- God’s final act part 2
- God’s final act part 1
- Working together part 2
- Working together part 1
- Hope fulfilled part 2
- Hope fulfilled part 1
- Hope promised
- Kings and Prophets
- The Law of Moses part 2
- The Law of Moses part 1
- God’s message to the world
- The Fallout
- God’s response to our choice
- The Fall
- Paradise
- Creation: The Big Picture
by, Isam Itson III
Genesis 12:1-3, “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.’ ”
God’s initial response to the persistent inclination of the humans to enrich their own way of life at the expense of others resulted in a multitude of families that grew into nations with unique languages and distinct cultures or ways of life. Next, God reached into one of the families, within one of the nations and chose one man, named Abram to continue the fulfillment of his plan for humanity and creation.
Abram’s father had moved the family from the region of Ur in Ancient Babylon to Haran, in Ancient Assyria. Abram lived a semi-nomadic life. He was a shepherd who seasonally moved his household of family, servants, slaves, and flocks from water source to water source. God chose this relatively common man, rather than one of the mighty kings, to begin his program of restoring his blessing to all creation.
God told Abram to follow his lead into a new land as the head of his own family. First, God promised Abram that his descendants would grow into a nation. In this way God would make Abram’s name great and a source of blessing to his descendants.
Second, God promised to protect Abram and his descendants in their new land. God said he would bless the peoples and nations that honored Abram and he would curse the peoples and nations that sought to take advantage of, or exploit Abram and his descendants. God’s blessing ensured that Abram’s descendants would thrive as a nation in the new land that God was going to show Abram.
Finally, God revealed his ultimate purpose for Abram’s family as a nation. God wanted to bless them so that they would be a blessing to every other nation on earth. In a later affirmation of his promise to Abram, God changed his name from Abram, which means exalted father, to Abraham, which means father of a multitude.
This name change from Abram to Abraham did not simply speak to the fact that Abraham would have many children whose descendants would grow into different nations. More significantly the name change spoke to the fact that Abraham would become a father, or a source of blessing, to all of the peoples across the whole earth.
Through the faithfulness of God to Abraham and his descendants, God promised to restore his purpose for life and to honor his value for human life in relationship to all of the different people of all of the different nations in the whole world.
God appointed one man to become a source of blessing, so that all people could eventually have the opportunity to experience life with God, as God originally intended. God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants and to give them a great name, so that they could be an instrument of God’s blessing to everyone, everywhere.
In response
How do we know the difference between pursuing our desire for what we want for our lives, and following God’s lead for what he what he wants to do through our lives to bless others?