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The Promised One | The Promised Son

December 7, 2025
Genesis 12:1-4

¹Now 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. ²And 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. ³I 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.” 

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

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Purpose

To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst

To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships

To participate in God’s mission to the world

Opening Prayer

Responsive Prayer — Isaiah 11

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

    the Spirit of counsel and might,

    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

   and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

Summary

We are continuing our sermon series titled The Promised One looking at how Jesus fulfills the promises made to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and David. This week’s passage marks a turning point in the story of the Bible thus far. What we see in the first 11 chapters of Genesis is a slow, steady, shocking spread of sin from its origin in the Garden of Eden. Five times in those few chapters God pronounces his curse upon sin and sinners. But now God begins the process of re-creating for himself a people by pronouncing blessing on Abram. In place of curse comes blessing; in place of dispersion comes gathering. Genesis 12:1-4 records the call by which Abram (renamed Abraham in Genesis 17) was taken out of the land of his birth into the land of promise — a call which was intended both to try his faith and obedience and also to separate him and set him apart for God and for special service.

The call contains both a precept and a promise. First, a precept: Abram must leave his country, his family ties, and the familiar world he had always known. This tests whether he trusts God more than earthly security and whether he is willing to follow God beyond what he can see. Abram becomes the prototype of all who walk by faith rather than sight, for the gospel call likewise summons believers to forsake the old life, renounce idols, and seek a better country (Hebrews 11:8-16). In Acts 7:2, we are told that the call came when Abram was living in Mesopotamia before living in Haran, but in verse 4 of our passage, we are told that he leaves for the Promised Land from Haran. So there must have been some time between the call and the answer. If God loves us and has mercy in store for us, he will not allow us to take up our rest anywhere short of the Promised Land. Rather, he will persist in his gracious summons until the work he has begun is brought to completion and our souls find their rest in him alone.

With this precept comes an overflowing series of promises: God will make Abram a great nation, bless him, magnify his name, make him a blessing, protect him from enemies, and — in the crowning promise — bless all the families of the earth through him. This last promise points unmistakably to the Messiah, the true Offspring of Abraham (Galatians 3:8, 14-16), through whom salvation extends to all nations.

Abram obeyed the call, even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). At 75 years old, by the time most men have settled into stability, Abram willingly uproots his life because he trusts the God who calls. His obedience exemplifies the nature of true saving faith as resting on God’s promises and acting upon God’s Word, even when the outcome is unseen (Westminster Confession of Faith 14.2). Abram’s journey is not one of heroic self-initiative but humble submission. He moves forward not because he knows the land but because he knows the Lord. The story of Abram ultimately directs us beyond Abram himself. Jesus Christ is the true and better Abram. He not only left one land for another; he left the glory of heaven for the poverty of earth (Philippians 2:6-8). He bore the curse of the law so that the blessing promised to Abraham might come to Jew and Gentile alike (Galatians 3:13-14). While Abram received a great name, Christ received the name above every name, and those united to him share in that name.

Discussion Questions

1. Looking at the Bible

• From the passage, share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you.

2. Looking at Jesus

• Read Galatians 3:16. God promises Abram that through his offspring the world will be blessed. How does Paul interpret this promise as pointing specifically to Christ? What difference does it make for our faith that Jesus is the true Seed of Abraham?

3. Looking at Our Hearts

• Old Testament scholar Iain Duguid once mentioned he received a letter congratulating him on winning $25 million. “I threw the letter straight into the bin. Some things are just too good to be true. Some promises are too far-fetched for a skeptic like me to believe.” We often doubt big promises unless we can see every detail first. Discuss in what ways we might struggle to trust God’s promises.
• Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” How might we have reacted to God’s command to go? Where does God command us to go today?

4. Looking at Our World

• God promises that all the families of the earth will be blessed through Abram. How does this promise anticipate Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)?
• How does this reshape the way we see the Church’s global calling today?

Prayer

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