God's Big Plan For Abraham & His Kids

I am stirred lately to concentrate on passing the torch to the next generation, maybe because I am getting older, I don't know.  But I can't seem to get away from it.  Tonight's article is another in this series and I hope to preach some messages about this soon.  

When God thought about Abraham, He had big plans, recorded in several places in Genesis.  I want to look at just one tonight. 

In Gen.18:19 we read, "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and righteousness, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what HE has spoken to him."  This rendition is the NKJV

 This statement occurs as God contemplates the judgment of Sodom.  God appears unwilling to perform such a thing without talking to HIS friend, Abraham.  Verse 19 gives us as much of the reason why God felt this way as we are going to discover.  It reads slightly differently in other translations (partucilarly the 1st phrase) & I will quote them here in order for us to pick up the meaning.

NIV says,"For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children..."

NASB says the same.

The Message says, "Yes, I have settled on him as the one to train his children..."

All of these suggest not that God chose Abraham because he would train His children in God's way.  NO NO!  God wanted to share all His blessing with Abraham and would PUT INTO Abraham the grace to order his children after the things of God.  Then God would bring all the blessing HE promised to Abraham and his family - particularly his seed.  

What is the impact of all of this?  God has always intended that Abraham would pass on to his children the righteousness, the justice, and the pathway of the Lord!  This was central to all God intended for Abraham & the rest of mankind for that matter.  

I wonder if we realize what this means?  The greart Gospel call that comes to us is to be shared & PASSED ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION!  Beginning with our families, We believers are to be consumed with making sure that our kids and anyone else who will listen to us, are following hard after God!  

One might say that to be 'in sinc' with the Lord, believers MUST be occuppied with the spirtual welfare of those around us who are younger, particularly our children.  As a family and as a church, our hearts are to be filled with faith & concern about those coming after us.  When we became parants, the prayer of my wife & I has always been, may our children SURPASS US as Christians.

And the amazing thing is that God who put this grace into Abraham will also put it into us.  An unseen ability as well as burden forms in the hearts of Christian parents about their children.  One has to work hard at serving the flesh in order to silence that voice from God that says, "Raise them for ME!"  

To understand God's intentions more fully, remember the blessing of God on Abraham when it was 1st given him.  Gen.12:1-3 "Now the Lord said to Abram, Go forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to a land I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

This has become famously known as Abraham's blessing.  Now I want you to see 2 things.

1) If all the families of the earth are to blessed in Abraham, then it obviously follows that God would grant Abe a grace to PASS ON TO HIS CHILDREN, the way of the Lord & the knowledge of the Lord (righteousness & justice).   This PASSING ON was the practical way that God would accomplish this amazing blessing - this Gospel blessing - this way of salvation so that we would all benefit from the faith of Abraham.

2) I am not crazy.  This isn't just preacher's hype or musings and guesses.  Hear the Word of the Lord in the New Testament.  Gal.3:13-14, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree' - in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith."  We and our children continue to experience the same Gospel blessing when we PASS ON TO THEM, the things we have seen & heard from God.  This is actually how it happens.

And so, the biggest part of Abraham's Gospel blessing is that it CONTINUES FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER!  I am not only saved & a recipient of the Holy Spirit, I am called & graced         (or motivated & burdened) to reach for my children + others who are coming to Jesus after me.  FIRST my children & then others who are younger.

THIS IS WHY FAITH FELLOWSHIP NEEDS TO BE ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS = which is passing the torch to the next generation.  It must be part of our DNA.  In fact, it is!  God has designed us in this way.  Every family, every single person, every member, every leader, anyone who calls FF their home, hear me.  God has called us to 'pass the baton' to the next generation.  It is our very life blood.  This is not done to earn some special love of God.  This is done because God has bestowed on us His special love (the same love and blesssing of Abraham) & that love moves us to do all we can to ensure our children will receive Christ to the full!  

There you have it!  O God, grace us with this vision, this burden, this motivation, this love, this view point.  Fill us so that all our young people can see genuinely filled believers loving & living for the Lord!  Look out devil, if we catch this vision.  I know we will.  How do I know?  It is the vision of Almighty God & HE has said in His Word that the Holy Spirit would be given to us to declare to us all that Jesus has been given.  Remember HIm with the children?  Perhaps the most beatiful of all Bible pictures.

Come on my friends, let's get these Gospel engines revved up!  And we like Abraham, will be commanded, chosen, known, & settled on by God to raise our families after us in God's way, in His righteousness, & His justice.  In other words, our little ones will also walk in the faith of the Lord Jesus.  And when they do, they will declare the Word of the Lord to their children, & the blessing of Abraham will continue to all the families of the earth, just as God promised so long ago.  Hallelujah!!!  Jesus keep you strong.