My Best Friend: God the Promiser (Genesis 12:1-8)

 “Jesus, You are my Best Friend, and You will always be.” – Hillsong United 🤗

Dear friend finder,

I’m talking to myself again, but this is for anyone who feels loneliness, whether physically or emotionally. By physically, I mean being literally alone, and by emotionally, I mean feeling like no one understands what you’re going through or keeping your sorrow to yourself. Let me point you to my Constant Companion, to my Cherished Champion: Jesus Christ, the Lamb and Lion!

In this epistle, we start with the story of the patriarchs. You may have heard or read the phrase “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” a number of times. These three who serve the same God are the patriarchs. Here’s the definition from Got Questions: “The biblical patriarchs are the line of men God used to establish the nation of Israel.”

Jesus was born on earth through this line. The Bible follows the lives of this family. This is our spiritual clan. Let’s get to know the fathers of our faith, beginning with Abraham.

Genesis 12:1-8 (NKJV)

Now the LORD had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

² I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

⁴ So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

⁷ Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

This is the beginning of Abraham’s story with God. The Lord commanded 75-year-old Abram to leave his country and go to a place He will be showing. He promised Abram that from him will be born a great nation. Verse 3 is our key verse: God promises to be his Best Friend and to bless everyone on earth through him. If you say to me you’ll bless those who bless me and curse those who curse me, that makes us BFFs because “that’s the kind of thing you say to your best friend (Langham).”

It gets even better when God said that everyone will be blessed. This is the promise Jesus fulfilled: He brought global salvation. It's just waiting on the believer to receive it. Ryle (1921) wrote that the clause “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” may either mean “On account of thee the whole world shall be blessed” or “In thy name all the families of the earth will find the true formula of benediction.” Either way, both interpretation points to the Messiah.

Abram took his family with him, and they all went from Haran to Canaan, the land God promised that his descendants will possess. There he built God an altar, which was “most likely a pile of stones”, but for himself, he pitched a temporary tent (Langham). This is how a life of faith is: “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).”

What is eternal? Or rather, who? It’s God. If we’re talking of “what”, then it’s heaven, but is that what should we really fix our eyes on? It’s surely a prize to look forward to, but it’s God who gives meaning to our vision in life. I just think this “what” that is not seen is the object of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling His promises. He promised Canaan to the Israelites, and we read in the book of Joshua that they got it. In Revelation, God promised a New Jerusalem, and so we have something to be excited about.

Thank You, Jesus, for You are the Way to this promised city! Thank You for You’re our Best Friend for all eternity!

God is not only Abram’s BFF, but ours. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). What a friend we have in Jesus, indeed! He died for you and me to give us what we need—our souls’ salvation. Only the blood of the Lamb can bring our sins’ remission.

Let us put our trust in God the way Abram did. He followed the Lord even though initially, the destination He hid. Let’s see this earth as temporary and find our home in God who lives eternally. Let Christ be our Best Friend, for His love has no end.

With love,

Celina <3

References

Got Questions Ministries. (n.d.). Who are the biblical patriarchs? Retrieved from Got Questions: https://www.gotquestions.org/biblical-patriarchs.html

Langham, K. (n.d.). Genesis 12. Genesis | Origins. Westminster, California, United States of America: Through the Word.

Ryle, H. E. (1921). Genesis 12 Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Retrieved from Bible Hub: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/genesis/12.htm

Next: Genuine: The Realities of Christianity (Genesis 15:5-7, 13-16)

Previous: You Are the One: God is God (Job 38:1-11)

Series 3: Genesis 12-50