Child of the Promise
Theme: A Journey with Abraham
Theme Verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Readings: Genesis 17:15-22
Optional Readings: Luke 1:26-28; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2
Memory Verse: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
Up to this point God had not talked about the Son of the Promise being Sarah's son, only about "descendents" and in Genesis 15:14 "a son coming from your own body." Now God spells it out. The promised son will be Sarah's son! Sarah is now 90 and Abraham 100! Abraham has his doubts and he laughs as he says to himself how impossible this is. So he asks God to bless Ishmael. How often do you ask God to bless something less than his promise to you?
Abraham is not the only one who laughs. Sarah also laughs (Genesis 18:10-13) when God speaks through his messengers to tell them Sarah will have a son next year. God names the child "Isaac" (Genesis 17:19) which means he laughs. Again when Isaac is born (Genesis 21:6) Sarah says, God has brought me laughter..." Isaac's name represents both the human impossibility of such a thing and the joy over a miracle God worked. A word received: (Genesis 17:17 and 18:12) I want you to see that I am not offended by their incredulity. I want you to be free to bring your doubts and hesitations to me. I Am the one who gives them a son in their old age. I did that and I was not ashamed to be their God. Let me have your lives as Abraham and Sarah did and I will make you fruitful as well.
They had waited many years for this child. God waited till it was clearly humanly impossible. God's timing is perfect. God wants them to know that nothing is impossible with God and that he was the one who accomplished this. God has a plan and he has perfect timing. Galatians 4:4 says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law..." A word received: Nothing will deter me from the fulfilling of my plan. God gave plenty of information about his plan in the Old Testament. Did everyone pay attention? Do we pay attention?
The Jewish people had waited centuries for their Messiah to come. In Luke 1:26-28 God fulfills the long awaited promise of a Savior. Like Isaac, the sign given was a birth that was humanly impossible, "A virgin will conceive and bear a son." (Isaiah 7:14) A word received: I Am the sign of my Father's love.
Like Isaac, the son of Mary is given a special name, "Jesus" (from Joshua) which means "Yahweh saves."
The birth of Jesus also fulfills the prophecy of Genesis 12:3b, "All the families of the earth shall be blessed through you". Matthew's Gospel traces the human geneology of Jesus back beyond David to Abraham. The Old Testament is pointing forward to Jesus. Isaac's miraculous birth foreshadows Jesus' birth, just as the promise in Genesis 12 points to the fact that Jesus would be the Savior of the whole world.
Now look at Micah 5:2, "“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small..." A word received: How I long for you to judge by my word and not by appearances. Bethlehem was small in size but great in my Kingdom. Where are the small places in your life? Will you give them to me for my Kingdom? Zechariah 4:6 says, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty." and Zechariah 4:10 says, "This is a day for small things, who would dare to despise it." Sometimes we doubt the LORD and have little faith. Abraham (and Sarah) "believed God", trusted him, even with small faith sometimes, "and God counted it to him as righteousness." Jesus said we only need faith the size of a mustard seed. Sometimes we need to tell God honestly our doubts (he knows anyway) like the father of the demonized boy in Mark 9:23-24. Jesus said to him, "'If you can'?" . "Everything is possible for him who believes." The father answered immediately, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"--and Jesus healed the child.
God is gracious to Sarah (and Abraham) even after her big mistake with Hagar. It is not clear if she deserves this but it is also true of us that God saves and blesses us also by his grace (undeserved kindness).
She was probably much humbled after the whole episode with Hagar, having to take her back and live with her and her son for several more years (see Genesis 21:8-10).
God loves us and is gracious to us even after we blow it. He always wants us to turn back to him. He forgives our sins when we ask and delights to shower us with blessings.
This also show us that God's love and promises are not just for males (though circumcision was), but also for women.
We also see God's patience when Abraham is questioning God again. This discussion also shows the remarkable, close, intimate relationship Abraham has with God. A word received: I always hear you when you come to me. I want you to come me like Abraham did. I will always hear and answer you. [God answered Abraham but didn't always say, "Yes."]
Just as God told his plan and promise to Abraham and Sarah, he also told both Mary and Joseph. They reacted somewhat differently. Mary believed God and only asked how. Joseph believed and obeyed. Abraham and Sarah had more questions but they too believed and trusted God. A word received: How will you react when I tell you something? Will you trust me or not? I want you to trust me. God wants us to trust like Mary and Joseph did and like Abraham and Sarah did (after some fumbles).
God has made a covenant with us through Jesus blood shed on the cross for us. He calls us to believe, trust and obey as Abraham did.
Note: God did bless Ishmael but Isaac would be the one with whom God made a covenant. [He was conceived after God's covenant of circumcision with Abraham.] Islam incorrectly teaches that the covenant was with Ishmael--not Isaac. They believe that Ishmael was the one who was almost sacrificed when God provided a lamb.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 13
Please read the Study Guide first.
Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones.
1. Jesus is the sign of God's love for you, and you and you.
2. God wants us to bring our doubts and fears to Him. He will always hear us. He wants us to give Him our lives and our problems.
3. God's timing is perfect.
4. When God says He will do something, He does it.
5. We can trust God. He is faithful. He invites us to trust Him and come to Him as His beloved children.
Teacher sharing: Share an example of time when God promised you something and you had to wait a while for it to happen. What happened? How was it different from what you expected? (Ask the children how long Abraham & Sarah had to wait? How long did Israel have to wait for Jesus?)
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