‘Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible’, from London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is a series of fifty emails designed to look at the main milestones of the biblical story, seeking to show how whole-life discipleship is woven through Scripture as a whole, from beginning to end. Here is the ninth of the fifty emails.
The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’
Genesis 12:1-3
The downward spiral of rebellion in Genesis 3-11 is thankfully shot through with moments of God’s mercy – in promising the destruction of the serpent, in providing coverings for Adam and Eve, in giving Cain a protective mark, in saving Noah and his family, in reaffirming his blessing on creation and humanity after the flood. Even against the backdrop of the building of Babel by those who want to ‘make a name’ for themselves, judgment is not the last word: God does not reject the nations, but chooses one family for the sake of the nations, to bring blessing to the nations.
That God does not leave us to our own devices is seen in the promise to Abraham, a threefold promise of restoration – land, descendants, and blessing. The guarantee of ‘people’ and ‘land’ shows the inseparability of who we are from where we find ourselves, both still crucial to human identity; but the assurance of a large family and a place for them to live is not the ultimate restoration. God’s purpose (ratified in chapter 15, marked with the sign of circumcision in chapter 17, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob in the narratives that follow) is to mediate blessing to all nations, restoring humanity to its original purpose.
Thus begins the first episode in a long story, rooted in a people and a place, in which God progressively works out his plan of restoration. And it will become clear as the story unfolds that all of human life, even creation itself, are included in its scope. God’s promises to Abraham may be read in conjunction with Genesis 1 – as a re-affirmation of his blessing on men and women and the whole earth.
Covenants made between God and his people serve as major milestones in the biblical account. But the key that unifies them, and which undergirds this one with Abraham, is the principle of promise. As Paul notes in Galatians 3:29: ‘If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise…’
An inexpensive wineglass cracks and is thrown away. A rare vase breaks and is rebuilt, piece by piece, with precision and care, perhaps over a long period of time, until it’s made whole again. Some broken things are restored because they’re precious, because they’re loved.
God remains, to this day, in the restoration business.
For further reflection and action:
1. From what you can recall of the stories that follow in Genesis, spend some time reflecting on how the promises appear to be threatened by all sorts of factors… except that God remains faithful, preserving the seed, working for good even while others intend evil.
2. Follow up some references to Abraham in the New Testament (e.g., Galatians 3:15-18; Romans 4:13-16; Hebrews 11:8-19). How are God’s promises to Abraham ultimately fulfilled?
3. Think of ‘broken’ people and situations – in our own lives and the lives of others, in families, in churches, in workplaces, in countries across the world – and ask that the God who will one day ‘bring all things in heaven and on earth together’ (Ephesians 1:10) will provide a foretaste of that restoration to those in need.
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