The Promise
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story. We’re walking through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1, to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today’s text brings us to the story of Abram and Sarai, also known as Abraham and Sarah. It’s a story about God’s patience, and human impatience. It’s a story about God’s faithfulness, and human unfaithfulness. It’s a story about you and me...It’s a story about you and me, because sometimes we’re impatient with the Lord, sometimes we’re unfaithful to the Lord...Sometimes it’s our impatience that drives our unfaithfulness! We don’t like waiting for God to answer our prayers or to fulfill his biblical promises, and if he takes too long we’ll start taking matters into our own hands. If he takes too long to fix our marriages, our families, our job situation...If he takes too long to fix our house search, our finances, our loneliness...If he takes too long to fix whatever we’re going through, if he takes too long to answer our prayers, we’ll take matters into our own hands. We’ll try being our own saviors, instead of trusting and relying on God as our Savior.
In fact this might be why some of you are skeptics and walked away from God. It’s because you prayed for God to help with something and he didn’t do it. He didn’t fix things in your timing, in your way, so you walked away. It happens to Christians too. Sometimes we’re impatient with the Lord when he doesn’t answer our prayers or fulfill his biblical promises when and how we want it. Sometimes we’ll shake our fists at the Lord and run off trying to be our own saviors. This is the story of Abram and Sarai. It’s a story about God’s patience and faithfulness, despite their impatience and unfaithfulness. It’s a story about you and me, so let’s turn to Genesis 16 and get into it. You’ll find Genesis in the very front of the bible, and we’ll start in Genesis 16:1-6. Title of today’s message is The Promise, and here’s the big idea. Our unfaithfulness, doesn’t change God’s faithfulness...Our unfaithfulness, doesn’t change God’s faithfulness...
Context:
Here’s your context. Last week we studied ch 11 where we learned about the story of the Tower of Babel. We learned new nations and languages started forming several decades after the survivors in Noah’s ark started populating the earth again. Well several more decades have now passed, Abram comes from the lineage of Noah’s son Shem, he eventually gets married to Sarai, and God makes Abram a promise. He promises to make a great nation out of Abram that’ll be a blessing to many. Abram rejoices because at this point he doesn’t have any children to carry on his family name, but he also gets impatient...He gets impatient, becomes unfaithful, and sins by giving his wife to an Egyptian King to save his own life. But God remembers the promise, he rescues Abram’s wife before marrying the king, and the rest of ch’s 12-15 consist of God growing Abram’s faith, and reminding him of the promise. Let’s check out what happens next.
The Word:
Genesis 16:1-6 states, “Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, ‘Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.’” Okay so what’s happening is God promised to make a great nation out of Abram. He promised to give Abram and Sarai a baby, but for whatever reason Sarai can’t conceive. I want to be sensitive to this, because I’ve known a lot of people who’ve struggled to conceive kids, and it can be a very painful thing to go through. So we need to be careful not to assume every detail in this story applies to every person who can’t conceive, because that isn’t the case. There’s some things that are very unique to Abram and Sarai’s story, such as God promising to make a great nation out of them by giving them a baby. That was a unique promise given to them at that point in history.
But at the same time there’s some things about their story that are transferable to us, such as trying to be our own saviors instead of trusting God as our savior in difficult times. This is a difficult time for Abram and Sarai, and Sarai gets impatient with God, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She decides to be the savior, instead of trusting in the savior. She basically says, “God you’re not providing, so I’ll provide for myself. I’ll build a family for myself and Abram through Hagar.” Doing this reveals an idol in her heart. It reveals what she’s really wanting in life, which is a baby. There’s nothing wrong with her wanting a baby, the issue is she thinks having a baby will fill the joy void in her heart. She thinks having a baby will give her status in a culture that views childbearing with great significance. When you build your life and identity on something, it’ll become your god, it’ll become your savior. You’ll think it can fill the joy void in your heart instead of God. Sarai was building her life and identity on having a baby. She became impatient with God, she decided to be her own savior, and it revealed the true god she was pursuing. It revealed the true God she was worshiping in her heart, which was a baby.
Again vs. 2, “Sarai said to Abram, ‘Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.’ And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.” So Abram’s a part of the problem too! He consents to playing the savior role too! Both Abram and Sarai decide to be their own saviors, they decide to try saving themselves with their own works, instead of with God’s grace. Both are sinning by not trusting the promise God gave them, and by treating Hagar as a piece of property, which leads to all kinds of issues.
Vs. 3, “So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her.” The Hebrew word for “contemptible” can also be translated as “despise.” Hagar’s despising Sarai, looking down at Sarai, rubbing it in Sarai’s face that she was able to give Abram a child, but Sarai couldn’t. Hagar’s sin is that she’s attempting to oppress the oppressor, since she’s now elevated to a societal status of wife and mother.
Vs. 5, “Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.’” This is starting to turn into a Jerry Springer show! I mean can’t you see Abram sitting on the Jerry Springer show being like “I don’t get it! She asked me to sleep with Hagar so I did. Why’s she so angry?” Abram has to be confused by this. I mean I’ve been married to my wife for over 18 yrs, and I still get confused over far less complicated situations! One time when my wife was pregnant she said, “Hey honey I’m going to the store. You want to come?” Now I’m thinking that’s an option. She asked a question, that question has options, I can either go or not go. So I told her I wanted to stay home and she’s like, “Well fine! Fine then! You just stay home.” I was so confused...I look at my 85 lb Doberman and he’s like “I’m not messing with a pregnant lady,” and he took off running...So I said “Andrea I don’t get it. You asked me a question and that question had options. If you really wanted me to go just say it and I’ll go.” To which she replied, “It’s not about that.” So what’s it about! “I want you to want to go.”...Oh come on!...After doing some emotional decoding I realized it wasn’t about the store, it was about her wanting to spend time with me. It’s all so very confusing...And you know Abram’s confused over how Sarai’s responding, because this was her idea to begin with!
But you know what isn’t confusing? It’s that sin is wrecking their relationship...Sin is wrecking their relationship, it’s wrecking their lives and Hagar’s life...Sin always wrecks our relationships, our lives, and the lives of those around us. What’s interesting is we’re seeing the same pattern of sin in the Garden of Eden happening here. Just like Adam and Eve sinned, they blamed others for their sin, and their relationship became separated by their sin. Abram and Sarai sinned, Sarai’s blaming Abram for their sin, and their relationship is becoming separated by their sin. She says let the Lord judge between me and you. So instead of repenting for her own sin, she wants justice against Abram for his sin. It’s the same pattern of sin in the Garden of Eden, and it’s the same pattern of sin in our lives. Sin always creates a separation in our relationships. It always wrecks our relationships, our lives, and the lives of those around us. It’s wrecking the lives of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar...and things are about to get worse, before they get better.
Vs. 6, “Abram replied to Sarai, ‘Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.’ Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.” The Hebrew word for ‘mistreated’ means ‘affliction’ or ‘violence.’ Sarai’s now afflicting painful violence on Hagar. She’s beating Hagar to the point where Hagar runs away. But in the rest of ch 16 we learn God steps in to save Hagar, she gives birth to a son, and names him Ishmael which means God hears. It’s because God hears her cries for help, he rescues her and Ishmael from this affliction, and he releases them from this mess giving them their freedom. God takes Hagar’s affliction, and turns it into her freedom and salvation. As biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann put it, “God hasn’t exclusively committed himself to Abraham and Sarah. God’s concern isn’t confined to the elect line. God also has a passion and concern for the troubled ones standing outside that line.” This is great for Hagar and Ishmael, but we still have a problem. The problem is that Ishmael isn’t the promised child. God never promised Abram and Hagar they’d have a child, he promised Abram and Sarai they’d have a child. If God goes back on his promise it means he’s just as unfaithful as the rest of us. But instead of going back on his promise, he remains faithful to his promise.
Genesis 17:1 states, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old…” So Abram’s now 99 and Sarai’s around 90 yrs old, showing us once again that it’s going to take a miracle for them to have a baby. They can’t force it to happen, they can’t try being their own saviors like they did in the past. Instead they need God to be their savior, they need God to do a miracle for them to have a baby, so the promise will be fulfilled. But what’s so hard about this part of the text, is that it’s now 25 yrs after God made that promise to them. They’ve been waiting over 25 yrs for God to fulfill this promise! I have a hard enough time waiting 25 seconds, so I can’t imagine waiting 25 yrs for something like this. I’d be struggling with patience too if I were them!...and some of you are there...Some of you are in a season of waiting, and you’re struggling with patience, you’re struggling with trusting the Lord...You want to have kids, but you’re left waiting...You want to get married, but you’re still single. You’re left waiting...You want a new career, but you’re still at the same job. You’re left waiting...Waiting is hard...Waiting is a very hard thing to do...
Now I don’t know why God’s making you wait, but what I do know is God has good reasons for making Abram and Sarai wait. One of those reasons is because they’re not ready yet. I mean the things God is going to ask Abram to do especially in ch 22 aren’t easy. So God has to grow their faith to handle the promise God’s giving them. For example there’s a lot of joy that comes with driving a car, but that doesn’t mean I hand my 10 yr old the keys. Why? It’s because he isn’t ready for it yet. As a loving father I have to grow him to handle the blessing of a car. If I give him the keys now it’ll be a tragedy not a blessing...So God being our loving parent, will sometimes say not yet, but later. In fact God answers prayers in 1 of 3 ways. It’s yes, no, not yet but later. Sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no, sometimes he says not yet but later...and since he’s a loving parent, it means he has good reasons for each of those responses. For 25 yrs God told Abram to wait, and based on the decisions he was making earlier, it appears God had good reasons for it. But after all these years, God never forgets his promise.
Vs. 19, “God says, ‘Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.” So God makes a ‘permanent covenant’ that’ll last for ‘future offspring,’ which is incredible! The fact that God’s willing to make a permanent covenant, a permanent commitment for future generations is incredible! I mean God doesn’t owe Abram or us anything because of our sinful impatience and unfaithfulness. Yet out of love he makes a permanent covenant with Abram and us. He puts his name and reputation on the line with this covenant, because if it isn’t true, if the promise doesn’t happen, it means he’s a liar and isn’t worthy to be worshiped. But if it does happen it means God is trustworthy and worthy to be worshiped. So the question we need to ask is did it happen? Did this 4,000 yr old promise, this 4,000 yr old covenant come true?...Yes it did...Yes it did come true, because if it didn’t, then why are we still talking about Abram over 4,000 yrs later?...If it didn’t happen, then why are there over 2 billion Christians in the world who trace their lineage back to this very promise?...The reason we’re still talking about Abram, the reason there’s over 2 billion Christians who trace their lineage back to Abram, is because God promised he’d make a great nation out of Abram that’ll be a blessing to many, and he kept that promise through Jesus. Jesus is the greater Abram, the greater Isaac, who eventually comes from Abram’s lineage to fulfill the permanentcovenant. It’s through his life, death, and resurrection that we’re eternally forgiven, eternally saved, eternally a part of God’s family. If you’re a Christian you’re living proof of a 4,000 yr old permanent covenant and promise God made and kept with Abram. You’re living proof that God remains patient and faithful, despite our impatience and unfaithfulness.
So what’s the story of Abram and Sarai really about?...What’s the story of the bible really about?...Many people think the bible’s about a bunch of stories on how to live a good moral life. They think if you live a good moral life God will bless you. But this story proves the bible’s about so much more! It proves the bible’s a record of God’s patience, God’s faithfulness, and God’s grace intervening in the lives of an impatient, unfaithful, undeserving humanity. God remains patient, he remains faithful to Abram, Sarai, Hagar, and even to us today. The hero of the story is always God, it’s always Jesus, because he’s the one who keeps his promises. He’s the one who can eternally save us, even when we don’t deserve saving. He’ll sometimes make us wait for the fulfillment of his promises, but in the end, he’ll make sure it’s worth the wait.
The Big Idea:
The big idea is our unfaithfulness, doesn’t change God’s faithfulness....Just as God was faithful to keep his promises to Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, he’ll keep his promises to us. That doesn’t mean he’ll answer all our prayers the way we want or that we’ll see all his promises get fulfilled in our lifetime. Abram never got to see the full extent of the promise, he never got to see the blessing of his family lineage extending to us. So sometimes we’ll pray and not get what we want in this lifetime. Sometimes we won’t give birth, sometimes we won’t be healed, sometimes we won’t get the job, sometimes life won’t turn out the way we want. God never promises it all work out in this life, instead he promises it all work out in the end of this life, when we enter into eternal life. For those who put their faith and trust in Jesus, he promises through the cross...
City Awakening he’s coming back! Jesus is coming back, and if you trust him in the waiting, he’ll make sure it’s worth the wait. He’ll make sure he wipes away every tear from your eyes...He’ll wipe away your tears from waiting...your tears from marital issues like Abram and Sarai...your tears from injustice issues like Hagar...your tears from depression...tears from health and mental health issues...tears from sin...tears from death...In Revelation 21 he promises to wipe away every tear from your eyes, and your impatience and unfaithfulness can’t ever change his faithfulness in fulfilling that. Jesus will remember his promises, and fulfill them. 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For every one of God’s promises is ‘Yes’ in him. Therefore through him, we say ‘Amen.’”
· He’ll Reconciles Us | Eph 2:13-16
· He’ll Justifies Us | Rom 5:9
· He’ll Sanctifies Us | Heb 10:29
· He’ll Redeems Us | Rom 3:24-25
· He’ll Gives Us Victory | Rev 12:11
· He’ll Gives Us Eternal Life | John 6:53-56
· He’ll Gives Us Everlasting Righteousness | Dan 9:24
· He Rose Again From The Dead to prove it’s all true | Luke 24
· He’s Alive and Well | Mark 16:11
· He’s Taking Us To Heaven | John 14:3
· He’s Coming Back In Power and Glory | Matt 24:30
· And He’ll Wipe Away Every Tear From Our Eyes| Rev 21:4