TEXT: Genesis 11:27-12:4
MESSAGE: “The Call of God”
“…calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.” ― Os Guinness (The Call)
“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” — Viktor Frankly
“We have to define calling…the way I define it and see it in Scripture… calling, in it’s simplest definition is, ‘what does God want me to do with the talents He has invested in me.’ So if I look at calling from a very creative perspective, God as this great Creator; 7.4 Billion people and counting, does He have the capacity to invest unique clumps of talent in each person? Yes, calling is for everyone, it’s not just for a few. How many people go to their grave and actually discover it? That’s a very small percentage.” — Pete Richardson
“Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor…they served other gods…”
“First of all, the word Terah means moon. Ur of the Chaldeans was a center of lunar worship. The true family, the family that was supposed to be preserving, the last family knowing who God is and knowing who created the world and knowing what we were built for, the last family who knew anything about God, has gone over to idol worship. This text tells us there is no foreseeable future. There is no human power to invent a future. The human race and human history have just hit a dead end. It’s over. And then God speaks and there’s hope again.” — Timothy Keller
The Tension: Humanity had no hope unless God intervened. And it’s in Spiritual desperation that the Call comes.
And so how does the Call of God breakthrough into our lives?
There are three parts to the call…(Relational; Risky; and Received)
1. Relational (v.1a)
Look at v.1a – “Now the Lord said to Abram…” – Abraham had probably heard of God but he had never experienced God.
“We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God—which is another way of saying that our seeking will always fall short unless God’s grace initiates the search and unless God’s call draws us to him and completes the search.”
― Os Guinness
“..the history of redemption, like that of creation, begins with God speaking…” — Derek Kidner
2. Risky (v.1b-2)
Look at v.1b-2 – “Go from…your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
“He (Abraham) must decide whether to abandon his land in favor of the land Yahweh offers. He must decide whether to abandon what family he still has in favor of the family Yahweh promises (against all logic). He must decide whether to set aside his blessing, his inheritance, for the inheritance Yahweh describes. The initiative offers much, but it’s cost is significant.”
– John Walton
3. Received (v. 2-3)
“And 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. I 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.”
Galatians 3:8
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
Galatians 3:13-14
“13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
TAKEAWAYS: How can I live out God’s call for my life?
* Seek Jesus before seeking purpose
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
* Personally receive God’s Call
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” — Hebrews 11:8
* You are blessed to be a blessing
v. 2 – “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
