Genesis 12:1-3. 1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And 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. 3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Even after the flood story and the Tower of Babel story God still wanted to save the world from sin so that he could live with us again like he did in the Garden of Eden. But now God’s plan will be to save the world through one family – Abraham’s family. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed, God said.
But before God could bless all of humanity God would bless Abraham. That means that he will show Abraham grace. God will do everything for Abraham. Yes, Abraham will need to go, but God will accomplish all his promises to Abraham. What promises? There are three promises in today’s scripture:
- Land: The land I will show you. God promised Abraham that he would give him the entire land of Canaan. This is why we call it the Promised Land.
- Children: I will make of you a great nation. God promised to turn Abraham into a huge nation with many descendants.
- Blessing: I will bless you. God promised to always show grace and favor to Abraham. Like we said, Abraham won’t need to make these promises happen, God will do it! On top of that, the whole world will know God’s grace and blessing because of Abraham.
At times Abraham will trust all of God’s promises completely. At other times Abraham will settle for far less than what God had promised him. He will try to make God’s promises happen faster in his own way without waiting on God to make them happen in his way.
Just like Abraham, we have been blessed with tremendous grace and gifts from God. And just like Abraham we settle for less than God’s best. What has God promised to us? When we trust in Jesus, we are graciously given every one of his blessings. Literally every blessing of Jesus is ours to share. What are those blessings? Look at this list from Ephesians 1:
Ephesians 1:3-14. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him. 11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
What blessings do you see and hear in this passage? Blameless. Loved. Forgiven. Adopted. Redeemed. Wisdom. Inheritance. And best of all, the Holy Spirit.
Sadly, most Christians don’t live like they have all of these blessings. Like Abraham, we try to make God love us rather than trusting that he already loves us completely. Or we try to earn our forgiveness rather than trusting that God has forgiven us completely because of Jesus. Or even just the idea of being blessed. Many Christians think that they have to earn God’s blessings. But that is not true at all. God blesses us because we trust in Jesus, not because we are good and have earned his blessings. God’s blessings are all from grace, and YOU CAN’T EARN GRACE.
You: Which of the blessings in Ephesians 1 stands out to you the most?
You with Jesus: How does being connected to Jesus give you this blessing without you having to earn it?
Prayer: Father, your great promises are all mine through Jesus. I want to trust that I have everything you say I do – forgiveness, love, grace, redemption, adoption, inheritance, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
TLICfamily 