” ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3b)
Just read this from Tim Keller, on Abraham. I rarely see how truly astonishing the story of Abram being chosen as father of all nations is. It makes me wonder how counter-cultural I am.
“This is of course, astonishing. We have seen that the word ‘blessing’ is a very strong word, entailing God’s shalom, the well-being and peace of God’s kingdom. This promise indicates that God’s purpose in a)making Abram a personal friend, and b)making Abram’s offspring into a new human community is all for the ultimate aim of c)bringing salvation to the whole world. God is going to save the world through Abram’s family. God will bless Abraham with personal intimacy so he can pass the true faith on down to his children. He must pass on this faith so that his children will become an alternative society, a counter-culture, a new humanity in the midst of the world. And then, in some way, the healing of the nations and the salvation of the world will come out of that faithful community.
In summary, God says, ‘I’ll give you a special relationship with me. I’ll make you into a new, faithful human community. I’ll use you to save the world from the downward spiral into self-destruction.” Tim Keller, “What Were You Put in this World to Do?” (Genesis study).
