Man with a plan
The Old Testament is essentially a story about a family – the family of a man named Abraham who lived about 2000 years before Jesus and he is introduced in Genesis 11. We don’t know how early this is in the history of the world but in the Biblical account it’s pretty early.
In Genesis 12 God reveals to Abraham a plan – a plan he has for Abraham which is actually a plan for the whole world! The plan is introduced in Genesis 12.
Genesis 12:1–7 (NIV) — 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Here are the bullet points for God’s plan:
• Abraham will become a great nation
• Abraham’s name will be great
• Those who bless Abraham will be blessed; those who curse him will be cursed
• The land of Canaan will be given to his offspring
• All the peoples of the earth will be blessed
The rest of the OT is the unfolding of this plan which will eventually find its fulfillment in Christ. The apostle Paul makes that point when he writes to the Christian churches in Galatia:
Galatians 3:8 (NIV) — 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
Galatians 3:16 (NIV) — 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.
Let’s take a look at this plan and learn a little more about God
God initiates the plan
• There is no plan without God.
• Up to this point in Genesis it has been an absolute disaster
• Adam and Eve in their search for knowledge disobey God and bring sin into the world which has affected every human being who has ever lived
• The next significant event is the Flood. Mankind in pursuit of pleasure mankind has given themselves over to evil except for this one man Noah. God gives us a second chance.
• Then we have the Tower of Babel. Mankind in his search for success and significance builds this tower to heaven and that ends up in total confusion.
Every plan of mankind has ended up in disaster. That’s when God steps in.
The plan is vague in many ways
• Land I will show you – what land?
• How is Abraham going to be a nation – no children?
• How about a timeline – when will this happen?
God offers no PowerPoint presentation, no charts and timelines, no business plan, no short term or long term goals. God is not always good about giving details
John Ortberg in his Book All the Places to Go – “God is notoriously fuzzy about details like that. Knowing too many details would take all the excitement out of the adventure.”
My all-time favorite movie is Field of Dreams. The movie's plot centers around three mysterious phrases from this mysterious voice that come to Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella:
• If you build it and he will come
• Ease his pain
• Go the distance
Ray has no idea exactly what these mean, but he follows the voice and his intuition and in the end the voice accomplishes its purpose
God doesn’t reveal all the plan – why, I don’t know.
The son, Jesus, is not unlike his father. Look at this conversation he has with the apostles:
Acts 1:4–8 (NIV) — 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We need to obey what we know and be content with not knowing all the details.
The plan requires faith
Since we don’t have all the details, God’s plan requires faith. Abraham’s faith in spite of limited knowledge is featured by the Hebrews author as a paradigm of faith:
Hebrews 11:8 (NIV) — 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
The apostle Paul would describe his own life with these words:
2 Corinthians 5:7 (CSB) — 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
We just keep doing what is right believing that God has a plan, believing that God is at work, believing in the Providence of God
One of my mom’s favorite verses:
Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV) — 29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
There are some mysteries about this life of faith, but that does not preclude us from obeying what we do know.
"Corrie" ten Boom is best known for her book The Hiding Place where she recounts her and her families hiding of Jews during the horrors of the holocaust. They were ultimately caught, arrested and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. She is quoted as saying:
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
In the weeks to come we are going to follow this story. It’s a great story. And even though we are not biologically a descendant of Abraham Paul believes that really doesn’t make a difference.
The plan may be vague and require faith but it is God’s plan and his plans always succeed. Your plan is not going to work.
• Ask Adam and Eve. Ask the people of Noah’s day. Ask the builders of the Tower of Babel.
• Only a life of faith, as vague and challenging and risky as it may seem, will lead to life
• If you’re not a person of faith – I plead with you to put your faith in God – the God who has a plan
• If you are a person of faith – even when things don’t make sense, keep following him and one day your faith will be sight.
