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.” [genesis 12:1-3]
“…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
what a promise! what a seemingly impossible to fulfill promise!! what an over-the-top, sounds like i have heard this before case of: promising more than one can deliver!!!
this is what we do to impress, to be liked, to make alliances, to make loud people go away, and on and on. we over promise and under deliver.
God never does this.
he also does not under promise and over deliver.
he simply calls forth things that are not and makes them happen. this is making a promise and keeping that promise.
the promise here, God would bless every nation through abram (that is the meaning of “the families of the earth”).
the blessing here, God would restore his presence through his Spirit to all who would trust their soul (their sinful soul) to his redeeming work.
this blessing would come through abram’s line and would physically come through the messiah, the promised one – Jesus, the son of God.
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection would provide a way for this blessing of God’s presence to come to all who faith his person and work. sin removed by Jesus – Holy Spirit comes into dwell, in me, in you. Father keeps his promise.
this is how the blessing came from abram to you!
what a promise, what a crazy promise, what an amazing promise keeping God!
today, ask further to trust, to faith our God who has worked the blessing of his promise through all of time to live in you today. the bible is all about one thing – God revealing himself and his passionate redemptive plan to restore his presence in those he created.
today, beg for more trust, more faith in Jesus and his work – he has proved himself trustworthy!
~ john ryan