Abraham: Sin, Sovereignty, & Righteousness

1. Abraham: Sin, Sovereignty, & Righteousness Genesis 12 Southwest Topeka Bible Church January 27, 2013

2. Abraham: A Hero of Faith • Father of God’s chosen people • Left home, family – everything – to obey God • Believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness • On several occasions, doubted God’s goodness and provision

3. Abraham: A Hero of Faith • Father of God’s chosen people • Left home, family – everything – to obey God • Believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness • On several occasions, doubted God’s goodness and provision

4. Why Study This? Abraham’s mistakes illustrate two vital truths: 1.) My sin has immediate and long-term consequences for me, my family, and my community. 2.) God remains faithful even in our faithlessness.

5. The Promise God chooses to accomplish His plans through people like you, me, and Abram. 12Now the Lord said to Abram,“Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s householdto the land that I will show you.2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you,and I will make your name great,so that you will exemplify divine blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you,but the one who treats you lightly I must curse,and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.” 4 So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.)

6. The Problem Like Abram, we often feel the need to “supplement” God’s plans with our own. 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there … when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

7. The Lie • It came on the heels of faithful obedience (Gen. 12:1-4) • It was a convincing half-truth (Gen. 20:12) • It illuminated a deeper heart problem: failure to fully believe God’s promises (Gen. 12:1-4, 7)

8. Success (?) At first, it seemed to work pretty well… 15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh, 16 and hedid treat Abram well on account of her. Abram received sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

9. Success FAILURE But then the truth came out. 17 But the Lordstruck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Here is your wife! Take her and go!”20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

10. Immediate Consequences • Sarai is placed in an uncertain situation (probably not good for their marriage) • Pharaoh’s household is afflicted with diseases • Abram and his family are expelled back into the famine they were trying to escape • Abram sets a dangerous precedence of self-reliance for himself and his family

11. God’s Immediate Faithfulness • God prevents Sarai from being compromised • Abram and his family escape alive • They are allowed to take their possessions along • God does not remove Abram’s blessing – He gives Him another chance

12. Long-Term Consequences: Hagar and Ishmael • Gen. 16:1-2 • A husband/father’s beliefs and actions affect his whole family’s mindset • Hagar disrespects Sarai (Gen. 16:5) • Sarai makes Hagar’s life miserable; Hagar flees (Gen. 16:6) • Ultimately, Ishmael’s descendents become enemies of Israel

13. Long-Term Consequences: Repeating the Sin • Gen. 20:1-13 • This is after Abram has received even more specific promises: • A new name: Abraham (Father of many nations) • A new son: Isaac (through Sarah) • Sin gets easier with practice (Gen. 20:2) • Self-reliance can keep us from seeing other people’s good intentions (Gen. 20:9-11) • Focus on self blinds us to our sin’s possible effects on others (Gen. 20:18)

14. Long-Term Consequences: Sins of the Father… • Gen. 26:7-11 • Isaac wasn’t even alive when Abram/Abraham did this. However, he probably heard the stories. • His fears – and solutions – mirrored his father’s. • Like his father, he assumed that: • The people of the land would not do the right thing • He had to take whatever steps were necessary to protect his life, because God would not

15. God’s Long-Term Faithfulness • Despite these missteps, God continued to lead and bless Abraham • These sins did not change the fact that God had credited Abraham’s belief as righteousness(Rom. 4:1-3; Gen. 15:6) • Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22) proves that Abraham ultimately learned to trust God • Rather than coming up with his own solution, Abraham simply obeyed • Hebrews 11 tells us Abraham believed God could do all things, even raise Isaac from the dead

16. A Few Final Thoughts • Sin has fearsome consequences. Flee it and follow God. • Even in your sin, God is there, working in you and providing for you. • No one is without sin, but if we confess our sins, God in Christ “is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I Jn. 1:9).