Trust God’s Promise In A Foreign Land (Genesis 12:1-9)
Sometimes you step out of your door and into your job, or a store, or somewhere else outside of your home or church and realize that you live in a foreign country. You may be a United States citizen, and you probably have been your entire life. But the things that are happening all around you have left you feeling as if you don’t belong here.
And that’s because you are a part of the Kingdom of God. You are both a citizen of God’s Kingdom and a citizen of the United States. And you know two things. God’s Kingdom is greater. And, God’s Kingdom is eternal. And being a part of God’s Kingdom has done something to you. It has changed you and continues to change you into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
So, we will lead our families in a better way amid of fog of sin and confusion in a foreign land.
This is similar to what Abram did after receiving God’s promise. And we will see that we need to trust God’s promises to us and live faithfully in this foreign land.
The Gospel: The Promise Of Eternal Life (Genesis 12:1-3)
Though we discussed this portion of text at the end of last week’s sermon, it is worth visiting again. For these 3 verses are the most important verses for interpreting everything that comes after this in the Book of Genesis. And the glorious promise delivered here is of great significance for us today. It is the promise of eternal life.
Abram was told to “go”. We discussed that a bit last week and will talk a little more about it in a few minutes, but I want to now explore that promise that was given to him.
Abram was promised a number of things. Abram was promised land, the Promised Land. He was also going to be made a great nation. He would have a great name. He would be a blessing. God would be with Him. And all the families of the Earth would be blessed in Him.
Now, we know that Christ is the fulfillment of these promises, and they are for God’s people even today, by faith.
“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16 ESV)
Abraham is a blessing to the nations through his offspring, Jesus. Jesus came from his family and was the Savior of the world. And all those who trust in Christ are part of Abraham’s family by faith.
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29 ESV)
With that in mind we can look at these promises given to Abram and see they apply to us today as well. We were rebels who had earned for ourselves God’s wrath and justice. And God the Son came to Earth, took on humanity, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for sin. Through Him I can be cleansed of my sin and credited with perfect righteousness. He rose from the grave three days later and completely accomplished my right standing with God. My response to this message is to trust Christ. I trust in the promise that God has given me in Him. That promise is to be brought into His family and made a part of His people. That promise is eternal life. And we can see this in the promises given to Abram.
The land was, of course, the Promised Land. And Abram is about to walk the boundaries of that physical location. But we also know from the rest of Scripture that the boundaries of the Promised Land would grow to encompass the whole world. As we discussed last week, the Old Testament Prophets understood this to be the case (Isaiah 65:17-25, Isaiah 66:22, Micah 4:1-5). They simply saw the boundaries as one day expanding to encompass the whole globe. But they were not alone in this. The clearest statement of this is found in the New Testament Book of Romans.
“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” (Romans 4:13 ESV)
Paul clearly understood that this promise was not limited to a physical land, and that it was to expand to encompass the whole world. He states that the very promise was that his offspring would be “heir of the world”. Furthermore, we read about Abraham’s tremendous faith in the Book of Hebrews and find that he was looking forward to the New Heavens and Earth.
“By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:9-10 ESV)
This means that the promise delivered to Abram, and to us, is not just a physical plot of land. It is the New Heavens and Earth. It is a promise of eternal life. It is the eternal city that we will inhabit with the God and all of His people. Abram was promised a physical land, but he and the rest of Scripture knew that there was something more being promised: eternal life.
Everything sort of springs forth from here. God promised to make Abram a great nation. And He did. But this isn’t just about the physical Hebrew people. This is also ultimately fulfilled in Christ as people from all over the globe become a part of his nation by faith.
God promised to make Abram’s name great. And He did. Even today Abram is a towering figure for both the Hebrew people and Islam. But it was through Abram that Christ came. And that caused him to grow in stature.
God promised to make Abram a blessing. And He did. But we have already seen that this blessing was not limited to his physical life, though he was a blessing to folks during his lifetime. But he was made a blessing to all the nations when Christ came.
And God promised His special presence with Abram. And God was most definitely with him and his family. Time after time and event after event proved that to be the case. Whether it was saving Abram from himself, as is the case at the end of this chapter or his people from Egypt we see that this is the case. And it is the case for us today as well.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV)
Abram heard God’s promise and trusted God’s promise and was given all the benefits of being in God’s family. The same is true for us today.
Faith: Our Response To The Promise Of God (Genesis 12:4-9)
Abram was commanded to go. He trusted God and he went. The text is not complicated here. The Lord told Abram to “go” (Genesis 12:1). Then God gave him these wonderful promises (Genesis 12:1-3). “So Abram went” (Genesis 12:4).
Abram went. He took his family and everything else and left. He did exactly as the Lord commanded him to do. And as we examine the locations Abram went to, he was not wandering as we oftentimes imagine it. God let Abram into the Promised Land, then around the Promised Land. Abram was symbolically marking his territory.
This land was his. And I’m sure he urinated on every tree as he went…well, maybe not. But he was marking his territory. And if you’ll notice, he dotted the landscape of the Promised Land with altars of worship to the Lord (Genesis 12:7, 8).
Why did he go?
He believed God’s promise. He trusted the Lord.
What is our response to the message of the gospel? Our response is faith, it is trust.
We are called to abandon ruling our own lives and trust the Lord. We are called to trust Him throughout our lives, even when it seems that God is not there.
Christian, you are called to live by faith in this dark world. You are called to trust the Lord while you live in the here and now. You are called to abandon the idols of this world and trust the Lord. You are called to dot the landscape with your faithfulness as Abram did long ago.
We live in a land that is filled with unbelief. That means that our homes should be pockets of resistance against the world and its ways.
Children and teenagers will live and talk differently at their schools than their peers because they believe the promises of God. They believe that these glorious things are theirs in Christ so they don’t feel the need to be like everyone else. They understand that they are going to receive the New Heavens and Earth as their inheritance one day and the small things that this world has to offer are not pleasing to them.
Parents understand that they need to raise their children up in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. What good is your child’s happiness on this Earth if you spent all your time and effort to give them the goods of this world and neglected to give them Jesus! We are God’s people. Our families should dot the landscape of Conway like miniature churches of people worshipping and faithful to the Lord.
And if you don’t know Jesus and are hearing this message today, the call for you is to give up ruling your own life and trust the promise of God. Salvation has been accomplished in Christ. Trust in Him. Trust the promise of God.
Continued Faithfulness Requires Continued Trust In God’s Promises (Genesis 12:4-8)
Abram was 75. He was the patriarch of the family. And he led his family in faithfulness to the Lord’s command. But it was not easy for him. Nor did God think it would be. In fact, God helped him along the way.
God restated the command and promise to Abram in Genesis 12:7. Why do you think God did that?
Because God knew Abram needed to hear it again.
Why is it that I am commanded to preach the gospel to you week in and week out?
Because God knows that you and I need to hear it again. Our hearts can grow cold and we can forget all the promises that God has given to us. And so, time and time again God tells us again of His promises.
Why is it that you and I are commanded to partake in the Lord’s Supper?
Because God knows that you and I need to be reminded of those glorious promises again and again.
And how did Abram respond?
He led his family to worship the One True God amid a land filled with idol worship. To worship the Lord, he had to create an altar everywhere he went. He needed God’s promises and to remember God’s promises in order to have a sustained faith and worship in a land of idolatry.
We don’t live in a society that believes in sustained anything. If it’s not easy and not a quick fix then we don’t want to have any part in it. We’re not a society that things about sustained faithfulness.
I grew up in the rocky hills of North Arkansas. And Dad had a large garden. When I was a kid and this garden spot was young, I remember there being clumps of red clay and a lot of rocks in that garden. In fact, when I was little, my brother and I were tasked with following behind Dad while he ran the tiller and picking up the rocks. We would both fill up a few buckets every time Dad tilled the garden. My parents probably have a literal ton of rocks in different piles in the woods behind their house. We would take them to the woods by the truckload.
Dad didn’t give up on that spot of land. He kept going. Anybody that has worked a garden close to Harrison knows that it is possible to grow a beautiful garden there. It just takes some work. And as a kid it took a lot of work for the garden to be productive.
The three of us would go out into the backyard at the end of winter and scoop the poop out of the bottom of the chicken house. We would fill up the wheelbarrow and spread it in sections around the garden. And when that was finished Dad would till it into the ground. There were some years that he was given a truckload of turkey litter from a friend, or some other fertilizer and that would get worked into the soil. And year by year the soil looked a little richer and richer because it was richer and richer. The year after year faithfulness to nurture and care for that soil made it more productive every season.
My parents still live in the same home these many years later. The water actually drains like it is supposed to now and the nutrients in the soil sustain the plants very well. And Dad now sells some of his produce because he always has way too much. Dad understood that if he persevered in the garden that one day that work would pay off.
The habits of our lives work in much the same way. There are promises given to us. These are promises that we must think on and turn to time and time again throughout our lives. And if we walk by faith we will work these habits into our lives even though there may not be what seems to be an immediate payoff. We trust God’s promise and are strengthened to do these things over and over.
This is obvious within our homes. The habits of our households will be different because we are in a foreign land. In fact, the habits of your household may not be the habits that you grew up with. Even if you had Christian parents, they were also living in enemy occupied territory and may have picked up a few bad habits or didn’t have some good habits along the way. We are the faithful in an unfaithful world. And there will be times when we must do what seems odd to an onlooking world because we trust God’s promises and want to walk faithfully in this lost world. .
Men, there will be times when you must lead your families in a direction that seems utterly foreign to the ways of this world, or even foreign to the family that you grew up in. Don’t you think it was that way for Abram as he led his entire household to worship in faithfulness to the Lord.
Mothers, you will nurture your families in a way that seems foreign to the world around you. And it may very well be that other women of our day look at you with disdain because of the choices that you have made to prioritize your family. This is a very real thing that happens today and insofar as worldliness has crept into your thinking, you might very well have those same attitudes.
And all of us must understand this about our personal lives as well. You will make decisions about how you spend your time that may seem odd to the world that surrounds you. There are things that children of God ought not watch and think on that are prevalent in our society. There are things that people waste their time on that you ought not waste your time on. We want to walk and live faithfully in this world. Let us do so.
Children, this is a word for those from childhood through the teenage years, there are attitudes among your peers that ought not ever be taken up by you. You are going to feel incredibly lonely at school sometimes because your family and your faith is different from the world that surrounds you. And it is my prayer that your parents lead you in a way that makes you understand that you live in a family that is different than everyone else’s family.
But what is it that keeps us pressing on in faithfulness in this dark world? What keeps us building and growing these habits within our families when everything around us tells us to stop?
We believe the promises of God. We believe in the life to come. We trust God’s Promises just as Abram did.
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10 ESV)
Conclusion
We live in a day and age that is confusing, to say the least. And it is oftentimes difficult to be faithful in this day and age. But here is what we need to see. God has graciously given us His wonderful promises to enable us to walk faithfully in this increasingly dark world.
So, let us trust the promises of God. Let us lean in on eternal life. And think less of the things of this world. And let us walk faithfully in this increasingly dark world.
R. Dwain Minor