THE CALL OF ABRAHAM

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM

(Genesis 12-16)

Taught by:  Carolyn Sissom September 2, 2007

Jesus Christ is:

1. The son of Adam – Race (Lk. 3:38)
2. The son of Abraham – Redemption (Matt. 1:1)
3. The son of David – Royalty (Matt. 1:1)

Having dealt in judgment at the Tower of Babel, God now begins to reveal His Grace.  It was not until the utter depravity of man had been fully demonstrated by the antediluvians, and again at Babel, that God dealt with Abraham in SOVEREIGN GRACE.   There was nothing whatever in the object of His choice which commended him to God.  There was nothing in Abraham that merited God’s esteem.  Isa. 51:1-2:  “Hearken to Me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord:  look to the rock where you are hewn and to the hole of the pit from where you are dug.  Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him”.

The call of Abram shows us the STARTING POINT of the life of Faith.  Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the Lord had said to Abram.”  The Lord here is the divine title used as “The God of Glory”.  This is a Kingdom name for God. ( Ps. 29:3): “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.  The God of Glory thunders the Lord is upon many waters.” Abraham was called to be father of a Kingdom people.

“ Get you out of your country and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great: and you shall be a blessing:  And I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Abraham grew up in the midst of idolatry.  Terah (11:27) fathered Abram.  He was an idolater.  He had to die so that Abram and his wife could journey on to the promises of God.  Abram’s initial failures were not recorded in the New Testament. (Heb. 11:8):  “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed:  and he went out, not knowing where he went.”

Abram first halted at Sichem (vs. 6) (shoulder or strength), unto the plain of Moreh (instruction).  After Terah died, his was Abram’s portion, but the Canaanite was also in the land to challenge and contest the occupation of it. (Eph. 6:12) “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers; against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Adam pitched his tent between Bethel (house of God) on the West and AL (A heap of ruins on the east).  As he journeyed toward the promise, before him lay the house of God.  Behind him lay the old life in Ur, a heap of ruins.  Note the two objects:  the tent (vs. 8) (pilgrim life) and the altar (dependency and worship of God).  We must first be pilgrims and strangers on the earth before acceptable worship is possible.

Verse 7:  And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your seed will I give this land and there he built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him.

The seed of Abraham is Christ.  (Gal. 3:16)  “And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise:  “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.  He said not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ.  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after; cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of no effect.  For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more pr promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.  Wherefore then serves the law?  It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

The law is not the promise.  It only served to bring us to Christ.  The church is the program of God.  We are the seed of Abraham.

 We are the children of the promise who are counted for the seed. (Rom 9: 6-8)

We are the chosen (people) generation. ( ! Pet. 2: 1-10)

We are the Holy Nation (Mt. 3: 7-10; 21: 42-43; 1Pet. 2: 9-10)

We are the circumcision (Phil 3:3)

We are the new (heavenly) Jerusalem. (Jn. 4: 19-24; Heb. 12: 22-24; Rev. 21)

We are the Israel of God.

When we were dead in trespasses and sins, we were at one time:  (Eph. 2: 1-22)

Gentiles in the flesh.

Called uncircumcision.

Without Christ.

Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

Strangers from the covenants of Promise.

Without hope.

Without God in the World.

The scriptures reveal one covenant people of the ages who walk by faith.  We are living in the extremities of that one purpose.  Abraham is my brother in Christ.  God laid the axe to the root of the tree and planted a new vine: the Lord Jesus. (Jn 15).  The branches of this new planting are men and women of all nations. (Acts. 10: 34-35; Eph. 2: 14-18; Gal. 3:28; Jn. 17: 20-24)

The revelation of our biblical identity brings with it the restoration of:

Fellowship – We are in fellowship with the Old Testament saints. (Jn. 4:38; Heb. 11: 39-40:  “And these all, having obtained a good report through Faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Promises- You cannot claim your inheritance until you know who you are. (11 Pet. 1: 3-4) “According as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Authority – With the appropriation of the promises comes a new authority.  We are arising in the boldness and confidence of knowing who we are and what we have by legal right.

The seed of Abraham is in three dimensions:

(1)   Dust – (Gen. 13:16)

(2)    Sand – (Gen. 22:17)

(3)   Stars – (Gen. 15:5; 22:17)

The inheritance of the believer is incorruptible (1Pet. 1:4).  Gold is corruptible and is that which perishes.  How can that which is of the corruptible realm have anything to do with an incorruptible inheritance?

To Abraham and his seed (Christ) were the promises made.  The Lord Jesus was appointed heir of all things (Heb. 1: 1-3) and we are joint heirs with him. (Rom. 8:17).  The covenantal promise was fulfilled in Jesus and we share the benefits of His finished work.  All the covenants of the Bible focus in and find their fulfillment in Jesus, for He is the heir and the Beneficiary of all things.  Concerning the Abrahamic Covenant, let us mention the promises made to Jesus and His brethren: (Gen. 12: 1-3):

1. I will make of thee a great nation.
2. I will bless thee.
3. I will make thy name great.
4. You shall be a blessing.
5. I will bless them that bless you.
6. I will curse them that curse you.
7. In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

The Call of Abram and the covenant is to affect the World.  The scriptures verify this:

1. “for the promise, that he should be heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of Faith. (Rom 4:13)
2. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.” (Ps. 2:8)
3. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mt. 5:5)
4. “And has made us unto our God Kings and Priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:10)

Some truths about our inheritance:

1. We have been made worthy and fit to partake of it. (Col. 1: 12-13)
2. It is in light (in the Word) (Col. 1: 12-13) Psa. 119:105)
3. It is in the heavenlies (realm of the Spirit).  (Eph. 1:3; 2:1-6; 6: 10-12)
4. It is to be revealed in the last time. (Peter 1: 3-5):  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again t