sermon slide deck: "the promise of christmas blessing" (genesis 12:1-4)
TRANSCRIPT
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham.”~ The Gospel of Matthew 1:1
It may be said without exaggeration that not only the rest of the Old Testament but
the whole of the New Testament are an outworking of these promises of God.
”~ John Stott in
Understanding the Bible
“
1The Rebellion: Genesis 32The Corruption: Genesis 6
The Background Story
3
The Creation: Genesis 1-2
1The Rebellion: Genesis 32The Corruption: Genesis 6
The Background Story
3The Scattering: Genesis 114
The Creation: Genesis 1-2
“Genesis 1-11 poses a cosmic question
to which God must provide a cosmic answer…
What can God do next?”
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go
Genesis 12:1
from your country and your kindredand your father’s house to the landthat I will show you….”
“And I will make of you a great
Genesis 12:2
great nation, and I will bless youand make your name great, so thatyou will be a blessing….
“I will bless those who bless you,
Genesis 12:3
and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families ofthe earth will be blessed.”
“What can God do next? Something that only God
could have thought of. He sees an elderly, childless couple in the land of Babel and decides to make them
the fountainhead, the launch pad of his whole mission of cosmic redemption…
“The call of Abraham is the beginning of God’s
answer to the evil of human hearts, the strife of the
nations and the groaning brokenness of his whole creation. A new world,
ultimately a new creation, begins in this text.”
“…through your offspring all nations on earth
will be blessed.”
~ God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:18
“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to
Abraham saying, “In you shall all the nations be
blessed.” ~ The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:8
“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his
offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings’ referring
to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,”
who is Christ….”~ The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:16
“”
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
nations….
~ The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:13-14
image: Christopher Brown
You are the sons…of the covenant that God
made with your fathers, saying to Abraham,
“And in you shall all the families of the earth be
blessed.” ~ The Apostle Peter
in Acts 3:25-26
God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your
wickedness.
~ The Apostle Peter in Acts 3:25-26
So Abram went, as the Lord had
Genesis 12:4
told him, and Lot with him. Abramwas seventy-five years old when hedeparted from Haran….
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham.”~ The Gospel of Matthew 1:1
Creation Rebellion Redemption Restoration
The “Four Chapter” Gospel
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
1st Advent 2nd Advent
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy
are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by
your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe
and language and people and nation…”
~ The Apostle John in Revelation 5:9
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude
that no one could number, from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb…crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to
our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
~ The Apostle John in Revelation 7:9-10
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the
promise.”
~ The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:29
Joy to the world the Lord is come Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing
No more let sins and sorrows grownor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make his blessings flowfar as the curse if found
May you relish deeply the fact that Jesus did not come to start a new religion,
but to fulfill an old promise.
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