The book of Genesis reveals to us that God is the supreme initiator of all activity from the creation of the universe, to the creation of the history of a man and his family as the bearers of divine revelation. After getting past the early chapters which set the stage for the history of our salvation: human creation and fall, Genesis introduces us to Abraham and his family. They are major characters in the story that is about to unfold, but we must never forget that the ultimate Protagonist is God. The protagonist is the chief person in the drama or plot of the story. This is God’s story. God speaks and creates a universe and a people. It becomes their story, and ours, only as God enables this family to come into existence, and pledges to be with them.

“The Bible is God’s story – a story that is utterly true, crucially important, and often complex. It is a magnificent story, grander than the greatest epic, richer in plot and more significant in its characters and descriptions than any humanly composed story could ever be… Bible narratives tell us about things that happened – but not just any things. Their purpose is to show God at work in his creation and among his people. The narratives glorify him, help us to understand and appreciate him, and give us a picture of his providence and protection. At the same time, they also provide illustrations of many other lessons important to our lives… The Old Testament narratives are not just stories about people who lived in Old Testament times. They are first and foremost stories about what God did to and through those people. In contrast to human narratives, the Bible is composed especially of divine narratives. God is the hero of the story – if it is in the Bible. Characters, events, developments, plot and story climaxes all occur, but behind these, God is the supreme ‘protagonist’ or decisive leading character in all narratives.” (How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, p.79,81)

The story begins in Ur of the Chaldeans in modern day Iraq. Terah took his son Abraham, his grandson Lot, and his daughter-in-law Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and they set out from Ur to go to Canaan. On the way, Terah died in Haran. Sarah is described as barren. They settle down in Haran until God intervenes. Abraham is summoned into his presence. He gives Abraham his marching orders.

“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go 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)

So Abraham left as the Lord had told him and they traveled to Canaan. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

The rest of the narrative details how Abraham trusts and worship God for his promises despite the fact that Sarah is barren and the Canaanites possess the land.

God promises Abraham two things: the gift of successors, who will become a great nation to bless the world, and the gift of land. These promises are repeated to Isaac and Jacob.

God calls Abraham to serve him, and promises these two things, not because he deserves it, or he is intrinsically better than others. In fact the flaws of Abraham and his family are on display throughout Genesis. God does not choose them because of their inherent character. What makes them the godly seed is that in the end they trusted God and his promise that they would be his people – an exceedingly numerous people – and that they would inherit the land to which they first came as aliens.

This is also our spiritual history as Christians. The promises and calling of God to Abraham are our historical promises and calling. “Therefore, 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 are of 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 things that are not as though they were…. 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.” (Romans 4:16-22)

What we see God doing in the life of Abraham and Sarah, we see him doing in our lives as well. God is calling us to follow him to a new land, and he is promising us a vocation through which he will bless the world. When we trust in Christ we become Abraham’s offspring. He is our father. We follow in his footsteps. We also believe in the God “who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”

Just as he gave life to Sarah, who was barren, when she gave birth in her old age to Isaac; and life to Isaac, who was to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah; and life to the universe, when he brought forth created beings from nothing; he gave us new life when he raised Jesus from the dead. When we “believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,” we believe in the God of Abraham.

Like Abraham, we are on a journey of faith. We are called to leave our original home, and travel as aliens and strangers to a new country. God has put in each of us the calling and desire for a better country – a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:16) When Abraham asked, “what is God doing in my life?” he reasoned, from his experience, that God could raise the dead. He did not know where he was going. He “made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country, for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:9,10) Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56) For Jesus, Abraham was already enjoying the future fulfillment of God’s promises.

If we are called to be future-oriented in this way, “looking forward” to a better country – a heavenly one than this world can afford, we need to be careful about being distracted by this world. While we are called to be a blessing to others in our present life, through our citizenship in this present world, we are not to think that the country to which we are called is located in this present world. There is great disagreement about the nature of the promise for the possession of the land among Christians today, with regard to the Holy Land and the State of Israel. Let me quote what John Stott has written about this:

“There is some disagreement among biblical Christians as to whether we are to expect the Old Testament promises about Israel’s future to be literally fulfilled, and whether the modern State of Israel in its occupation of the Holy Land is at least a partial fulfillment of them. Certainly God has a great future for the Jews, which is figuratively set forth by Paul as the grafting back into their own olive tree of the natural branches which had been broken off (Rom.11:13-27). But there is no mention in the New Testament of any literal return of the Jews to the promised land. The overwhelming emphasis of the New Testament is that the Christian church is now ‘the Israel of God’, ‘the circumcision’, ‘a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God’, and that God’s great promises to Abraham of both posterity and a land are fulfilled spiritually in Christ and his church.” (Authentic Christianity, p.385)

The land to which we are journeying is not to be found on this earth. We are not looking forward to an earthly kingdom centered on the physical Jerusalem from which Christ is going to reign. The future scenarios spun out by extravagant interpretations of the book of Revelation and other apocalyptic passages of Scripture serve to distract us from our present service of Christ and our future hope in heaven.

This life is the place and time when we learn that God is the ultimate protagonist, who can be trusted to fulfill his promises, for he is faithful. Like childhood, when as girls we play at house, or as boys we make believe that we are mighty warriors and powerful princes, in this life, we are being prepared for the inheritance we will enter into in the new heavens and the new earth.

If this is so, if this is the great story which gives meaning to our lives, a purpose to our existence, a destiny to anticipate, then what must we be doing in the meantime to prepare for it? God calls us to become a blessing to others by our Christian witness and service. We are to act as men and women of faith, who are seeking to bless others by our dedication to the service of Christ.

God is doing something in your life and mine. We may not know what it is, but we can be assured that God is at work. Take note of what he is doing, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)