The Big Story · Stop 2

What did God promise Abraham and Sarah, and who was it for?

An old couple with no children gets a call from God. Pack up, God says. I'll give you a new land, a family bigger than you can count, and through you I'll bless the whole world. Today you'll find out what happened when they trusted that promise.

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Promise

God called Abram and Sarai, later named Abraham and Sarah, to leave their home. God promised them land, a huge family, and something bigger: through them, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

They were old, and they had no children. One night God told Abraham to look up and count the stars. That's how big your family will be. Abraham believed God, and God counted his trust as righteousness.

Paul pointed back to this moment. In Romans 4, Paul says Abraham was made right with God by trusting God's promise, not by anything he did to earn it. Lutherans call this justification by faith. It's the heart of the Reformation.

The promise got passed down through Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons, who became the tribes of Israel. Christians see the promise to bless every family coming true in Jesus.

Read it in your Bible

Genesis 12:1–3. God tells Abram to leave his country and his family and go to a land God will show him. God promises to make him a great nation and bless him, so that all the families of the earth will be blessed through him.
Genesis 15:5–6. God takes Abram outside and tells him to count the stars, if he can. So shall your family be. Abram believes the Lord, and the Lord counts it to him as righteousness.

The Third Article, from Luther's Small Catechism

I believe in the Holy Spirit.

What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.

Words to know

Abraham. The man God called to leave home, and promised a family as many as the stars. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all look back to him.
Sarah. Abraham's wife, who laughed when God said she'd have a baby in old age. She laughed, and God kept the promise anyway. Their son Isaac's name means “he laughs.”
Stars. What God told Abram to count, to show how big his family would be. Too many to count. God's promises are like that.
Blessing. What God promised would come to all the families of the earth through Abraham. The promise was never only for one family. It was for everyone.
Faith. Trusting God's promise. Abraham's was counted as righteousness. Luther said even faith is a gift. The Holy Spirit calls us to it.