God's Covenant with Abraham, Part 2

Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12, we're discussing God's covenant with Abraham. We looked, first of all, last week at the call of God to Abraham, and we were going to move on to the commandment of God to Abraham.

We didn't get that far, and we won't get that far this morning either, so just let me forewarn you of that, and then we'll move from there to the consequences for Abraham.

But I thought that we would spend some more time on that first line in Genesis 12, verse number 1, And the Lord said to Abraham.

Because there's so much there, you'll never believe that all this is in just a few short words in one verse, but a lot's there. And so I thought instead of moving on quickly, we'd look at the call of God to Abraham.

What happened in this call? What was it all about? And how does that relate to your life and to mine? But go with me, if you would, to 2 Timothy chapter 1 for a moment. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Excuse me, let me read to you what Paul says in verse number 9.

It's God, he says, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purposes and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus, when? From all eternity. But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through, what? The Gospel. In those two verses you have these facts. Number one, the call of God commences with him, not with you.

So we know that we've been called of God. How? When we believe that the call commences with God. We know that we've been called of God when we understand that it comes through the Gospel. It's the Word of God. The law of the Lord is perfect, Psalm 19, 7, converting the soul. We know that we've been called of God because that call was conceived by grace. Nothing that I did, but God did it all to save me. We know that we've been called by God when that call is clarified and confirmed in the deeds that I do to bring glory and honor to his name.

And that's where we left off last week. But there's one more that helps us understand that we've been called of God. And that is when that call causes us to be grateful. When the call of God calls or causes us to be grateful. When you've been called of God, you're a grateful person. You're a thankful person. You can't say enough about what God has done for you. The psalmist said it this way in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits, who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The psalmist says, when you understand what God has done, you want to bless his holy name. You want to praise his holy name. It causes you to be grateful for all that God has done. Are you a grateful person today? Are you a person who falls down on your knees before God and thanks him for his saving work in your life? That's how you can make certain of your calling and choosing, his calling and choosing of you. The call of God to Abraham was a personal call. The call of God to Abraham was a predetermined call.

The third thing I want you to notice is that the call of God to Abraham was a purposeful call. Go back with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 12. It was a purposeful call. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great. And so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

It was a purposeful call. You see, God had a purpose for Abraham. He had a purpose for him to fulfill and that somehow this man would be a father of a nation and that nation then would become the visual aid whereby God would demonstrate his love and his mercy upon a godless world. And they would be the instruments that God would use to bring the pagan people to himself. God had a purpose for this man because God had a purpose for a nation because God had a purpose for the world. But it began with one man, Abraham.

I like what one man said, Dr. George Peters in his book on the biblical theology of missions. He says this, Israel's history is not a history of arbitrary election, of favoritism, of narrow particularism and nationalism. It is an act of sovereign and gracious election to preserve the race and the temporal and eternal destiny of mankind, end quote. God had a purpose for this man. God had a purpose for a nation because God had a purpose for the world. God would use him. Abraham was 75 years old when God called him.

You're never too old to be called by God. You're never too old to be used by God. Abraham was 75 years of age when God called him and God would use him in a tremendous way for the sake of the gospel. How about you? Has God called you? You're not too young to be called. You're not too old to be called because God has a purpose for your life. Now turn over to Acts 20 for a moment. That's just a few more pages down. Excuse me, Acts 20 verse number 24. And Paul was given his farewell address to the Ephesian elders.

Listen to what he said in verse number 24. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus. And what was that ministry, Paul? To testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. Paul says, I don't consider my life very important at all. What I consider to be the most important thing is that I fulfill what God called me to do. God gave me a purpose for living and that was to solemnly testify of the gospel of grace, back to Acts 9, to Gentiles, to kings, to leaders, to pagans all across the land.

And that man did. Now you think about this man's life for a moment. Read the prison epistles that he wrote when he was in prison. You don't hear him say in words like this, I'm so discouraged that nobody came to visit me. I wish that somebody would have come and been here with me during my cold time in prison. You know why Paul never mentioned that? Because you see, when you understand your purpose in life, you don't consider your life. You don't consider yourself. Paul had a purpose. So when he was in prison, in the dungeons, he saw it as an opportunity to preach to guards, to preach to soldiers, to write letters to people who needed encouragement.

So when we find ourselves in hospitals, when we find ourselves in our beds because of sickness, we don't complain because people don't come to us. What do we do? We look at ways to write letters to people to encourage them.

We look at ways to talk to nurses and doctors about their eternal destiny, about what God has for them.

Why? Because we don't consider our life. We consider our purpose in life and that is to make the invisible reign of Christ visible to a lost world. That's our purpose. That's what we need to do. And then we realize how God wants to use us in a very significant way. You show me a person who complains and I'll show you a person who doesn't share his faith. Mark it down. When people come to me and they begin to complain and gripe about their situation, the question I ask them is, when was the last time you shared Jesus Christ with somebody?

You know what the answer always is? Never recently. Never. But if you would begin to focus on other people and to realize that they are on their way to hell, they need to have the saving grace of God. You see, you can't make the invisible reign of Christ visible to a lost world when you are so consumed with your condition. Can you? Because you're not manifesting the power of God in your life. You are not demonstrating to a lost world that Jesus Christ rules and reigns supreme and the goodness of God rules in my life and I believe in what God is doing and I will serve Him no matter what.

You see? That's the way Paul was. And that's why God used him so mightily. That's the way we need to be in order that we might proclaim the truth of God to a lost world. That's our purpose. You see, your calling, your vocation is my vocation and my calling. There's no difference between your life and mine. Why? Because God wants to use you in your sphere of influence to tell people about Him. He wants you in your place, your home, your workplace, your recreation area to tell people about Jesus Christ.

That's what He wants you to do. To manifest the fact that Jesus Christ rules supreme in your life. Folks, please understand this. You need to grasp the call of God in your life and the purpose He has for you. He has a purpose. Like He did for Abram. Like He did for Paul. He does the same thing for you. The call upon Abram's life, the call upon Paul's life is no different than God's call upon your life. None. Because now you become that chosen instrument to bear His name. To bear His name to wherever it is He leads you to go.

You see? So important for us to grasp. But we've missed it. We go to work like the world goes to work. We live each day as the world lives, forgetting our purpose in living and why God has left us here upon the earth. This is so crucial to you individually and for us as a church corporately to grasp. God has a purpose for your life. And that is that somehow you as an individual would lead other people into a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ. Whether it be through the means of evangelization or through the means of edification, deepening them, building them.

You show me a man, you show me a woman who is taking other people deeper in their walk with God and I'll show you a person who is fulfilling their purpose in life. You show me a man or a woman who is using the marketplace, using their sphere of influence to tell people about Jesus Christ and I'll show you a man or a woman who understands the call of God upon their life. And I'll show you a person who is excited about Jesus Christ, energetic about living for Him because they want Jesus Christ glorified through them.

So important. Paul had a purpose. Abram had a purpose. We have a purpose. There's a couple more P's I want to give you. They're not in your notes. You need to understand about the call of God. It's a precious call. It's a precious call. How do we know that? Well, simply this. Abram was used in his family that he might be used in the life of a nation. Which leads me to this. God wants to use you first in your family in order that you might be effective in whatever area God has called you to live.

Whatever job you have. But it begins in your family like it did with Abram. He was going to bless that man's seed. He was going to use him in a significant way. For Paul, Christ said to Ananias, you go to him. You tell him he is my chosen instrument. I can't think of anything more precious than to be a chosen instrument in the hand of God. I can't think of anything more precious than that. Can you? That God would want to pluck you out and use you in a mighty way. How much more precious can it get?

Listen to this. Turn with me to Romans 8 for a moment. Romans chapter 8. Let me read to you a verse that's very familiar to us that we somehow need to grasp.

Romans chapter 8. Listen to what it says. Verse number 28. Reads as follows. And we think. No. Doesn't read that way. And we hope. No. Doesn't read that way. It says, and we know. We know. What? That God causes all things to work together for what? For good. To those who love God and to those who are what? I didn't hear you. Calm. According to his purpose. Folks, can you think of anything more precious than that? We know. What do we know? What do you know? Do you know anything? This is what you need to know.

You need to know that God causes all things. Not some things. Not just the good things. All things. That includes the bad things. That includes the sinful things. That includes the rotten things. We know that God causes all those sinful, rotten, ugly things as well as all those good things to work together for my good. For my good. If I love God, and you do because Jesus Christ is your Savior, and you know you've been called according to his purposes. God has a purpose, right? That purpose will be fulfilled through you as you give your life to him and seek to honor him.

Now let's know what it says. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son. What's the good that God wants to bring about in your life? He wants you to be just like his Son. He wants you to be conformed to his Son's image. That's the good. Folks, I can't think of anything more precious than that. Anything more precious than that. That somehow God would take me and pluck me out of a sinful world, dead in my trespasses and sin, walking in darkness, pluck me out of that, make me a chosen instrument of his to use me to fulfill his purposes and through all the things that happen in my life, he's going to cause them all to work out for my good because what he wants is for me to be conformed to the image of his dear Son who was sinless and perfect.

He wants me to look just like his Son. That's how much he loves me and that's how much he loves you. Can you believe that? That's why the call is so precious. So the next time you go through a hardship, the next time you get a headache, the next time things around you begin to crumble, you need to realize something, that there's something you need to know. You need to know for certain that because God has called you, because you love God, he's going to cause whatever it is that happens to you to ultimately work out together for your good.

Why? Because he wants you to be just like his Son. That's how much he loves you. We serve a great God. That's why the call is so precious. And as we study the life of Abraham, we're going to see Abraham encountering all kinds of negative circumstances throughout his life, all kinds of hardships, all kinds of trials that will test his faith. But all of that was used to conform Abraham to be the kind of man that God wants him to be, because he's the father of our faith. He's the father of a great nation.

We need to be able to follow a man who followed God. And that's what God wants for you and for me. God's call upon your life is a personal call. It's a predetermined call. It is a purposeful call. It is a precious call. And fifthly, it is a permanent call. It is a permanent call. It is not a temporary call. God didn't call you to turn His back on you. God didn't call you to say, you're not called anymore. God called you to permanently fulfill His purposes in your life. First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse number 24 reads as follows, Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass.

What will He bring to pass? Verse number 23. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass. He promises to sanctify you entirely. He promises to preserve you completely. He promises to bring you into His kingdom. He promises to keep you because His call depends upon Him and not you. So important. Philippians 1 6 Paul said what?

Being confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will complete that work until the day of Jesus Christ. Paul says I am confident as I sit here rotting in prison, as I sit here chained to guards, as I sit here all alone and nobody coming to visit me I know for certain I have one thing that He who began a great work in me is going to complete that work until the day of Jesus Christ. He hasn't given up on me. He's not going to quit on me. He is going to preserve me and make me into His kind of man.

That's what God wants to do for you. It is a permanent call. Romans 11 29 we talked about it Wednesday night. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. God doesn't take it back. The context of Romans 11 29 is in the context of Israel and their ultimate salvation. When God will save a nation He will be their God and they will be His people. He will love them and they will love Him. God has made a promise to Israel that began all the way back in Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 to 3 with Abram. And God is faithful to fulfill that covenant to the very end because He made a promise.

He made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And God is faithful. It is a permanent call. God never turns His back on His people. He never does. And at the very end of time when Jesus Christ comes back the prophet Zechariah said so well, they will look on Him in whom they have pierced and they will mourn as one who mourns over the loss of an only son. And all Israel will be saved because God made a promise to a people that began in Genesis chapter 12 with one man who was called by God personally.

A man whose call was predetermined not based on anything Abram did but totally based on God. A call that was so purposeful that we can begin to understand our purpose for living by looking at a man who fulfilled what God had called him to do. A call that was precious because as Paul was so Abram was so you are. We are the chosen instruments of God. A call that is permanent that lasts forever for the king will never turn his back on his subjects but will rule them forever and ever. God has called you I trust.

If He hasn't you need to listen to His voice today. Heed His voice. Come to Him that you might understand who He is and what He wants to do in and through your life. Let's pray together.