saw that Abraham was faithful to offer up his son, and He stopped him from going any further. But shortly afterward, God gave another promise to Abraham:

“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:16-18).

That “blessing” to all the world is none other than the Lord Jesus Himself—the offspring of Abraham according to the flesh—born from out of the Jewish people—our Redeemer.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Well; there are many, many more things we can say about this great man Abraham—our father in faith. But like good children, let’s learn most of all from his example of faith. He sets before us the pattern of saving faith; showing us what a faithful and obedient trust in the promises of God looks like … and also the blessings that come from it.

As the apostle Paul puts it in Galatians 3:8-9;

Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham (Galatians 3:8-9).

‘Believing Abraham’ is a good and blessed father for us to remember on Father’s Day!

AE