God’s great desire in the book of Genesis is to bless his human creation. (Check this out in a concordance, 51 times not all in reference to God.) Much of the second part of Genesis (chap. 12-25) reveals this God of promises who wants to bless his creation. Thus, God promises that Abraham will be blessed and will bless others. God’s word/promise is secure (Num 23:19). The certainty of God’s promise is based on his nature. He further secures the promise to Abraham with an oath (see Heb 6:13-18).
A couple of things catch my attention. First, how will the promise be fulfilled? Does God need help? Abraham spends a lot of time trying to help God, I mean that Abraham is continually jumping ahead of God—-in Egypt (can God not protect?); separating from Lot (can God not provide what is needed?), Eliezer and Ishmael (can God not provide the means to fulfill his promise?). The promise is fulfilled in Isaac, the son of promise.
Second, the promising God always calls, guides, protects, and provides. Abraham’s faith is tested. Testing faith is not unlike testing one’s concept of God! The promise does not depend on Abraham’s actions; Abraham is not exempt from sin (lying to Abimelech) or doubt. God continues his commitment to Abraham, even in Abraham’s failures and weaknesses. A well-known text is that Abraham believes God and it is counted as righteousness (15:6). The blessing also comes because Abraham obeys (22:18). But above all the promise depends on God and who God is. God is revealing himself through the promise. He shows his nature, his eternal intent, his presence and power. This promising God will intervene again and again. A sacrifice is provided when Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac (Gen. 22), God provides a wife for Isaac and children in Rachel’s barrenness.
This is the revelation of the personal God who desires to penetrate and interact in the context of the human experience. What does this mean for you and me? First, can we see our faithful God? Faithful even when we are not? Renewing us, reclaiming us? The creating, calling God is not only a Genesis 3 reality. He is ever-present, calling, claiming, re-creating. He guides us; protecting and providing for us. Second, this God calls us to be involved in fulfilling his promise in the world. What we do—-our version of religion, our version of church—-must not depend on what we see, what we want, what we decide are open doors. We do not have to guess about what God is trying to do in this world. We can confidently make plans consistent with God’s eternal purpose and he will use those efforts to his glory. Finally, that God makes promises with the intent to bless suggests for us a new way of living life—-living out a “blessing strategy” in our relationships with others, going through life with the intent to bless all we meet.