As we have continue through the book Multiply by Francis Chan, we learn more and more about God. WE learn that His promises hold true and he is persistent and relentless.

We are still at the beginning of the biblical story, a pattern has already developed: people sin, people face the consequences, God redeems. People sin, people face the consequences, God redeems.

We saw where it started with Adam and Eve committing the initial sin and getting consequences, but God not abandoning them or forsaking them.

Only a few chapters later, we find people sinning continually, to the point that God destroyed all but eight humans by flooding the earth. But as soon as the waters subsided, God made a covenant with Noah.

I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. – Genesis 8:21 ESV

People sin, people face consequences, God redeems.

Only a couple chapters after the devastating flood, the human race gathered at Babel in defiance of God in order to “make a name for themselves”. God was faithful and did not flood the earth again, this time he just confused their speech and scattered them. But God still had a plan for redemption and he promised to change the course of history.

Redemption Promise

God was methodical and chose one man, Abraham, to carry out the redeeming actions. Let’s read some of the initial promises:

Genesis 12:1-9
Genesis 15:1-21
Genesis 17:1-14

What stands out to you from these three promises that God gave to Abraham?

What does God’s covenant with Abraham reveal to us about God?

What does God’s covenant with Abraham reveal about God’s plan for redemption?

Considering this early pattern of people sin, people suffer the consequences, God redeems. How have you seen this pattern in your own life?

Land, land, land

Land was an important part of God’s promise to Abraham. God’s initial call to Abraham involved leaving land he already had and going to a distant land he had never seen, but promised by God.  Abraham had to believe that when God said the land was better than his land and that it was not a trick to lose everything.

When was a time when you had to give up something for something promised better? Did it work out? Who promised you it was going to be better?

Believing was not easy, but when Abraham asked “How am I to know that I shall possess it?”, God’s answer seems odd to us in our time… 

Genesis 15:9-17

Around the time of Abraham, covenant agreements often took this form, where the parties involved in a covenant would walk between animals that had been sacrificed. By doing this, each person was essentially saying “If I break my word in this covenant, may I be cursed like this dead animal”. 

Don’t we think it is amazing that God respects and honors His relationship with humans to a point to come down and physically engage in a ritual to show His love and commitment to people.

In Chapter 15, God made it clear that His promises to Abraham were not dependent on Abraham. How should this affect the way we think about God’s plan of redemption?

Creating a People for Himself

As powerful and as creative as God was in Genesis chapter 1, his promised redemption came through a relationship, beginning with a promise and engagement by Abraham in faith. God’s entire redemption plan unfolds in the rest of the Bible is God fulfilling His promises to Abraham.

God’s covenant with Abraham signaled the introduction of what would become known as the people of Israel, the covenant people of God. In Genesis 17:7-8 God began using language that gets repeated throughout teh Old Testament; “I will be your God and you will be my people”.

Many times we can get in a situation where it almost seems like people are begging us to follow God, when in reality it should be such an honor and privilege to be included in such a miracle to be invited by God.

We know from the creation process that all humans were made in the image of God, to have a responsibility to reflect God to the world around us. By this time of Abraham, humanity had generally failed in this endeavor. But God’s promise through Abraham and his descendants was that he was going to work with the people to restore them to His image.

In your words, explain why it is significant that God created a people for Himself. What did God want to accomplish through this “great nation” He promised to form?

Promise to take action

In Genesis chapter 12, God says to Abraham, “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.” 

The vital part of the promise is that God’s blessings are meant to be shared, not hoarded. God’s promise is to bless the world, not just Abraham, and that also applies to us, as we get blessed God wants us to be a blessing to others.

Think about the ways God has blessed you. How should these blessings be used to benefit the people around you?

Abraham’s Faith

The New Testament refers to this whole section of the Bible numerous times. Let’s read an example.

Romans 4

Why do you think the New Testament makes such a big deal about Abraham’s faith?

How should Abraham’s faith affect the way we think about and relate to God?

This week as we continue to read along in the Old Testament, let’s make sure that we spend some time with God asking for Him to increase our faith in Him. We need to pray for the ability to be more aware of His plan of redemption and the role He wants each of us to play in it.

This coming week we learn about Exodus and Redemption.  The following list of scripture will help lead you through the Bible to support session 4 of the Old Testament.

Exodus 1, 2
Exodus 3-5
Exodus 6-7
Exodus 8-11
Exodus 12, 13
Exodus 14, 15

To help kick start your week, here a video overview of the next section

 

 

 

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ge 8:21). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.