ABRAHAM: THE STORY NARROWS IN ORDER TO EXPAND
Last week’s blog focused on what is known as the, “fall of man,” Adam and Eve’s disobedience and rebellion towards God. After the debacle of Genesis 3, the storyline gets even worse. We see murder (Gen. 4), the flood as judgment against evil (Gen. 6-8) and defiance of the Creator (Gen. 11). Genesis 12 is a turning point in the history of salvation as God calls Abram to form a particular nation through whom God will work out His redemptive plan.
In Genesis 12:1-3, we see the following themes:
- God calls Abram to leave his country and go to the land that God designates,
- God promises to bless Abram and make him into a great nation,
- God promises to bless Abram (and his descendants) to be a blessing to the nations.
For the rest of the Old Testament, we see the story of God working through a particular people group, namely the Jews. But throughout this storyline, we see that this nation is to be a light to the Gentiles and that the promised Messiah would come through them.
Paul makes some interesting claims about the Abraham story in Galatians 3. Ironically, he says that the blessing of Abraham to all the nations will come through a curse: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.”[1]
Jesus’ substitutionary death on our behalf harkens back to another Abrahamic story. You remember it, don’t you? In Genesis 22, Abraham is called to offer his one and only son as a sacrifice. With a heavy heart, Abraham obeys, though believing that somehow God will be true to His promises (see Hebrews 11:17-19). At the height of this drama, God intervenes and provides a ram to be offered up in Isaac’s place. Does this remind you of another story in the Grand Narrative of Scripture? “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”[2] Abraham is a picture of another Father who “did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32).
The call of Abram (or Abraham) to be a blessing to the nations is ultimately fulfilled through one of his descendants, a “son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). It is ultimately through Jesus that all the nations hear and can receive the good news of salvation.
If you have trusted in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Bible makes it clear that you are a son or daughter of Abraham (see Galatians 3:7-9, 29). You are called to exercise the faith and the trust in God that Abraham demonstrated. The most important part is the object of your faith, Jesus. But there is a subjective element as well. We are called to step out in faith to trust God for the next part of our journey. Is God calling you out of your comfort zone to venture into unknown territory? Does He want to do a fresh work in your own life’s story? How does He want your blessings in Christ to expand and be a blessing to others? What is God’s call on your life for the next step of the journey?