God’s Purpose for Abraham

Genesis 12:1-9

GOLDEN TEXT: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”—Genesis 12:3

ABRAHAM is Scripturally designated the “father of the faithful.” (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7) He believed God, and his faith was accounted unto him for righteousness. (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jas. 2:29) He was, of course, a member of the fallen race, and, as such, was imperfect, unrighteous. But his full confidence in God indicated that if he had ability to do so, he would conform his life to a standard of absolute righteousness. He not only believed God, but he also believed IN God and had confidence that God’s ways and God’s standards were right and just and good.

Thus seen, Abraham was the sort of man in whom God could have confidence, and to whom He could reveal His purposes with the assurance that He would have his co-operation. And God’s confidence was not misplaced. When He called Abraham to go into a strange land, he obeyed, and Paul adds, “not knowing whither he went.” (Heb. 11:8) One with less faith in God may have questioned the propriety of leaving home, and embarking on such a hazardous journey having such an uncertain destination. Many who like to think that they have a large measure of faith in God would have hesitated to obey a call such as came to Abraham.

God had a reason for wanting Abraham to go to Canaan. That land has figured prominently in the outworking of God’s arrangements ever since that time. It is the “Land of Promise”—promised to Abraham and to his seed after him as an “everlasting possession.” It is still the Promised Land, and today the matter of what to do with it has become an international problem. It will continue to be a problem until the natural seed of Abraham are again dwelling therein in peace.

God’s promise to give Abraham and his seed the land of Canaan represented only part of the divine purpose in calling the patriarch. “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” was as important to God and to Abraham as was the promise that he would possess the land. It was fitting that the man to whom such a promise was given should be one who believed God implicitly—with his whole heart for it reminds us that only those who do have complete confidence in God can fully and properly appreciate His promised blessings, or be the recipients of them.

There are certain bounties which God lavishly bestows upon the unjust as well as upon the just, such as the sunshine and the rain. Unbelievers receive these good things as a matter of course, and often try to deny their source, yet God continues to provide them. But the blessings mentioned in God’s promise to Abraham are available only upon the basis of faith and obedience. Neither Jew nor Gentile can receive these blessings as a matter of course.

The natural seed of Abraham lost the chief blessing promised to them simply because of their lack of faith and consequent obedience. That chief blessing was the honor of being the channel of God’s blessings to all mankind. A few individual Jews who accepted Jesus as their Messiah when He came to them, qualified for this high position; but the rest were blinded. Paul explains that “Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for.”—Rom. 11:7

From Galatians 3:8 we learn that the Gentiles who inherit the chief blessing promised to Abraham do so only upon the basis of faith. They are justified “through faith,” even as was Abraham. God recognizes the fallen condition of all mankind, but when one manifests that he has faith in His promises God is pleased. To such God reveals His plans, and to such He gives the opportunity of becoming a co-worker with Him.

Galatians 3:16 reveals that the real “seed” of promise was Jesus Christ. The promise was made, Paul declares, not “to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Yes; Christ is “one” seed, but has many members. In I Corinthians 12:12, Paul uses the human body as a symbol of The Christ, the “one” seed, and in Ephesians 1:22,23, explains that Jesus is the Head of this body, and that the various individuals in the church are the other members of the body.

It is in keeping with this that the apostle writes, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:27,29) This is such a clear statement of fact that it is difficult to understand how so many earnest students of the Bible have overlooked it, or have failed to grasp its real significance.

The fact is, that the church is being prepared, as the promised “seed” of Abraham, to be the channel of blessing to all mankind. The blessing of ALL the families of the earth is God’s purpose through Abraham’s seed. True, there will be an earthly seed, which eventually will include all mankind. Abraham, in this sense, is to be the father of “many nations” of those who learn to believe.

QUESTIONS:

Why is faith so important in the sight of God?

Will anyone ever receive God’s promised blessings without exercising faith in Him?

Who is the “seed” of Abraham through whom God’s blessings will come to the people?

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