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SERIES: SUBJECT: READING: Life Lessons From Abraham Found By God and Purposed By God Gen. 11:27 – 12:20 Introduction: Have you ever wondered why you were fortunate enough to receive Christ? We sometimes say that so and so found God. The truth is however that God found us in eternity past when He was looking for someone to be a part of His Eternal Purpose; We are studying Ephesians on Sunday Evenings (It would be encouraged to me if you all would join us for that study; I’m sure it will strengthen your walk with God. In that study Paul reminds us of God choosing us to be a part of His Eternal Purpose; According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Eph 1:4-5) We can learn from studying the life of Abraham something about how we ended up with our relationship with God. Abram, his name before God renamed him was deeply involved with his family in the Ur of the Chaldees when God began to work in Abram’s life. Gen 11:27-32 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. (28) And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. (29) And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. (30) But Sarai was barren; she had no child. (31) And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went 1 forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. (32) And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. Adam was chosen to oversee God’s Garden in Eden; Noah was chosen to oversee God’s establishment of the human race after sin had led God to destroy all but eight members of Noah’s family; God chose Abraham to oversee the establishment of His chosen people, Israel. God has chosen each of us to oversee a small portion of His work in reclaiming sinners for His Kingdom. When it comes to understanding God's choices Abraham is an illustration of how God works. Abraham has no Bible, church, or pastor; yet he journeys into unknown territory and experiences the wonderful adventure of overseeing God's establishment of His chosen people Israel! We get some insight to what it is to be an instrument of God’s choosing. Abraham's prominence in the Bible is evident by the amount of space devoted to him and the way his life is mentioned in the New Testament. For example, three times he is called God's friend (2 Chron. 20:7, Isa. 41:8, Jas. 2:23). The first book of the New Testament traces the genealogy of Christ to its spiritual beginning to Abraham (Mt 1:1). According to Romans 4:11b, why is a study of Abraham's life so important to us today? that he might be the father of all them that believe, In the Bible, Moses is the great lawgiver, David the great king, and Elijah the greatest OT prophet. You can never be a lawgiver like Moses, Israel's greatest king like David, or a prophet like Elijah, but you can, like Abraham, be God's friend by finding and 2 fulfilling your part in His eternal purpose. Where were you when God began to work in your life? I. Abraham teaches us four basic steps. a. First, Act when you hear God's voice Gen12:1-5 i. God's call initially came to Abram while living in Ur; Act 7:1-2 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? (2) And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, ii. Then God speaks to him again in Haran. What does God tell him (Genesis 12:1-2)? Gen 12:1-2 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: God has three very important purposes for His call on Abram.. 1. First, He has a land he wants to show Abram so God sends him to a different piece of real estate, one God has purposely chosen for him; unto a land that I will shew thee: Did you ever wonder why you got a job in a different city or even a different state? Or why you ended up in Sebastian or Vero Beach or Palm Bay? 3 2. Second, He wants to make Abram's seed a great nation. This promise was fulfilled physically since Abraham is the father of the Hebrew race. But it is also fulfilled spiritually, according to Gal 3:6-7 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (7) Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Abraham believed God and so did you if you have received Christ as Savior. 3. Third, God says He will make Abram's name great. iii. These promises are amazing because when God makes them, Abram is 75 years old and Sarai is barren (Gen. 11:30). However, God makes the promise, Abraham believes, and then he leaves, taking Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran and goes to Canaan (12:5). iv. What makes Abram's obedience so remarkable, according to Hebrews 11:8b is the fact he acted; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 4 v. Fulfilling your part of God eternal plan when God tells you to do or go someplace! vi. Until you act God won’t work; it is like steering a car—you can't steer it unless it's moving. vii. We must be moving, actively serving the Lord by attending worship services, Bible studies, and any other available opportunities where we are likely to hear God's voice. viii. We find our part in God’s eternal purpose one step at a time. 1. God never reveals the whole deal in the beginning. 2. We must be faithful in the little, everyday things. 3. We know this because of what statement Jesus made in Luke 16:10; Luk 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. So the Initial steps in finding your part in God’s eternal plan is to ACT when you hear God's voice and... b. Secondly; Communicate with God Gen. 12:6-9 Gen 12:6-9 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. (7) And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto 5 thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. (8) And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. (9) And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. i. When Abram arrives at his destination, Canaan, and there he finds Canaanites in the land (12:6). 1. The Canaanites were descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham, one of Noah's sons (9:22). 2. They were extremely immoral, violent people. ii. The Lord appears to him and says, Unto thy seed will I give this land: (12:7). 1. So, Abram builds an altar to the Lord. 2. Abram then travels southward and sets up camp in the hill country between Beth-el on the west and Hai on the east (12:8b), about ten miles north of what is now Jerusalem. 3. There he again builds an altar and calls on the Lord (12:8c). a. The Hebrew word translated altar means "place of slaughter or sacrifice." b. Anytime we begin to search for our part in God’s eternal 6 purpose for our lives, there will be sacrifices to make. c. We live today in a "Canaanite" society with sexual immorality, pornography, profanity, and violence. d. Therefore, we all need an altar where we can regularly obey what God command in Romans 12:1; I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. e. Finding God's purpose always requires offering ourselves to God as living sacrifices. f. This means we have an altar, a suitable place where we can be alone with God and commune with Him without interruptions. 4. In Genesis 12:8, the Hebrew word translated called (qara, car-raw) has the idea of accosting a person or intrusively calling out to someone. a. Abram was walking step by step and called on God to direct him daily! 7 b. When we follow God's direction, we may not be able to see too far ahead so we need regular updates! c. Sometimes when we are obeying God as best we know how, we become more needy rather than less. To find our part in God's Eternal purpose for our life, we must take these initial steps: ACT when you hear God's voice, COMMUNICATE with God, and... c. Thirdly; Anticipate problems; 12:10-16 i. It is a mistake put the great heroes of faith on pedestals of perfection, as if they are superhuman. ii. This is not how God's Word describes its key characters. With shocking candidness God tells "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" about His great saints, such as 1. 2. 3. 4. Noah's getting drunk, Samson's weakness for women, and David's adultery. Even the greatest of OT prophets, Elijah, had lapses of faith. Why, Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. Jas 5:17 8 iii. Since Abram is also human just like us, when he faces starvation during a famine in the land, he doesn't consult the Lord but goes down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. Gen 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. 1. Because his well-being and life seem in jeopardy, Abram panics. 2. Now God's scorched Promised Land doesn't look nearly as good as the fertile banks of the Nile River; so without asking God, Abram goes to Egypt. iv. Following God's eternal plan for our lives doesn't mean an end to our trials. 1. Even in the midst of fulfilling God's Eternal purpose there may be financial pain, relationship problems, and various other personal struggles. 2. At this point we must remember the words of Jesus in John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. v. Knowing his wife Sarai is beautiful even at age sixty-five, Abram anticipates having a 9 problem when he enters Egypt. Because she looks so young and beautiful, she could do a facial cream commercial. vi. Abraham fears the Egyptians would kill him to have her, so he proposes to her: Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee (Gen. 12:13). 1. This was at best a half-truth because she is his half-sister (20:12), but she is also his wife. 2. Perhaps Abram thinks if he is thought to be her brother, any marriage arrangements would have to be made with him, and he could negotiate with them until the famine was over. vii. Sarai agrees, and when they arrive in Egypt, the Egyptians see Sarai is a very beautiful woman (12:14). But things get much worse when Pharaoh's officials see her because they praise her beauty to Pharaoh and she is taken into Pharaoh's house (12:15). 1. This means she became one of Pharaoh's wives (12:19). 2. As a result, Pharaoh rewards Abram with several kinds of livestock and servants (12:16). 3. Abram's deceit seems to be paying off, but that's about to change. 10