The Call of Abraham - Howard Taylor.

Christ at heart and centre of human history.
- However process begins 2000 years earlier.
- God's call to Abraham and descendants and His promise to him.
Into what kind of world did God's Call and Promise come?
Last weeks,
- Cain and Abel - Violent Crime.
- Noah - whole earth filled with violence.
- Babel: Rise and Power of overbearing Nation State.
Into this situation, God intervenes in Grace and Mercy t - redeem the world from evil.
Story of Redemption begins here in Gen 12.
- Process in all history till end of time.
Focussed on Son of God,
- Birth, life, death, and Resurrection.
- Spans all of history.
Let us read the beginning here.
Gen 12:1Now the Lord said t - Abram, “G - from your country and your kindred and your father's house t - the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, s - that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those wh - bless you, and him wh - dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Five times: I will …
Esp 2.
1. I will bless youi and your descendants.
2. Through you I will bless the world.

The most obvious way: The Bible.
- Countries whose cultures have been deeply infused by the Biblical faith have stood out for their
- freedom of thought,
- scientific development,
- beautiful art and music,
- unconditional humanitarian concern and democratic principles.
For example an important conclusion of the highly acclaimed: Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 by Charles Murray (HarperCollins, 2003).
Interestingly, not until the end of his research - just a few months before finishing the book, did he reach that conclusion It was a conclusion he didn't expect but he found that the evidence forced him to adopt it.
90% of Bible written by descendants of Ab.
Jesus and His disciples all descendants of Ab.
Bible is dominated by figure of Almighty God who is living and active.
- He is Eternal Love and Light.
- He calls to us and expects and answer.
- He tells us the purpose of life on earth.
- We are accountable to Him as individuals and nations.
- But not as slaves to Master, but as Children to Father.
- We all need a Saviour and we must trust Him.
This teaching is not only basis of civilisation, it is also the way of Eternal Salvation.
No other basis.
From the line of Ab even material blessings have come.
- Advances in science, medicine, has helped us all.
In the past 20 years the Bible has been removed from our Schools and Society is ignorant.
- This is the ultimate cause of breakdown of social order and family life with increases in crime and ignorance.
- D - not know the purpose of life.
- I will bless you and your descendants.
- Through you I will bless the entire world.
What do we learn?
1. History of the descendants of Ab - different. (More painful and more glorious)
2. They are not God's favourites.
- Chosen for the sake of the rest of us.
- Their history cannot be understood in normal ways of sociology and politics and economics.
- They cannot understand it themselves.
- Only by Faith and the Word of God can we understand it.
- They have tried to be the same - but it does not work.

- Russian Tsars and Stalin and Hitler.
- They are no better or worse than others.
- Good and bad in them like all peoples - but the good and bad seem to be magnified.
- Magnifying mirror.
We see the good and bad together in the Bible story.
- Bad:
- Worship the Golden Calf. King Ahab, Chief Priests, Scribes and Pharisees.
- Crucified.
But also the prophets, and Jesus Himself and the disciples.
In recent centuries: Einstein, Helen Suzmann
- Freud and Marx.

- God's promise to Ab concerned his descendants and a small piece of land. (about one third the size of Scotland: Promised Land.
- Why land?
- God is concerned for all lands. So one land to represent all other lands.
- God is concerned for our home lands.
- Centre of continents.
- In that tiny land: lush green and desert whole world encapsulated in a very small place.
- Chosen not for their sake but for sake of whole world.
- They don't own that land.
- We don't own our countries.
- We are God's stewards.
- If they behave badly: burning their own children like the other nations did - cast out of the land.

Wonderful vision.
- However Abraham's vision tested many times.
- Stretched his faith.
- Wait and wait.
- But God remarkably provided.
Great fulfilment of promise came 2000 years later.
- A young woman - descendent of Ab was told she would have a cold by power of Holy Spirit. Mary.
How did she respond?
54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Apostle Paul tells us that through faith in Christ we are all spiritually descendants of Ab.
Scottish, Chinese, African …
- Worldwide Church of Jesus will represents the spiritual fulfilment of Promise to Ab 'that his descendants would be beyond counting.
- Just as history of physical descendants of Ab is a mystery so is the history of the Church.
Jesus: Wind blows where it will ….
- Do not know where it has come from or where it is going.
Our Christian lives can only be understood in terms of God's purposes for us,
- In many parts of the world Power of state, army education system, media have tried to stamp out the Church.
- But the Church survives and the state crumbles.
Ab went out not knowing what lay ahead but trusted Him as faithful and through many trials and failings reached the Promised Land.
- We too do not know the days ahead for our lives, nor our nation or world.
We do not know what tomorrow will bring. For many of us.
We must be found faithful and trusting that One Man Jesus Christ, descendent of Ab and Son of Almighty God.

Genesis 12:1ff

The Call of Abraham.