Genesis 12:1-4

The Promise ofChristmas Blessing

The Hopes & Fears of All the Years

New City Church of CalgaryAdvent 2016

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of

Abraham.”~ The Gospel of Matthew 1:1

Long before the person of Jesus arrived on the scene,

there was the promise of Jesus.

Genesis 12:1-4

The Promise ofChristmas Blessing

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

“

1

The Background Story

The Creation: Genesis 1-2

1The Rebellion: Genesis 32

The Background Story

The Creation: Genesis 1-2

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.”

Genesis 1-11 “curse / cursed” = 5x

Genesis 12 :1-3 “bless / blessing” = 5x

“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

Jesus did not come to start a new religion,

but to fulfill an old promise.

Rejoice that God keeps

his promises.

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

Remember, we have been swept up

in the promise of Christmas.

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the

promise.”

~ The Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:29

I am blessed to be a blessing.

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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