Read Genesis 12:1-3
When God called Abram He made great promises to the man. He promised to make Abraham into a great nation. He would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky or as numerous as the grains of sand along the beach. God had commanded both Adam/Eve and Noah to populate the earth and to fill it. Neither one was willing to do that. So now God takes the initiative upon Himself and will fill the world with people that love and serve Him as God.
Abram will have a great land. The land of Eden was lost, closed off after the fall. Through Abraham and his descendants the Promised Land would be inhabited. God Himself would do what mankind had failed to do.
Others will be blessed and cursed in their attitude towards Abram. Those who bless Abram will be blessed and those who curse him will be cursed. God will treat others according to the way they treat His own people.
And finally God will bless all the families of the earth through Abram and his descendants. Unfortunately the NIV translates this verse as ’and all the people’s of the earth will be blessed through you’. The word ‘peoples’ fits nicely into our western individualistic culture. The Hebrew original more correctly reads, ‘and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed’. We simply cannot escape the fact that God has always dealt with family units. Noah was a righteous man and was called to build the ark. Who entered the ark with Noah? His wife and his children - even though there’s no mention of their righteousness! He called Abram and later commanded that his children be circumcised when they reach 8 days of age. They would still be far too young to believe in God or affirm their status as Israelites!!! The nation of Israel, when it celebrated the Pass Over and other celebrations would expressly involve children in the ceremonies and festivals.
After the coming of Jesus we continue to see this blessing to entire families. Read Acts 16 and note what is said about whole households.
God will deal with the sin and rebellion of mankind. He’ll do it through one of Abram’s descendants. He’ll work through Abram to bring blessing to all the families of the earth.
Christmas time is rightly a time of blessing. It’s rightly a time of family. It’s rightly a time to share together but not because a red suited, reindeer riding jolly old man comes along. The real man, the God-man has come and has opened the door way of blessing to all families. When we celebrate Christmas this year, let’s not forget Jesus - the reason for the season.
Prayer:-
> Pray that each one in your congregation would fully understand the meaning of Christmas.
> Pray that each family would have opportunity to bring many to church over Christmas to hear about Christ.
> Pray for growth in your congregation.
No comments:
Post a Comment