Below is the message that I gave at my church's Bible Conference. It's not the final version that I spoke from, but it's very similar. This version is a bit longer and has more content, so I decided to post this one. I hope you enjoy.
Hello, and welcome to the 2015 Summer Bible Conference! The title of the conference is “The Kingdom of God is at Hand”. We will be hearing from eight messengers about the Kingdom of God, seven of whom are older and much more qualified than me. I have a question for all of you; what do you want from your life? If that is way too much to think about at the beginning of the conference, let me ask you this- what do you want from this conference? I know many of you who go to school are on summer break right now. You could be hanging out somewhere, having the time of your life. But you’re here. Why? Or maybe you are like me, and you had to take time off work to attend this conference. Why are you here? Some of you even came from far away. What are you expecting from this conference? I must admit, sometimes my expectations for summer conferences are pretty low. I think it’ll just be another UBF conference that is the same as all the others. However, let’s raise our expectations and let’s anticipate the Kingdom of God in this place. “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” Today we’re going to learn about Abram, and how he had no expectations for his life. We will see how Abram learns to trust in the Lord, and to believe in God’s covenant with him. We’ll see how God raises Abram’s expectations for his life, and how God expands his vision for his future. Tonight I pray that we can learn how to trust in God and to enter into a covenant relationship with Him. Let’s read the key verses, verses 5 and 6. “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then He said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
Today we will talk about the beginning of the Kingdom of God, through a man named Abram. Who is Abram? Abram, later known as Abraham, is commonly known as the “Father of Faith”. Perhaps you even know the song. “Father Abraham, had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham.” He was the father of the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, through his faith in God’s covenant which we will learn about today. He is also considered the “Father of Faith” to all those who have faith in God, even up to today. As the song says, “I am one of them, and so are you, so let’s all praise the Lord”. Do you know who Abram was before this though? Nobody! He was just some dude who lived in someplace called the Ur of the Chaldeans. No one paid any special attention to him. However, this all changed in Genesis 12 when a very significant person notices him, God. God tells Abram to leave his hometown and to go to another land, and makes a promise with him- “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 12:2-3).” Abram leaves with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot to obey God’s command to him.
Let’s now read verse 1 together. “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” God’s first words to Abram are “do not be afraid”. Why would Abram be afraid? The key is the phrase “after this”. Before the events of chapter 15, Abram had separated from Lot, who was the closest thing that Abram had to a son. After that, Abram had to go to war against powerful nations to save Lot from captivity. Abram was now a high profile target, since he defeated four entire nations. He feared that the nations he defeated could rally against him, and easily defeat him. So how does God comfort Abram? We read in verse 1 that “the word of the Lord came to Abram”. When Abram’s life was hitting a low point, God comes to Abram in a vision. God tells him two things; “I am your shield, and I am your very great reward”. God first claims that He is Abram’s shield. Abram didn’t need to fear the kings rallying against him, because God would be his shield. Abram also lost some of the spoils of war. He refused to take anything from Sodom, because it was not God’s will. He also gave a tenth of what he had to God. After rescuing Lot, Lot does not come to live with Abram. Abram might have thought that he lost a lot (pun intended), but God says that He is Abram’s very great reward. God not only provided Abram with many rewards, such as the victory in the war, God Himself was Abram’s reward. God’s claims do not only apply to Abram. They also apply to us. If God is our shield, whom shall we fear? “If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)”? If God is our reward, what do we lack? “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing (Psalm 23:1)”. God is our comfort in our times of fear, and He is our portion when we are lacking. When you are fearful, remember God’s words to Abram, “I am your shield, your very great reward”.
Read verses 2 and 3 together with me. “But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’” God just told Abram that He is Abram’s shield and reward. These words from God should have alleviated Abram’s fears and doubts. However, in verses 2 and 3, Abram is still not comforted. Abram remembered God’s promise in Genesis 12- “I will make you into a great nation”. Abram thought that the fulfillment of this promise was only possible if he had a son. When Abram saw that he was not able to have a son, he despaired because he was getting older. Abram probably thought that it was impossible for him to have a son at this point in his life since his wife Sarai was barren for so long. He thought that God’s promise would go to his servant Eliezer rather than to his own family. Abram had many fears at this point, but the thing that worried him the most was that he had no fruit in his life. He probably wondered if all of the struggles he had gone through in obeying God’s command from Genesis 12 was worth it, because he still remained childless. His life seemed to be stuck in a hopeless situation. If he had no child, how could he believe God’s promise?
There was a time where I felt like my life was hopeless. I shared this in my life testimony some years ago, so please bear with me if you have heard the story before. When I was younger, I had a serious anger problem. I am not kidding when I say that it was so easy to make me angry, because my temper was so short. Other kids would always mess with me, since it was so easy to make me angry. One instance that I remember is when I was in tae-kwon-do. We were playing a game called “dodge the noodle” at the CBF house. Sounds ridiculous, right? The premise is basically the same as dodgeball, but instead of a ball, we used pool noodles. A noodle hit me, and Caleb “Billy” Kim told me to sit down on the sidelines. I got angry, because I didn’t think that I got hit. I sat down and angrily elbowed the door behind me, without even thinking. I left a hole in the bathroom door that they had to cover up. You can still see the spot where I made a hole in the door today.
I told you a funny story, but my anger issues were not always so funny. During a softball tournament, I got angry at myself because I had missed a couple plays that I should have made. I slammed my glove into the ground and walked off to the bench. Augustine, our coach, still put me back into the game, despite my temper-tantrum. After the game, I went up to Andy Chang, our assistant coach, and I asked him why Aug let me play even after what I did. I hated the fact that I was always angry. Like Abram, I would question God, asking why He let me have this temper problem. I would pray many times asking God to rid me of my anger, but it took a long time for God to answer. I felt that I was stuck in a hopeless situation, and that I would never find peace in my life. However, God didn’t let me stay in my hopelessness, and He didn’t let Abram either.
How does God address Abram’s hopelessness? Verse four shows us how God reassures Abram in his hopeless situation. “Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir’”. God knew Abram’s heart. Abram worried that he would never have any children, but God promises Abram that he would have a son of his own flesh. In verse 5, God takes the promise a step further.
Let’s read verse 5 together. “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars - if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘so shall your offspring be.’” I am reminded of a time YDJ went camping together at Elk Neck State Park. I believe it was during the last fall semester. When it got late, everyone started to get ready for bed. Actually, that didn’t happen because we are the young disciples of Jesus, so most of us were awake late into the night. As I was walking around, I saw a couple YDJ members lying on the street. Not the safest place to be, by the way. They were star-gazing. I decided to join them, since I had nothing better to do late at night. As I lay on the street looking into the star-filled night, I had one thought- “What are we doing here?” After a while though, I could see some of the stars in the night sky, even through the pollution. As I lay there, I remember thinking how amazingly small I felt. The night sky was so calm, and so marvelous; the stars were numerous, and they seemed infinite. For a while, I stopped thinking about my life back at home. Just for a moment, I didn’t think about the fact that I had school the next week- amen. I imagine that Abram had a very similar experience. When Abram was inside, all he could think about was his problems and fears. He worried about not having a son, the hostile nations, and the loss of his nephew Lot. God took Abram outside so that he would step away from his problems. God then instructs Abram to look up at the sky and to count the stars. Perhaps he didn’t lie on the ground as I did, but he looked up at the night sky. He probably felt small and insignificant, especially since he could not count the many stars in the sky. As he marveled at the night sky, God said to him, “so shall your offspring be”. What an amazing promise. Who can count the stars? Certainly Abram was not able to.
Do any of you know who Ben Carson is? He is a famous neurosurgeon and author who has published a couple books. His life was not always so good though. When he was a child, his parents divorced. He was raised by a single mom in Detroit, one of the worst cities in the US. She had to take on two or three jobs at a time just to support Ben and his brother. Even with multiple jobs, the family still lived in great poverty. Since his mother was always working, Ben suffered tremendously in school. He was the worst student in his class, and the other students always made fun of him. When his mom saw how badly he was doing in school, she decided to do something about it. She refused to believe that her son was stupid, as the other kids called him, and she didn’t let Ben believe it either. She decided to make Ben and his brother read two library books a week, (after all, they are free), and write book reports. She couldn’t even grade them, because she dropped out of the third grade and couldn’t read, but she would pretend to read the reports and gave them a check mark. Ben hated this, of course, but later he learned to enjoy reading, and he eventually rose to the top of his class. Long story short, he became a very famous neurosurgeon; the first one to successfully separate conjoined twins. He did retire a couple years ago, but do you know what Ben Carson is doing now? He is running to be the next president of the United States!
Before Ben Carson’s mom pushed him to study, he had no hope for his life. He was the bottom of his class, his classmates mocked him, and his teachers saw no promise in him. Despite this, his mom had plans and vision for his life that were so much greater than his own. She refused to let him live a sad and sorry life. Abram, like Ben Carson, had no hope for his life. I call his condition “spiritual near-sightedness”. I am near-sighted, so I am required to wear glasses in order to see properly. If I don’t wear glasses, I can only see what is right in front of me. Literally right in front of me. Remember that all Abram wanted was one son. God took Abram outside and promised him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. What Abram desired was so much smaller than what God had in store for his life. Abram, like me, could only see what was right in front of him. Abram could only focus on the fact that he didn’t have a single child, but God did not promise Abram just one son; He promised to make him into a great nation. Abram only saw the human problems that he had in his life. God wanted Abram to expand his vision to see things from God’s point of view. Abram feared because he did not see any evidence of a son. God took Abram outside to count the stars so that Abram would stop focusing on his small temporary problems and start focusing on God’s eternal promise and hope for his life.
What is Abram’s response to God’s multimedia presentation? Let’s read verse 6. “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” What? How did Abram believe in the Lord? Abram had no child, and no evidence of any kind to support the idea that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars. Romans four tells us that “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness’ (Romans 4:18-21).” Abram was nearly a hundred years old. When is the last time you saw someone who had a child at a hundred years old? I imagine that Abram stood outside, probably counting the stars as God commanded him. He then began to match each star to a descendant. Who knows how far he got, five, ten, twenty, or fifty. Finally he gave up and thought, I simply can’t count all of the stars. Abram gained confidence in God’s promise because he remembered that it was God who put the stars in their place. “If God could make all of the stars in the sky, why can’t he give me descendants as numerous as the stars?” Abram’s fear was now gone because he had faith.
When I think about faith, I often remember this analogy. Imagine that there is a father with his son. Take me and Gabriel for example. The father and son go to the swimming pool. The father gets in the pool, and walks over to where the water is about 3 or 4 feet deep. The son watches the father from the edge of the pool, scared to go in. The father tells the son to jump into the pool. The father says “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you”. There are two possible scenarios that can happen now. Scenario one, the son refuses to jump into the pool. Why would the son refuse? Naturally, the son is afraid of the water. The water is too deep for him, and he’s afraid that he could drown. The fear of the water is very real to the son. Scenario two is that the son jumps into his father’s arms. How can the son overcome his fear of the water to join his father? The son finds the faith to jump into the pool when he sees that his father is able to catch him even in the midst of the water. Abram found his faith because he stopped looking at the water and started looking at the Father. God didn’t want Abram to remain at the edge of the pool, living a boring and hopeless life. God challenged Abram to stop thinking about his problems and fears, and to think about God’s power. Despite having no evidence of the fulfillment of God’s promise, Abram believed. That is true faith. Verse five also tells us that Abram’s faith was credited as righteousness. Abram was a sinner, and he made mistakes, just like all of us. However, God credited his belief as righteousness. We see that Abram did nothing to earn his righteousness; he simply believed, and that was enough.
If you are like me, you have many fears in your life. Personally, the biggest fears I have are related to my future. I fear that I won’t graduate with good enough grades, or that I chose the wrong major, or that I can’t get a job later, or that I won’t marry the right person. The last one is not really a big fear of mine, not yet anyway. These are normal fears that people have, I hope. However, I also fear that the things I do for Christ will be fruitless. As many of you know, I tend to do a lot of different things for the church. I play drums for the praise team, I do many special songs, I sometimes play piano for the orchestra, I help lead YDJ, I give youth group messages, and apparently now I give conference messages. This may sound impressive, but I can honestly tell you that I don’t find fulfillment in these things. Like Abram, sometimes I feel like even after doing all these things, I am still fruitless. I know that I am still a sinner, and that makes me feel like I don’t deserve to be a part of God’s promise. The truth is, I actually don’t deserve God’s promises. However, “the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not (Romans 4:16-17).” I don’t know what fears you have in your life. Perhaps your fears are similar to mine, and you worry about how your life will turn out. Maybe for some of you finding the right person to marry is a legitimate fear you have. Or you might be like my mom, and you worry about your children’s future. Whatever your fears are, the way to overcome them is by having faith in God’s promise.
Abram’s faith allowed God to establish His kingdom through Abram and his descendants, which includes all those who have faith. God’s kingdom can only begin in our lives if we have faith. Notice that God’s kingdom was not established in Abram’s life right away. In fact, having faith didn’t really change Abram’s situation at this time. What faith did do was change Abram’s heart. Abram no longer feared, and he put full assurance in God. He didn’t worry about the fact that he had no fruit in his life; he simply trusted that God would be faithful to His promise. In the same way, when we have faith, we may not see a change in our situation, but we will see a change in our hearts. We no longer will fear, but put our trust in God. We won’t be focused on the hopelessness of our situation, but on the power of God. This conference is the perfect time for us to step outside of our problems and to believe in God’s vision for our lives. Even in our hopeless and sinful life, we can enter into God’s kingdom if we believe.
Let us read verse 7 together. “He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of the Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it’.” God reminds Abram of why He took him out of the Ur of the Chaldeans; to take possession of the Promised Land. God had already promised Abram many descendants, but God knew that Abram’s descendants would need land to live in. In verse 8 Abram asks God for a sign saying “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it (Genesis 15:8)?”
To answer Abram’s request for a sign, God tells Abram to prepare some animals. Let’s read verses 9-11. “So the Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.” God is telling Abram to prepare an old-testament sacrifice ceremony. When an agreement was made between two parties, they would set up animals by cutting them in half and placing them on the ground. Both parties would walk through the halves of the animals, completing the agreement. The reason they did this was to say that if the agreement was broken, the transgressor would be like the animals. In other words, if you broke the agreement, your punishment should be death. Nowadays all we have to do is sign a piece of paper next to the “x”. By telling Abram to set up this sacrifice ceremony, God showed Abram that He was serious about His promise.
Let's read verse 17 out loud together. “When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.” The smoking firepot with the blazing torch signify God. Thus, when the firepot passed between the pieces of the animals, it signified that God Himself had passed in between the pieces. God completed the sacrifice ceremony that Abram had set up earlier. Notice that only God passed through the pieces. Abram did not walk between the animals that were cut in half. Why is this? God Himself completed the ceremony, without Abram. God would only hold Himself responsible for completing His promise.
Verses 18-21 say that God made a covenant with Abram, promising his descendants the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadomonites, and all the other “ites”. Notice that verse 18 is the first time the word “covenant” is used in this passage. What is a covenant? First, let’s talk about what a covenant is not. How many of you have a cell phone? Probably all of you. We all know that in order for our phones to work, we need something known as a “contract”. What is a contract? A contract is an agreement between two parties. In the case of a cell phone contract, an agreement is made between the user and the carrier. The contract states that the carrier will provide cell phone service as long as the user pays for the service. As long all of the conditions are met, both parties will remain under the contract. So what is a covenant? A covenant is also an agreement between two parties. However, a covenant is definitely not the same as a contract. Let’s consider marriage. Marriage is a covenant. Both the husband and wife are entering into a covenant when they take their vows. What do the vows say? “I, person A, take you, person B, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” The vows are based on the relationship the man has with the woman, and vice versa. When you enter into a marriage, you do it because you want to have a relationship with the other person. The difference between a contract and a covenant is that a contract is founded on rules, but a covenant is founded on relationships.
Now that we have an idea of what a covenant is, let’s take a look again at the covenant God gives to Abram. The covenant was that Abram’s descendants would possess the Promised Land. Notice that God doesn’t say, “To your descendants I give this land, as long as you are holy”. God doesn’t need Abram to meet any conditions; God establishes this covenant because of His relationship with Abram. God Himself passed through the pieces; He did not need Abram to do anything to confirm the covenant. In fact, throughout this passage we see that God is the one who took the initiative. At the beginning of the chapter, it is God who comes to Abram to calm his fears. When Abram questions God about His promise, God takes Abram outside to expand his vision. God again takes initiative by revealing the suffering and deliverance of his descendants. Finally, God completes the covenant sacrifice ceremony all by Himself. All that was required of Abram was that he believe.
We know that God established a covenant with Abram, but how does that help us? God promised land to Abram. In the same way, God has promised land to us as well. Paul says in Philippians 3 that “our citizenship is in heaven”. There is a Promised Land waiting for us. Our inheritance and reward are in heaven. You may ask, “Well, what about now on Earth?” Just as God said to Abram, God is our shield and our very great reward. Verses 12 to 14 say that “As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.’”. We too are strangers here in a foreign land on Earth until God brings us to the Promised Land, heaven.
Like Abram, you might wonder how we can be sure of God’s promise. How can we know that we will gain possession of it? God’s sign to Abram was a sacrifice ceremony that ratified His covenant with Abram. God’s sign to us is the promised son Jesus, who died on the Cross as a sacrifice. Through Christ, we can know for sure that God has completed the covenant. Jesus was both the sign and the fulfillment of God’s covenant. This covenant is found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”. If we believe, our faith will be credited to us as righteousness. There are no set of rules or conditions that we are required to follow. God is not entering into a contract with us, but a covenant, because He wants to have a relationship with us.
When I was in middle school, I was still struggling with my anger. I attended a lock-in with the youth group, which is basically an all-night retreat at the church. Paul Lim gave a message about the Cross, talking about how through faith in Christ we can be made righteous. Of course, since I grew up in church, I had heard this message many times. However, after the message, Paul told us to write our sins on a small piece of paper, and to come outside. I had written some trivial things like, “stealing from my brothers”, but I also wrote down “anger”. Paul made a fire outside, and he told us to put our papers into the fire, signifying that our sins were taken away through Christ. That was the first time I truly felt the peace of God that transcends all understanding. One song that I have been obsessed with lately is the hymn “At the Cross” written by Isaac Watts, which I believe reflects what I felt at that time. “Was it for crimes, that I had done, He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree! At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.”
At the beginning of the message, I asked you what you want for your life. However, this isn’t really the right question to ask, is it? We should be asking ourselves, “what does God want for my life?” Abram had no vision or hope for his life. Before becoming the “Father of Faith”, He was a nobody. God’s vision for Abram’s life was so much bigger than what Abram ever imagined. God’s vision for his life was always there, the only thing that Abram had to do was to believe. Abram chose to believe, and his faith became his sight. Through his faith, he was able to have God’s vision, even in his hopeless situation. His faith also became his righteousness. Romans 4 encourages us by saying- “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (Romans 4:23-25)”.
The title of the conference is “The Kingdom of God is at Hand”. Maybe you don’t see any evidence of the Kingdom of God in your life. Maybe you are so bogged down by all of the fears and worries in your life that you have become near-sighted. All you can see are the worldly problems that are in front of you. You feel like your life is stuck in a hopeless situation. However, let’s stop worrying about these temporary problems and step outside to see God’s eternal covenant with us. In this conference, we’re going to hear seven more messages about the Kingdom of God. The word of the Lord is coming to all of us, just as it came to Abram. Like Abram, we have to make a choice of whether we will believe God’s word. “’What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade (Mark 4).’” Do you know who said these words? It was Jesus, who was from the literal seed of Abram. Abram’s figurative seed of faith grew to be the nation of Israel, and eventually led to the birth of the promised Son, Jesus. Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God when He came on earth, and now we can all enter in. Jesus is the sign and the fulfillment of God’s covenant with us. Will you believe in God’s covenant? Let’s read the key verses, verse 5 and 6. “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then He said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
-Smart
