By Grace – part 2 (Genesis 12:1-20)
By Grace – part 2
Genesis 12:1-20 (1-9)
March 2, 2014
As you know we have now entered a new area
In our study of the book of Genesis.
We are now looking at our third major player in Moses’ gospel message.
• We started with Adam, where Moses taught us about the tragic reality of sin.
• From there we went to Noah and we learned the terrible reality of judgment.
• Now we move to Abram where we learn the tremendous reality of salvation.
When most people think of Abraham they immediately think of faith,
But that is only part of what Moses uses Abraham to teach us.
Abraham’s life doesn’t just teach us about faith,
Abraham’s life teaches us about salvation.
And you need to know that, otherwise you will find yourself having difficulty understanding the first part of Abraham’s life.
If you open the book of Genesis and start reading about Abraham in chapter 12, you have to read three chapters before you get to Abraham’s faith.
So what are chapters 12-14 about?
That answer is grace.
In the New Testament we find
The clearest statement about salvation in all the Bible.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
According to Paul salvation is “by grace…through faith”
What does that mean?
Well salvation is “by grace”
That is to say that it is something that we most certainly do not deserve.
Everyone who gets saved in this life most certainly does not deserve it.
Salvation is also “through faith”
That is to say that it is not by works.
God doesn’t give salvation to those who earn it, but to those who trust.
So salvation is “by grace” (undeserved) and “through faith” (unearned)
The two work together.
Abraham’s life is picture first of grace then of faith.
And presently I want you to understand
The importance of grace in Abraham’s life.
(we’ll get to the importance of his faith later)
But even today, it is apparent to me that there are those who will certainly elevate faith, and yet still manage to minimize grace.
HOW DO THEY DO THAT?
This occurs any time that the faith of man
Is elevated as more important than the grace of God.
(the two must be kept in balance)
Now, faith is important
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Obviously faith is important.
Obviously faith is essential.
However, if you only push faith at the exclusion of grace
You will find yourself in a horrible condition.
Here is what I mean.
Suppose you remove grace from the equation.
So God offers a salvation or blessing which requires faith
But if you stumble even for a second God yanks the blessing
God is only gracious so long as you believe
• Doubting condemns you…
• Failing to trust fully condemns you…
• Even confusion condemns you…
Because God’s grace is only available so long as your faith secures it.
If your faith struggles, God’s grace departs.
Incidentally this has been the flaw of so many of those
“name it and claim it” preachers of our day.
They offer the healing of God or the prosperity of God so long as you believe. And then, if the blessing doesn’t occur, they blame it on your lack of faith.
And that is a frustrating, scary, and disappointing place to be.
It is an emphasis on faith, but it completely fails to understand grace.
It overlooks the fact that God’s salvation is
First by grace and then through faith.
God didn’t see faith and then decide to offer grace.
God offered grace and then asked for faith.
In fact even faith is a gracious gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”
I would never minimize the importance of faith, it is essential.
I just want you to understand that your faith is also a part of God’s grace.
You are not holding on to your faith, God is.
Need an example?
Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter is a classic example of what I am talking about.
For all extensive purposes Peter lost the faith.
He did the unthinkable and denied Jesus 3 times.
But did God remove grace from Peter?
Did Peter lose all that God had promised him?
NO – God wasn’t even surprised.
Peter wasn’t using his faith to hold on to grace.
God was using grace to hold on to Peter’s faith.
It is not your faith which secures God’s grace,
It is God’s grace which secures your faith.
Peter was an excellent example of that.
AND SO IS ABRAHAM.
Abraham is called the Father of Faith,
But this morning you will see that where it not for God’s grace protecting Abraham’s faith, you would never know about it.
And this morning as we continue to look at Abraham’s life
I want you to see that before Abraham ever had faith, he first had grace.
And it was the grace of God which secured Abraham’s faith,
Not the faith of Abraham that secured God’s grace.
And that is what we began looking at a couple of weeks ago.
#1 THE PEDIGREE OF BLESSING
Genesis 11:10-32
You will remember that this was the blessed line of Shem.
And that blessing was NOT as a result of the good behavior
Of Shem’s descendants.
By the time we get to Terah (Abram’s dad) we found that Shem’s descendants had already fallen head first into idolatry.
Joshua 24:2 “Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.”
So if you had any preconceived ideas that Abram was a man of faith and so God chose to use him, wipe those ideas away.
• Abram was idolatrous pagan worshiper.
• Abram gave the glory of the one true God to a false God.
• Abram did not honor God as God or give thanks to Him.
Secondly Scripture taught us that Abram’s wife Sarai was barren.
Now certainly that is not a sin, and it doesn’t even indicate
That God was punishing Sarai.
Barrenness is a sad consequence of the fall.
The problem however is that God was looking for a man
That He could use to start a great nation.
You would think that God would at least choose a man
Who was capable of having children, but that certainly wasn’t Abram.
Thirdly, Abram was a worldly man.
• We read that he and his father settled in Haran.
What did they do there?
According to Genesis 12:5 and 13:2,
It was to make lots of money and buy slaves.
Abram wasn’t a man searching for God,
Abram was a man searching for gold.
We said that Calvin had a phrase for that, it was TOTAL DEPRAVITY
There was nothing worth anything in Abraham.
And yet that was the man God was choosing to bless.
There is only one word for that, and that word is grace.
Before Abraham was a man of faith, he was first a man of grace.
That was the Pedigree of Blessing.
#2 THE PROMISE OF BLESSING
Genesis 12:1-9
This is that famous passage where God spoke to Abraham
And revealed His plans for him.
Here we have this depraved idol worshiper and God approaches him.
Abram didn’t go looking for God, God came to Abram.
We said that Calvin called that UNMERITED FAVOR
There was no reason for God to select this man,
His favor on Abram was totally unmerited.
In that we saw:
1) THE REQUIREMENT (1)
If you have difficulty seeing the gospel here,
Then you aren’t looking hard enough.
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
The first expectation of salvation is always repentance.
It is always denial of self.
That requirement was in tact even with Abraham.
Furthermore Abraham had to travel to “a land which I will show you”
Abram traveled with limited visibility.
He was on the narrow road.
The second thing we saw was:
2) THE REALITY (2a)
Verse 1 is Abram’s part, verses 2 and 3 reveal God’s part.
You leave all, and “I will make you a great nation”
“I will bless you”
Abram was called to leave, but God wasn’t taking life from him.
God wasn’t taking anything from Abram.
God was seeking to give to Abram.
God wanted Abram to take hold of life indeed.
Thus far Abram’s life had been nothing more than treasure hunting.
(parable of treasure in the field)
And that was futile because he thanked the wrong god for it,
And would have no heir to leave it to.
God wanted more for Abraham.
And if Abram would only forsake the life he knew,
God had a life of blessing waiting for him.
That was the reality, and that is where we left off a couple of weeks ago.
We had God selecting a sorry pagan worshiper, with a barren wife
And a love of the world.
God took this pagan man and chose to do the unthinkable for him.
God chose to bless him.
There is no word for that but grace.
It is also important that you see the point that Moses is making
Look at the children of Israel.
Who were they?
Why would God choose them?
But He did, and He required them to also leave their life in Egypt.
If they would leave a life of bondage, God would give them life indeed.
And can’t you almost hear the children of Israel listening to Abram’s story saying, “Take it Abram! Take it! It’s a great deal!”
And that was also true for them.
Can’t you hear Moses, “Take it Israel! Take it! It’s a great deal!”
And if you’ll listen you can hear the writers of the New Testament
Saying the same to you.
Philippians 3:7 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
That message is the same to you.
“Take it! It’s a great deal”
So as we look at THE PROMISE OF BLESSING,
We’ve seen The Requirement and the Reality.
Let’s move on this morning:
3) THE RESULT (2b-3)
“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 will be blessed.”
Don’t you like how verse 2 ends?
“And so you shall be a blessing”
In other words, there is absolutely no chance of failure in this promise.
If God says you’re blessed then you’re blessed.
And not only are you blessed, but you will be a blessing to others.
In other words, you will have blessing to spare.
It will overflow on others.
NOW WE KNOW…
That in Abraham God was opening up a line of grace.
It would travel through Isaac, Jacob, Israel and ultimately Jesus.
And all the gracious blessing of God would be available through Him.
But what we see here is that God was making Abraham the lightning rod
GOD WAS DOING FOR ABRAHAM
WHAT HE WAS DOING FOR NO ONE ELSE.
It was limited to Abraham alone.
This was not a blanket promise made to the world that only Abraham accepted.
This was a promise made only to Abraham.
In fact we specifically saw God segregate the world just a couple of weeks ago so He could specifically save Abram out of it.
Calvin would call that LIMITED ATONEMENT
Now I know that is a “lightning rod” word.
But look, you believe in limited atonement, whether you think so or not.
And the reason I know that is because you are not a universalist.
People still go to hell, and pay for their sin for all eternity.
Obviously all sin of all man was not fully atoned for on the cross,
Or otherwise why are they in hell paying for it again?
The answer is because Christ fully atoned for those He chose,
It was limited to the elect.
It is absolutely unlimited in sufficiency, limited only in application.
Now if you try and take the philosophical approach and say, “No, Christ paid for the sin of all humanity” then you have just limited the atonement as well.
You chose not to limit it as to its EXTENT, you say it reaches everyone.
Then you automatically limit it as to its EFFECT,
Because though it may have reached everyone, it obviously wasn’t powerful enough to save them, because they still went to hell.
The reality is that God chooses and God blesses
And God atones for those whom are His.
We call that grace.
He clearly did it for Abraham.
The Requirement, The reality, the result
4) THE RESPONSE (4-9)
“So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him”
We could easily see this as IRRISISTABLE GRACE
Jesus said “those whom the Father has given me will come to Me”
And that is precisely what Abram did.
He had never followed God before, but he did on this day.
Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”
He set out for “Canaan” and when he got there,
God revealed to Abram another piece of the puzzle.
(7) “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give THIS LAND.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.”
God had said He would show Abram the land, and when Abram arrived in Canaan, God said, “You’re home”
I’ll remove all the inhabitants that already live here,
And I’ll give this land to you and to your descendants.
Now obviously that is good news and even gracious news
And so Abraham is grateful and he does the grateful thing.
“So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.”
God’s expression of grace
Should always be followed by our expression of worship.
Abram is worshiping God here.
And then we see another interesting event.
(8-9) “Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.”
Now be careful here.
I’ve heard it preached that Abraham was saved right there.
After all, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”
And since Abraham called, then Abraham just got saved.
I can confidently say, “No, he did not”
How do I know?
Because Genesis tells us precisely when Abraham gets saved
And that doesn’t happen until chapter 15.
Genesis 15:6 “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Well then what about Abraham calling here?
It is easy to explain.
Romans 10:9-13 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
What Paul is referring to is a confession or a calling
That is the direct result of believing.
See what he said, “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
True calling is preceded by true believing.
Now here it is:
You can call without believing,
But you cannot believe without calling.
Scripture speaks repeatedly of false confession.
Jesus Himself said, “Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord”
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
And this is where we find Abraham.
It is not that his confession is a false one, but it is not yet a saving one,
For his faith has not yet matured.
See Abraham is not yet TRUSTING God, Abraham is TASTING God.
Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
Abraham has found God faithful up to this point,
So he is seeing exactly who this God is.
As if to say, “Ok God, you’ve come through so far, how about here?”
Salvation will occur later, for now Abraham is feeling God out.
God is slowly revealing more and more of Himself to Abraham,
Soon will come the day when God will ask Abraham to be His alone.
And yet it is clear to see that God is already drawing Abram.
• He has chosen him
• He is blessing him
• He is saving him
• He is drawing him
The Pedigree of Blessing The Promise of Blessing
#3 THE PROTECTION OF BLESSING
Genesis 12:10-20
Now this is one of those bizarre stories, but one that makes such an important point about the grace God has chosen to bestow on us.
Here we read that Abram is in his new home,
But a famine hits and so Abram says adios to this new land.
Perhaps at this point Abram is having a few doubts
About this promise that God made to him.
And so Abram heads off to Egypt.
• The only problem is that Abram knows how things work.
• He’s got a beautiful wife, Pharaoh is going to want her and so Abram conceives a plan.
• He determines to get Sarai to say she is his sister and thus protect his life.
(13-16) “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.” It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels.”
Now, I don’t know if you realize it, but everything God is promising Abram is in major jeopardy at this point.
Abram is no longer in the land or with Sarai
So Abraham’s blessing…
Abrahams inheritance…
Is in serious jeopardy at this moment.
But what I want you to understand is that when God graciously offers something, He also graciously protects it.
(17-20) “But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go.” Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.”
Very simply – God intervened.
Pharaoh received a plague.
We don’t know what it was, but we do know that Pharaoh knew why it was happening.
And Pharaoh was quick to send Abram and Sarai away.
And the point is that God is not only offering the blessing to Abram, but God is also SECURING IT.
Two things are true about the blessing God offers you.
• If it depended on you earning it, you never could.
• And if it depended on you keeping it, you never would.
Abram is proof of that.
Abram was saved by grace, and he was secured the same way.
And even when a decision to leave his inheritance behind and head to Egypt threatened to ruin it all, God was there to protect it.
(I hope you see the similarities for Moses)
• Why did Jacob enter Egypt? Famine
• Why did Pharaoh drive them out? Plagues
• Where did they go? Canaan
Moses is driving home the point.
Your inheritance is protected.
Calvin would call this PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
And that really isn’t even the best name.
It is more rightly called the PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS
1 Peter 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”
That is what we call security
That is what we call protection
And that is what Abram had.
When you look at Abram in chapter 12 you do not find a man of faith yet.
You find a man of grace
• You find a pagan who was not looking for God
• You find an idolater who only wanted money
• You find a man willing to go to a new land, but one who when given the first
sign of trouble, quickly bailed.
This man wasn’t worthy of obtaining anything God was offering
And he wasn’t capable of keeping anything God had given.
But that’s ok because Abram was being saved “By grace”
AND THAT IS WHAT SALVATION LOOKS LIKE.
It is God selecting unworthy sinners,
Who have offended Him in every possible way,
And then making them a promise that He Himself will protect.
Totally unwarranted
Totally gracious
And let me tell you what that means for you.
First it should mean worship – Abram built an altar, so should you – in your heart
Second it means rest
So many people today live in this constant panic of doing something
To make themselves worthy to God so He will accept them.
And they live in fear of doing something wrong
And messing up the blessing in their life.
But friend you didn’t start it, and you don’t protect it.
Do we trust God? Yes Do we worship God? Yes Do we follow God? Yes
But don’t get the idea that this whole thing depends upon you.
We are saved “by grace”
And so rest in that fact.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
