Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
The promises God offered to Abraham, vague as they seem at first glance, must have been very compelling. Abraham, after all, was a wealthy man, with a bright future. He was from a prominent family and worshiped the local deity along with all his neighbors. He had it all, or so it seemed. But having it all apparently wasn’t all it was cut out to be. Something in Abraham longed for brighter prospects, bigger challenges, greater promises. For when God appeared to him in his native land and spoke His precious and very great promises to Abraham, he did not hesitate to abandon everything he knew and loved in order to go in pursuit of the promises of God. What did God offer young Abraham that so enthralled and captivated him?
God made six promises to Abraham. We read about these in Genesis 12:1-3. These six promises, as Paul tells us, are offered to all who, like Abraham, are willing to set aside their own comparatively puny prospects in order to receive the grace of God and follow Him in faith.
The promises to Abraham can be paired into three sets. The first set of promises has to do with the idea of blessing. God promised that He would bless Abraham, and He also promised that He would make him a blessing to others. Now at first glance we might be inclined to say, “But hey, wasn’t Abraham already about as blessed as you can be? Rich? Set for life? Esteemed by all?” All that is true, but it wasn’t exactly what Abraham wanted. Nor is it what human beings in the depths of their souls, earnestly desire. The “blessing” God offered Abraham appealed to him even more than all his success and prestige. This is because the blessing of God involves being drawn into a deeply personal, all-transforming relationship with God Himself.
To be blessed of God is to be known by Him, loved by Him, and bound to Him in an intimacy of love and service that makes everything new in our lives. Abraham experienced this blessing truly, but only partially, only in prospect. We may know the blessing of God more fully than Abraham did by trusting in Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life Who connects us with God and enables us to partake of Him. We are truly blessed only when we know God like this – personally, intimately, really.
And from that condition of being blessed, God promises us, as He did Abraham, that He will use us to help others know this great blessing as well. Central to full and abundant life is knowing and loving God, living day by day with Him in a relationship of forgiveness, renewal, hope, and glory in which we receive what He graciously offers and, by faith, obey what He requires. This is the way of blessing, and blessing is the doorway to all the promises of God.
Start your own ViewPoint discussion group. This week’s series is available in a free downloadable format, suitable for personal or group study. Download the series, "Promises."
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Comments: All comments are approved before publishing.
Promises
Brenda makes this comment
2010-03-18 18:35:41