Our scripture reading this morning firstly comes from the book of Galatians chapter 3 and then Genesis 11 and 12. Let's first read Galatians 3 verse 1 to 18. Galatians 3 verse 1, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this, did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 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. So then, those who are of faith are blessed, along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by them. 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, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. To give a human example, brothers, even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and his offspring. It does not say, and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring, who is Christ. This is what I mean. The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise, but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. So far from Galatians, we'll now turn to Genesis chapter 11. Genesis chapter 11 starting at verse 27. Now, these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father, Terah, in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarah, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, and the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now, Sarah was barren. She had no child. "'Terrah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, "'his grandson, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, "'his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together "'from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. "'But when they came to Haran, they settled there, "'and the days of Terrah were 205 years, "'and Terrah died in Haran. "'Now 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. and I will make 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.' So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Morah. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward Negev. Our text for this morning's sermon comes from the first four verses of chapter 12 which I will read again. Genesis 12 verse one. Now 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 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. So Abram went as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, this morning we begin to listen together to the story of Abraham. Why Abraham? One reason is that he is our father in the faith, for he is called the father of all believers. From his life we may learn what it means to live by faith. It is from Abraham that we learn that we become righteous through faith. For the Bible says in Genesis 15 verse six that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham was called to live as a lonely believer in the midst of a pagan culture. He was different from those around him and yet he constantly had to interact with them. How did he do that and what can we learn from it? Those are some of the questions that we may have in the back of our minds, and yet they are not the most important questions. Much more important is the question, what is God doing in this story? What is he revealing about himself, about the Lord Jesus Christ, and about our salvation? Why is this story recorded in scripture? Here it is good to keep in mind that the book of Genesis was written by Moses for the Israelites on the way to the promised land. How exciting the story of Abraham would have been for the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness. They heard about Father Abraham, about God's promise to give the land to his seed. And here they were, the seed of Abraham, on the way to claim their inheritance. For the children of Israel, the story of Abraham held a promise that was about to come true. But there's more to it than that. Our text says that in Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. That includes us. The story of Abraham is part of a much greater story, the history of redemption, the revelation of God's plan of salvation for mankind. It's not just about Abraham, but it tells the gospel of how God set out to save you and me. Let's listen to that gospel together, summarized as follows. God calls the father of all believers to go to the promised land. We will see firstly, the land he looked for, second, the land he found, and thirdly, the land he waited for. In Genesis 11 and 12, we read about Abram's journey from the city of Ur to the land of Canaan. We read that he made the journey in two stages. First, he traveled together with his father, Terah, northwest along the Euphrates River, till they got to the city of Haran. There they lived until Terah died. And then Abraham continued southwest until he got to his destination. And right in the middle of the story, we read of God's call. The Lord said to Abraham, get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house. Where was Abram when God called him? Was he still in Ur or was he already up in Haran? That's not such an easy question to answer. When you read the context you get the impression that Abram was in Haran when God called him. The chapter 11 ends by saying that Terah died in Haran and chapter 12 verse 5 says that Abram departed from Haran. Yet other passages make clear that God had called Abram earlier, when he was still in Ur. In Genesis 15 verse 7, God says to Abram, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. In the New Testament, in Acts 7, Stephen retold the story of Abram like this. He said, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. So Stephen makes clear that Abram received the call in Ur already when his father Terah was still alive. God told Abram to leave his relatives behind. That's easier said than done. What if your family wants to come along? In fact, at the end of chapter 11, it seems as if it's all about Terah. He's the head of the household and he takes the lead. Verse 31, Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot and his daughter-in-law Sarah to go to the land of Canaan. Why exactly Terah wanted to go, the Bible does not say. We do not get the impression that he was a man who wanted to follow the Lord. For in Joshua 24, we read that Terah worshipped idols. And yet, Terah's family did not intermarry with the peoples around them. But they stuck together, for Abram married his half-sister, Sarah, and Nahor married his niece. Perhaps Terah wanted to keep the family together. We don't know. And in any case, his son, Nahor, still stayed behind in Mesopotamia. Maybe Terah was attracted by the blessings that God had promised to Abram. We can only speculate what his motives were. At any rate, it was not God's intention that Terah should take the lead. For his call was directed to Abram. And so the Lord ensured that Terah did not finish the journey. They came as far as Haran and settled there for some time. And then Terah died. And in chapter 12, verse 5, it is Abram who takes the initiative as the new head of the household. He took his wife, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people which they had accumulated in Haran. Yes, it appears that God had blessed Abram in Haran. But his riches did not stop him from following God's call. He set out once more for the land which God would show him. Did Abram know where he was going? In verse one of our text, God told him to go to a land that he would show him. The name of the land is not given. And in Hebrews 11 verse eight, we read that he went out not knowing where he was going. But does that mean that Abram had no idea what his destination was? That God had to guide him step by step in the right direction? No, we do not read that God led him there but only that God called him. And notice in chapter 11 verse 31 that Terah took his family from Ur to go to Canaan. He didn't get there but he knew where he was headed. And in chapter 12 verse 5 we read again that they departed to go to the land of Canaan. they knew their destination. Why then does the letter to the Hebrews say that Abram did not know where he was going? It means simply that Abram did not know what kind of country he was going to. Normally before you move to a new country you would do some investigating, perhaps even travel there before you make a final decision. Are the people friendly? Can I afford to buy property? Is there enough pasture for my animals? But Abram went sight unseen. He did not know what awaited him there. He only knew that God had called him, and that God would show him the land. He believed God's promise that he would be blessed, and so he went. He left his homeland behind. All he had was God's word. And that's faith, brothers and sisters, that you simply take God at his word, that you trust him, even when he does not give you all the information you might like to have. Now that we know Abram was looking for the land of Canaan, we come to our second point, the land that he found. So what did Abram find when he came to this promised land? The Bible does not spell out Abram's first impressions, but look at what we read in verse six. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Morah, and the Canaanites were in the land. I'd like you to note those last words. What did Abram find in the promised land? He found the descendants of Canaan. Now, Canaan, as you recall, was the son of Ham. And in Genesis 9, we read that after Ham dishonored his drunken father, Noah, by looking at his nakedness, Noah pronounced a curse on Canaan. Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers. But Noah blessed his sons, Shem and Japheth, who had covered him up. He said, blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be Shem's servant. Abram was a descendant of Shem, and God brought him to the land where the Canaanites dwelt. And there God promised to make Abram's name great and to make him into a great nation. When Abram arrives, God shows him the land and everything about it looks wrong. The Canaanites are numerous and they control the land. And Abram is only one man with a barren wife. Will Canaan indeed be his servant? And then we read that the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your descendants, I will give this land. How did Abram respond? Did he begin to stake his claim on the land? Did he plant the flag of Shem? If the land was promised to his family, surely God meant him to take it and enjoy it in his lifetime. But Abram planted no flags, he staked no claims. Instead, he lived in tents as a sojourner. For notice again what God said to Abram, to your descendants, I will give this land. God had brought Abram all the way from Ur of the Chaldeans to show him a land that he would never have in his lifetime. Abram had to see a land where everything looked wrong. The Canaanites were in control and there Abram had to trust that God would make things right. He had to live by faith all his life, believing that God would fulfil his promise. And what was that promise exactly? Let's have a closer look at verse 2 and 3 of our text. I will make you a great nation. 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. Here the Lord is basically repeating the blessing which he first gave to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. By bearing children, Adam and Eve could have dominion over the earth under God. But after the fall into sin, Adam and Eve lost the blessing of dominion when they rebelled against God and submitted to the devil. As a result of the fall, the children of mankind would be rebellious as well, devil's children, the seed of the serpent who follow their own ambitions rather than the will of God. But God ensured that this rebellion would not continue unchecked. He promised that the seed of the woman would oppose the seed of the serpent and one day crush its head. God's kingdom would prevail. After the flood it was the line of Shem that was chosen for God's blessing but the line of Shem too became unfaithful and turned to idols and now God has called upon Abram and his barren wife Sarah to believe that they will carry on the blessing to be fruitful and multiply to produce the seed of the woman that would crush the serpent and restore the kingdom of God. Abram came to the promised land and what did he find? A land where the cursed Canaanites were in control. And there he had to believe that God's kingdom would be restored. He had to believe that God who appeared to him at Shechem and said, to your descendants I will give this land. And what did Abram do in the face of these astounding promises in such an unpromising situation? He built altars to the Lord. He worshipped the God who had made these promises. Here again, God's word shows us what true faith is. And this brings us to the third point, the land he waited for. Faith, says Hebrew 11, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Abram came to the land of Canaan, and he did not see the kingdom of God there, But he believed the God who said that his kingdom would come. He believed that through his barren wife, the Lord would one day raise up a seed for the woman who would crush the serpent's head and restore the rule of God. By faith, Abram would wait for his descendants to have dominion over Canaan. By faith, he would wait for the great fulfillment for God's promises, the day of Jesus Christ. As the Lord Jesus himself said to the Jews in John 8 verse 56, your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. When God showed Abram the promised land, he did not show him a perfect land, but a work in progress, a place where so much still had to be done. Later, God gave the land to Israel and he set King David over the land. And then it seemed for a while that the kingdom of God had come. this blissful time was short-lived. God's people turned away from him and God gave the promised land into the hand of enemies. The throne of David was lost and there were only a few faithful people left who understood why the throne was lost. It was because of the sins of God's people. God's own people had rebelled against him and had become the seed of the serpent. That's what the Lord Jesus told the Jews in John 8. If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham, he said to them. But you are of your father, the devil, and you want to do your father's desires. He told them that they were in bondage to sin, and only he could set them free. They did not believe in Jesus, unlike Abraham, who waited for his coming. Only if they shared the faith of Abraham could they belong to the kingdom. Abram never saw the promises of God fulfilled in his lifetime. He only saw the beginning of God's kingdom work, but he believed in God's promises. And therefore, said the Lord Jesus in Luke 13, Abraham would one day sit in the kingdom and the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus would be shut out. Yes, they were biological descendants of Abraham, but that was not enough. What was needed was repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. who are the children of Abraham? Not just the Israelites who shared his bloodlines but everyone who shares Abraham's faith. That is what the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 3 where he refers to our text Genesis 12 verse 3 where God says to Abram, in you shall all nations be blessed. What does this mean? means that when God brought Abram to the land of Canaan God was setting the stage to save people from all nations who would share in the faith of Abraham and look to the kingdom of God. When Abraham entered the promised land he saw a land filled with Canaanites with no evidence of God's kingdom But with the eyes of faith, he saw far more. He looked ahead to the day when his children would inherit the land, and he looked further ahead to the day when his great descendant would crush the evil one and bring blessing not only to his land, but from his land, that blessing would go out to all nations. That is the faith of the father of all believers, a faith that sees far more what the eye can see. And that is the faith which we must share. When we look around us, it seems as though Satan is still strong. Unbelief and apostasy are on the increase. Churches are becoming unfaithful and adapting to the world. Evangelism seems to have little result. It seems that the seed of the serpent is firmly in control. We see brokenness and sadness in our lives and the lives of our friends and loved ones. We may even feel that God's promise of salvation is all but impossible in such an unpromising environment. But God does not show us a perfect world, but an unfinished product, a work in progress. And with eyes of faith, we see more, even more than Abraham did. We see Jesus victorious over Satan and seated in glory at God's right hand, where he sends forth the gospel of grace into the nations all over the world. We see him ruling the hearts of believers through his word and spirit. And we pray in faith for God to finish his work. We pray for his kingdom to come. As people from the ends of the earth, we rejoice that we may be counted among the children of Abraham. And we travel on as Abraham did, not putting down roots and settling in this temporary world, not blending in with the nations around us, but living as pilgrims and sojourners, set apart, trusting that God is preparing a homeland for us. We see the day of the Lord Jesus coming and we greet it from afar. And we look forward to the day when we may sit with Abraham in the kingdom of the Father at the marriage feast of the Lamb. Amen.