Honor Your Parents

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12    

There are innumerable books on marriage and just as many on parenting.  But how many books have you seen on the responsibility of children to their parents?  Yet when God chooses one aspect of the family to include in the Ten Commandments, he does not choose marriage or parenting.  Instead, God speaks to children about their parents:  “Honor your father and your mother.”  

Why is this so important to God?  At least three reasons.   

First, a stable society needs stable families and there are no stable families unless children honor their parents.  

Second, children must learn respect for authority or they will not make it in life, and respect for authority begins in the home, with their parents.  

Third, it is only right that children honor their parents, for all normal parents sacrifice endlessly for their kids.  Most parents would die for their kids.  In a heartbeat.  It is only right that the children respect their parents.  

How do we practically obey the fifth commandment and honor our parents?   When we are young, it’s pretty simple:  We obey.  We obey right away, preferably with a good attitude.  

But as we grow older and leave the home, we no longer obey our parents, but we do honor them.  We express respect, appreciation and love.  We call or write.  We help them if they need it.  We care for them if they need to be cared for.  We treasure them and affirm them.  

In all these ways we honor our parents.  In doing so, we honor God as well.

True Rest

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exodus 20:8  

On the seventh day of creation, God rested.  He rested and blessed the seventh day.  In the Ten Commandments, he calls us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.  

God has designed us for Sabbath rest.  We need it.  We need one day in seven to stop working and rest.   

The point of the Sabbath is not a bunch of man-made rules, what you can and cannot do.  The Pharisees made that mistake.  The point is simple:  Sabbath rest is God’s gift to you.  Receive the gift.  Enjoy it.  Take a break from work routines.  Relax.  Rest.  

God has designed you for a true Sabbath rest.  

But what is a true Sabbath rest?  First, it is the absence of work.  Second, it is the presence of worship.  

The absence of work means you cease from whatever activities constitute work for you – your job, housework, bills, errands.  

The presence of worship means a day lived in God’s presence.  A non-hectic, non-harried day to pray and play.  

People live for the weekend, but the weekend doesn’t refresh.  People are just as soul-weary on Monday mornings as they were on Friday afternoons.  Why is this?  The problem is that there is no true Sabbath.  They have the absence of work without the presence of worship.  If you fill the weekend with entertainment and sports and recreation and work on the house, then your spirit is never refreshed.  Your soul is never restored.  You need to let God breathe life into your soul.  

Sabbath rest, regular Sabbath rest, true Sabbath rest, is God’s gift to us.  It is God’s antidote to keep us from ruining our lives with hurry and busyness and overcommitment.  It is a gift that is absolutely essential for our physical, emotional and spiritual health.

The Name of God

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 20:7    

Why did God give us the Ten Commandments?  

God did not give us the Ten Commandments for our salvation, as in “Keep these commandments in order to be saved.”  That would be futile, for no one would be saved.  Thankfully salvation has always been by the grace of God.  It has always been God’s work for man, not man’s work for God.  

So why did God give us the Ten Commandments?  Three reasons.  First, the Ten Commandments (and all 613 commandments in the Mosaic Law) reveal the nature and character of God.  Implicitly, by the nature of these commandments, we see that God is holy, that God is good, that God is wise, that God is just, that God is sovereign.  The Ten Commandments reveal God’s character.  

Second, the Ten Commandments reveal to us how to live our lives well.  These commandments are God’s gift to us, given for our good, to guide us and protect us.  

Third, the Ten Commandments reveal our sin.  They show us that we fall short of God’s perfection, that we could never be good enough to please a holy God and save ourselves, and that we need a Savior.  The law leads us to Christ.  

The third commandment concerns the name of God.  Do not misuse God’s name.  Do not profane God’s name.  Do not take God’s name in vain.  

This commandment carries several implications.  First of all, don’t use God’s name as profanity.  Don’t take God’s holy name and use it to give voice to your unholy feelings.  Honor God’s name because to honor God’s name is to honor God.  

A second implication:  Don’t swear falsely in God’s name.  Don’t use God’s name in an oath to make a false statement.  

There is a third implication.  The Hebrew term carries the connotation of “unreality.”  Here’s the point:  Do not treat God as if he is unreal, as if he did not exist, as if he were not present with you.  Never live your life as if God didn’t exist, for God does exist.  He is right here with you.  Live your life in the presence of God.  Live your life in the awareness of the presence of God.  

If you do, if I do, I imagine that it would change how we live.  

God is real.  God is here.  Practice the presence of God.

No Images

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:4    

The first commandment warns us:  Don’t worship false gods.  The second commandment warns us:  Don’t worship the true God in a false way.  Don’t worship God with idols or images.  

The problem with images is simple.  Any image of God inevitably reduces God to less than he really is.  Any idol inevitably obscures the glory of God.  

It is vital that we see God as he is, as the great, loving, infinite, sovereign and merciful God that he is.  Because if we do not see God as he is, in all his glory, then we will not worship him or love him or trust him or enjoy him as we ought.  

That’s why, in the opening sentence of his book The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer wrote:  “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  

For years I struggled with my view of God.  I tended to see God as great and big and holy and sovereign.  But in my heart of hearts, I did not see him as kind and loving and forgiving and gentle.  And this distorted view of God hurt me.  How it hurt me!  It strangled the life and joy out of my relationship with God.  Of course I haven’t arrived in my view of God, but I am well on the journey, and today I see God more and more as he is, full of relentless affection and overflowing grace.  

The second commandment, like all ten of the commandments, is for our good.  It tells us that God has not given us tangible images to reveal who he is.  Rather, he has given us his Word.  

To see God as he really is, read God’s Word.  Every day, open God’s Word and meet him there, in the pages of Scripture.  

See God as he really is, in all of his resplendent glory and grace.

Put God First

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3    

This is the first of the Ten Commandments – not just first in order but first in importance.  

Whatever is first in our lives, whatever is most important to us, that’s our god.  Whether it is money, career, family, spouse, children, hobby, sports, house, car, or a host of other things, whatever is most important to us, that’s our god.  And, if it is anything other than the true living God of the universe, then the Bible calls that idolatry.  

Put God first.  

God has the supremacy in the universe.  After all, he’s the Creator.  He’s the Almighty.  He’s the sovereign, holy, infinite God.  He is King of kings and Lord of lords.  In every way God has supremacy in the universe.  He must have supremacy in our lives and hearts.  

If we put God first, what does that mean?  It means wholehearted devotion, total obedience, absolute loyalty.  It means we will love him, serve him, obey him, trust him, worship him, seek him, please him, fear him, and follow him.  It means we will stop playing God in our lives and let God be God.  It means surrender.  Unconditional surrender.  Glad surrender.  Surrender of all that we have and all that we are.  

Nothing must come before God in our lives.  He alone is God and King.  He calls us to loyalty and fidelity because he alone is God.  

We must ask ourselves:  What is the most important thing in my life?

The Red Sea

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Exodus 14:13-14

There is one event that the Old Testament keeps going back to time after time after time.  In fact, the Old Testament refers to this event one hundred times.  This episode is not only the central example of God’s power to rescue his people, but it is also the main Old Testament picture of what God does for us in Christ.  

This central event is the Exodus, the deliverance of the Israelites out of slavery with the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.  

But the Exodus is not just of paramount theological importance, it is also of greatest practical encouragement to the spiritual life.  

Moses and the Israelites have reached the shore of the sea when they see the Egyptian army bearing down on them.  The people are terrified.  After all they have been through, will they be massacred when they have almost made it?  They complain bitterly to Moses.  

Moses’ response is classic.  This is his finest hour of leadership.  “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”  

These words are life-giving words.  They speak to our overwhelming problems and needs.  They speak to the biggest challenges in our lives.  They speak to the problems we are wrestling withright now.  

Consider your biggest burden as you prayerfully hear God’s voice to you:  “Fear not.  Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord.  The Lord will fight for you.  You need only be silent.”  

The Israelites were in an impossible situation that day.  Maybe you feel you are in an impossible situation right now.  It’s not impossible for God.  Nothing is too hard for God. Hecan do it!   
Trust the Lord.  Trust the Lord with all your heart.  Cry out to him.  Refuse to give way to fear.  For the Lord will fight for you.  

Why don’t you call out to him right now?

The Great I AM

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”  And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14  

It was a pivotal moment in biblical history.  God appears to Moses in the burning bush, to call Moses to lead his people out of slavery.  In the poignant exchange, Moses asks about God’s name.  Keep in mind that in the Israelite culture, your name was not a label but a disclosure of who you were.  Names mattered!  

So God replies:  “I AM WHO I AM... Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”  

That reply is not so clear is it?  What is God saying about himself?  “I AM WHO I AM”?  At the very least, this name is rather enigmatic and mysterious.  But that fits, doesn’t it?  There is mystery with God.  He’s incomprehensible!  Who else but God would have a name like this:  “I AM WHO I AM”?  

But we can say more about this name.  It suggests that God has life in himself.  He is completely free, self-existent and sovereign.  He is eternal and unchanging.  He is not dependent on anything else.  Because he is not dependent on anything else, he is invincible.  He does as he chooses.  His word cannot be stopped.  This all means that God is trustworthy.  He has the sovereign power to come through for us.  

This is who God is!  Sovereign.  Unchanging.  Eternal.  Self-existent.  Free.  The source of all life everywhere.  Not dependent on anything else.  Mysterious.  Incomprehensible in his greatness.  Completely trustworthy.  

God gives Moses a shortened version of his name:  “Tell them that I AM has sent me to you.”  This is where things get interesting.  Because when Jesus shows up on the scene, he uses seven “I am” statements to describe who he is, such as “I am the door,” “I am the vine,” and “I am the bread of life.”  These seven “I ams” echo the burning bush passage of Exodus 3.   

But there’s more.  In one discussion, Jesus tells the Jews that he was alive during Abraham’s lifetime.  At this the Jews go apoplectic.  They are furious at what Jesus is suggesting, that he was alive at the time of Abraham.  Jesus doesn’t back down an inch:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).  

Jesus does not say, “Before Abraham was born, I already existed” or “I was already alive.”  No, in a pointed reference to Exodus 3 Jesus proclaims, “Before Abraham was, I am!”  

The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying.  So they picked up stones to kill him, for he was claiming to be God.  

This is Jesus, the same one who spoke to Moses in the burning bush.  The great I AM, sovereign and eternal and unchanging.  Here to rescue his people from bondage.

God Sees and Hears

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.  I know their sufferings.”

Exodus 3:7  

The Israelites were enslaved and mistreated by the Egyptians for 400 years.  Four hundred bitter years of pain, anguish and shame.  Four hundred years of wondering:  Where is God?  Why does God ignore us?  Why has God abandoned us?  

And then God speaks to Moses from a burning bush:  “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.  I know their sufferings.”  Despite all their doubts and fears, God had been there the whole time.  He had seen their misery.  He had heard their crying out.  He cared about their suffering.  

We must know this about God.  He is the God who sees, the God who hears, the God who cares.  

We can identify with the suffering of the Israelites.  In our lives, there are times of pain, fear and anguish.  At times, we too wonder:  Does God care?  Does God see?  Has God abandoned me?  

We must turn to Exodus 3 and read again that God is the God who sees our pain, the God who hears our crying out, the God who cares about our suffering.  

So don’t give up.  Never give up.  God is right there with you.  We don’t understand his delays, but he’s the sovereign God, and we don’t understand all of his ways.  We may not understand, but we must know:  He is right there with us.  He sees, he hears, he cares.  

Moreover in the very next verse we see that God rescues.  “And I have come down to deliver them” (3:8).  

That’s my God.  That’s your God.  The God who sees.  The God who hears.  The God who cares.  And the God who rescues.

The Healing Choice

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Genesis 50:20  

This is a classic passage on forgiveness.  Joseph had been wronged so deeply by his jealous brothers – sold into slavery, transported to a strange land, made a slave in the household of an Egyptian.  He would spend 13 years in prison before he is rescued and elevated to prime minister of all Egypt.  

Years later, in the midst of a great famine, Joseph rescues his brothers, forgives them and brings them to Egypt.  However, when their father Jacob dies, they are terrified that their powerful brother will now take his vengeance.  They are scared to death and throw themselves at Joseph’s feet, “We are your servants!”(50:18).  

Joseph’s reply is classic:  “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?’” (50:19).  

Forgiveness won’t come if we play God.  When we are wronged we subconsciously feel we have the right to try, convict, sentence, hold under judgment and retaliate.  

But God, not us, is the Judge of all the earth.  Only God has the right to judge and execute justice.  Refuse to retaliate.  Refuse to play God.  

Joseph continues:  “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (50:20).  

Notice that Joseph doesn’t deny the wrongdoing.  He doesn’t excuse it or whitewash it.  “You meant evil against me.”  

But he doesn’t stop there.  He trusts God to redeem the wrongdoing, to take the harm and bring good out of it.  

When we are wronged, we have a choice.  We can focus on the wrong, the hurt, the evil.  Or, we can focus on God’s heart to bring good out of evil, to redeem the wrongdoing.  

Joseph made the choice to forgive, the healing choice.  So can you.  By God’s grace, so can you.

A Prayer God Loves

I will not let you go unless you bless me.

Genesis 32:26b  

This is Jacob’s prayer:  “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  It has to rank as one of the most unique prayers in the Bible, coming in one of the more bizarre episodes in the Bible.  

This is the story:  Jacob has lived his life relying upon himself.  He has lived by scheming and manipulating.  He has accumulated wealth, and now he is returning to his homeland with the prospect of meeting his brother, Esau.  Esau, who had been wronged by Jacob, could wipe out Jacob and everything Jacob had.  And Jacob is terrified.  Desperate.  Finally, the self-dependent and scheming Jacob recognizes his need for God.  

On the night before Jacob meets Esau, a stranger assails Jacob in the darkness.  They begin to wrestle; in fact, they wrestle through the night.  Over time, it becomes clear to Jacob that this stranger is none other than God himself in human form.  

And when God is about to leave, Jacob holds on for dear life.  He won’t let go!  Clinging to God, Jacob blurts out:  “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  

What is it about this prayer?  It sounds selfish, but God loved it and answered it.  God blessed Jacob.  

God loved this prayer because Jacob, a self-reliant schemer, is calling out to God in dependence:  “Lord, I need you.  Lord, I need your blessing.  Lord, I need your grace.  Without your blessing, there is no hope.  Lord, I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”  

Dependence.  Desperateness.  Trust.  

For proud, self-reliant people like Jacob, like me, and perhaps like you, that’s a prayer God loves.  At times, God will wrestle with us and perhaps even give us a limp, like he did Jacob, in order to show us how much we need him and teach us to call out:  “Lord, we need you.  I need you.  I need your blessing, your rescue, your protection.  Without you, I have no hope.”  

That’s a prayer God loves.

The Sacrifice of a Son

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Genesis 22:2    

Abraham is the greatest example of faith in the Old Testament.  And the greatest example of his life of faith is found in Genesis 22.  

Can you imagine what Abraham felt when God told him to sacrifice his son?  Can you imagine the heartache, the pain, the anguish?  

And yet, in the very next verse we read:  “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac” (22:3a).  He doesn’t object, argue, negotiate, filibuster or delay.  Abraham obeys.  Immediately, Abraham obeys.  Abraham obeys because he has learned that God is God and he is not.  He has learned that God would take care of him no matter what.  Understanding can wait, but obedience cannot.  

When Abraham and Isaac arrive at the mountain, can you see Abraham as he slowly, somberly gathers stones for the altar, taking all the time he can, hoping against hope that God will change his mind?  After gathering stones, he arranges the wood for the fire.  Finally, the moment has arrived.  He must tell Isaac what God had commanded.  

With broken sobs and tear-brimmed eyes, he tells him.  He hugs him as if to never let go.  Tears flow freely and unashamedly, for father and son.  There’s the final, “I love you, Son,” and “I love you, Father.”  

Finally he can delay it no longer.  Isaac, too big to be forced, climbs onto the altar.  All heaven watches as Abraham grabs the knife and lifts it overhead, fully intending to kill his deeply-loved son.  But at the last moment, at the very last moment, God stops him!   “He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me’” (22:12).  

Can you see Abraham now?  Sobbing openly.  Embracing Isaac.  Chest heaving with relief and joy and deep gratitude.  

Did ever a man show such childlike faith in his God, such fierce loyalty to obey him no matter what, such clear vision that God was God and God could be trusted!  

Abraham, over a lifetime, had learned to trust God.  

Two thousand years later, perhaps on the very same spot but now named Calvary, another son would be sacrificed. Except this time the son was God’s Son. And this time, the Father would not spare the knife.

Is Anything Too Hard?

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Genesis 18:14a    

Abraham sits under the shade of his Bedouin tents in the stifling desert heat.  That’s when he notices them:  three men, just standing there!  Moved by the Bedouin hospitality of the Middle East, Abraham scurries to serve them.  

At some point it becomes clear to Abraham that one of these men is none other than God, God in human form (most likely the preincarnate Christ).  And God promises Abraham that in one year, the ninety-year-old Sarah will give birth to a son.  Sarah, meanwhile, is eavesdropping from inside the tent.  When she hears this incredible promise she laughs.  She laughs to herself in unbelief.  “No way!”  

God, knowing all things, knows that Sarah laughed and why Sarah laughed.  He responds, interestingly, to Abraham:  

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’  Is anything too hard for the Lord?  At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:13-14).  

God’s question “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” is etched in my mind and it echoes in my heart.  I can’t get away from it. Is anything too hard for the Lord?  

God says to me and to you:  Is anything too hard for the Lord?  Is anything too hard for the God who spoke the sun and the stars into existence?  Is anything too hard for the God who raises the dead?  

What are you facing today that seems impossible?  Do you need healing?  Do you have a teenager headed for disaster?  Do you have a marriage that needs a miracle?  Would you love to have a baby?  Do you have a hopeless addiction?  Is there a non-Christian loved one who is hardened against God?  Does your problem seem impossible?  

God’s word to Sarah is God’s word to you.  Never forget God’s question:  “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Saved by Faith

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6    

For the first time in the Bible, Genesis 15:6 clearly states how we are saved.  We are saved by believing God, by trusting God, by putting our faith in God.  

In Genesis 15:1, Abraham had attacked a marauding army and rescued his nephew Lot.  In the aftermath, fears well up.  Will they counterattack?  So God comes to Abraham and assures him of his protection.  And he repeats his promise to make Abraham a great nation.  

Abraham hears God’s promise – an astounding promise for an elderly, childless couple – and believes him.  Abraham believes God’s promise.  Abraham considered that God was faithful, that God could be trusted.  And in response, God declares Abraham righteous (right with God).  “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”  

That’s exactly the way you and I are saved.  We believe God, we trust God’s promise, we place our faith in God’s Son, and God credits it to us as righteousness.  

Salvation by faith.  This is so humbling.  We admit that we cannot save ourselves.  We cannot earn salvation.  We cannot trust ourselves to be good enough or religious enough.  Our only hope is to abandon self-trust and place our trust in a Savior.  

Faith is the same as trust or belief.  Faith is the humble trust by which we receive the grace of God.  Faith is the empty hand of a beggar receiving a gift.  It is not doing something but receiving something.  

This is God’s way.  This is the only way.  Salvation by God’s grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ.  If you have never done so, call out to Jesus, even now, to save you.  

He will hear that prayer.

Fear and Faith

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:  “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Genesis 15:1

In the Bible God repeatedly says to us:  “Do not fear,” or “Do not be afraid.”  It is commonly said that God makes this statement or something similar 365 times in the Bible.  It’s almost like God wants us to have a reminder for each day of the year.   

We need the continual reminder because fear is so pervasive and so deadly.  Fear can sap all joy and ruin all peace.  Fear can grip us by the throat and toss us back and forth like a rag doll.  Fear is lethal!  So, over and over in the Bible, God urges, fear not, fear not, fear not.  

The very first time we hear these words is right here in Genesis 15:1.  Every time God says to someone, “Fear not,” you can be sure that the person is scared to death.  

So why is Abraham so afraid in Genesis 15?  What exactly is Abraham afraid of?  

The previous passage in Genesis 14 tells us the story.  A band of marauding kings combined their armies and attacked the Jordan Valley.  They took much spoil and many captives, including Lot, Abraham’s nephew.  Abraham responded with a courageous act of faith.  He gathered his men, set off in pursuit of the marauders and rescued Lot and the other captives.  What a bold act of faith!  

However, Abraham realizes that these kings will likely attack again.  And when they do, they will be looking for one man in particular:  Abraham!  The thought is terrifying.  And Abraham, like us, succumbs to fear.  

What does God say to Abraham?  “Abraham, do not be afraid.  Do not give way to fear.  I will protect you.  I will be your shield.  I will be your protector.  Abraham, I will take care of you, for I am your God.”  

That’s exactly what God wants you to know.  Is there a fear that has been plaguing you, attacking you, depleting you?  Then hear God’s words to you,“Do not be afraid.  I will take care of you.  I will protect you.  I will see you through.  Do not be afraid.”  

Give your fear to God.  Receive God’s peace.  Trust God’s love.

Missionary God

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.

Genesis 12:3    

Genesis 12:1-3 is one of the defining passages in the Bible, for God takes one man and begins a new nation.  From this point until Acts 2 and the birth of the church, God’s plan revolves around the nation of Israel.  

First, God commands Abraham to leave his homeland, and then God gives him seven epic promises.  The final three promises come in verse 3.  

I will bless those who bless you. God so identifies with his friend, Abraham, that to bless Abraham and his descendents is to bless Abraham’s God.  

Him who dishonors you I will curse. To oppose God’s people is to oppose God.  Down through history Satan has fostered an anti-Semitic attack on God’s people, an attack waged by Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, numerous European peoples in the Middle Ages, the Nazis of twentieth-century Germany and more.  All of these governments have been toppled, not because Israel or the Jews are always right, but because the Jews have a special place in God’s plan and a special place in God’s heart.  Those who curse Israel will be cursed by God.  

In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.  God’s ultimate plan was never to focus on Israel alone, but rather to use Israel to bring blessing to all the peoples on earth.  Israel was created to be a light to the nations and an instrument of God’s grace for the entire world.  God’s heart has always been for all the nations, for all the peoples.  “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  

When Jesus was about to return to heaven after the resurrection, he gathers his disciples together and charges them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).  It is no longer the time to focus on one nation.  Now the focus is on all nations, so that people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 7:9) can be reached with the gospel and declare God’s glory in all the earth.  For the living God is a missionary God.  

God’s heart for all the nations of the earth means that we cannot just focus on our own country or our own people. Genesis 12:1-3 condemns narrow nationalism, racial pride and ethnocentricity.  God’s heart must become our heart and we must become globally-focused, mission-minded Christians.

A New Beginning

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.

Genesis 12:2    

Genesis 12:1-3 is one of the most important passages in the Bible.  This passage marks a new beginning in God’s dealings with man.  God chooses a man, Abraham, to begin a people, a people whom God will use to bless all people.  

In verse 1, God commands Abraham to leave everything.  Then, in the next two verses God gives him seven promises – each promise pregnant with implications.  

Let’s look at the promises, four in verse 2 and three more in verse 3.  

I will make of you a great nation. Considering the fact that Abraham was 75 years old with no children and a barren wife, this is quite a promise!  But it’s just like God, who delights in doing the impossible.  

And against all odds, it happened.  In fact, the nation of Israel still exists today, some 4,000 years later, with a power and influence far beyond its size.  

I will bless you.  God richly blessed Abraham for the rest of his life.  In fact, he becomes the most important man in the Old Testament and then appears in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament figure.  Abraham is the father of the Jews and the greatest example of faith in all the Bible.  Yes, God blessed him!  

And make your name great.  Has this happened?  Yes.  This unknown man, a childless nomad, is known and revered throughout the world today, four millennia later, by Christians, Jews and Muslims.  

When we exalt ourselves (like the people of Babel in Genesis 11, who cried “Let us make a name for ourselves”), then God humbles us.  When we humble ourselves, then God exalts us.  Every time.  

You will be a blessing.  God blessed Abraham so that he could be a blessing to others.  That’s why he blesses you and me also, so we too can be a blessing to others.  You are a river, not a reservoir.  Each day go out looking for people to bless.  Go out looking to bring God’s love and hope to the people you encounter.

Dare to Trust God

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.”

Genesis 12:1  

Genesis 12 is one of the great dividing points in the Bible.  In Genesis 1-11, God deals with humanity, people in general.  But with Genesis 12 everything changes.  God chooses a man, Abraham, in order to create a special people, the people of Israel.  Using this people, God will reveal the Scriptures, bring the Messiah, and show the world what it means to be the people of God.  

Genesis 12 is the turning point.  Throughout the rest of the Old Testament and the Gospels, God’s plan focuses on Israel.  Only in Acts 2, with Pentecost and the birth of the church, does God’s focus shift from the nation of Israel to the international church of Jesus Christ.  

But Genesis 12 is not only a huge dividing line in salvation history, it is also a remarkable example of faith.  In the ancient world, to ask people to leave their ancestral home and all they know is to ask the impossible.  People stayed within their city walls, with their family, with their people.  But yet Abraham obeys God and leaves.  He leaves Ur, in modern Iraq, travels 650 miles to Haran, in modern Turkey, and then travels 450 miles to Canaan, in modern Israel.  

Why did Abraham obey God?  Because he trusted God.  He believed that God was the true God, that God knew best, and that God could be trusted.  So, Abraham obeyed.  

God is still looking for people who dare to trust him.  He is still looking for people who will obey him no matter what.  He is still looking for people who will live by faith.  

Will you be one of those people?  Will you be a man or woman who trusts God no matter what?

Babel and Fear

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Genesis 11:4    

The Tower of Babel stands forever in our memory as a tragic monument to pride and fear.  

People band together to build a vast tower reaching into the heavens so that they can make a name for themselves.  Their pride is seen in their independence from God, their self-reliance, their desire for fame.  Their fear is seen in their building a tower lest they be scattered over the earth.  Rather than trust a loving God to protect them, they give way to fear, and trust their own efforts for security.  

God’s response is decisive.  He confuses their speech and scatters them over the earth.  If they stay together, their potential for rebellion and wickedness is simply too great.  The tone of God’s response is not that of a rival’s jealousy, but that of a father’s concern.  For their sake, God takes radical measures.  He does the same for you too.  

At Babel people set out to make a name for themselves.  But those who exalt themselves, God is well able to humble.  Our calling is never to make a name, but to exalt a name.  The name of Jesus.  

That is your mission:  Exalt Jesus.  Lie low and exalt Jesus.

The Battle Is Real

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15    

Genesis 3:15 is so important because this is the first direct reference in the Bible to the coming Messiah, Jesus.  

In the aftermath of sin, God pronounces judgment on Satan, the power behind the serpent.  The judgment is the enmity, the hostility, between Eve’s offspring and Satan’s offspring.  The woman’s offspring refers to all people, including Jesus Christ.  Satan’s offspring includes people who reject God, and demonic beings.  
God also announces the outcome of this enmity.  Satan will deliver a glancing blow against Jesus, a blow to the heel, a reference to the cross.  But Jesus, by that very death on the cross, will deliver a fatal blow, a blow to the head, against the devil.  

The outcome of the battle was never in doubt.   

Be ever mindful:  The battle is real.  We ignore the battle and the enemy at our peril.  

Dr. Haddon Robinson describes the attack:  

When Satan comes to you, he does not come in the form of a coiled snake.  He does not approach with the roar of a lion.  He does not come with the wail of a siren.  He does not come waving a red flag.  Satan simply slides into your life.  When he appears, he seems almost like a comfortable companion.  There’s nothing about him that you would dread.   The New Testament warns that he dresses as an angel of light … One point seems quite clear:  when the enemy attacks you, he wears a disguise.  As Mephistopheles says in Faust, “The people do not know the devil is there even when he has them by the throat.” … He does not whisper to Eve, “I am here to tempt you.” … He doesn’t come and knock on the door of your soul and say, “Pardon me, buddy, allow me a half hour of your life.   I’d like to damn and destroy you.”  

Satan slides in.  He slithers.  He comes to deceive, accuse, tempt, condemn.  

Don’t listen!  Recognize his schemes.  Resist his attack.  Fight the battle in Christ’s strength.

Hide and Seek

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:8-9  

The first thing Adam and Eve do when they sin is hide.  They hide from God.  They hide because of their sin.  They feel guilt and shame, unworthy to be with God.  So they hide.  

How does God respond to this hiding?  Does he turn his back on them?  Fold his arms in disgust?  Give them a disapproving scowl?  

Hardly!  He does the opposite.  He pursues them.  Seeks them.  Chases after them.  It’s the first game of hide and seek!  They hide, God seeks!  

When God asks Adam, “Where are you?” it’s not a request for information.  Omniscience does not need to request information.  God doesn’t need to ask, but Adam needs to be asked.  God is drawing Adam out of hiding, ever so gently. God is wooing, drawing, pursuing.  Just like he woos you.  

Adam and Eve were hiding because of their sin.  We do the same thing.  When we sin, we run from God because we feel guilt and shame.  We are uncomfortable with ourselves, uncomfortable with others and uncomfortable with God.  So, we hide.  

How do we hide?  We hide with busyness, with shopping, with overwork.  We hide with TV, with Facebook (ironically), with travel.  We hide with humor, with sarcasm, with shyness.  We hide in a thousand ways.  

Me?  I hide by being in control.  (Or trying to be in control.)  I hide with reading, by running, by asking questions.  I hide in all kinds of ways, some of which I’m unaware of.  I hide so well that sometimes I hide from myself that I am hiding!  

How about you?  How are you hiding these days?  

Here’s the good news:  You can stop hiding.  Hiding is the core human strategy to deal with sin.  God’s strategy is better:  Confess your sin and receive God’s overwhelming grace!