God’s grace is revealed in Gen 12 when God chose Abram
and made him a promise that through him, all the families of the earth would be
blessed. Abram did not choose God, neither was he immediately the man of faith
that Hebrews 11 refers to.
It was a gradual transformation as Abram learned to trust
in God’s grace. In Gen 12, God instructed Abram to leave his country, kindred and father’s house and
journey to a land which God Himself would show him. Abram obeyed God, but not
totally. Instead of leaving everything he knew behind, he took his nephew Lot
with him (Gen 12:1-4).
Many times Abram doubted God’s Promise. In Egypt, he was
fearful and sought to preserve his life by lying that Sarai, his wife was his
sister (Gen 12:13). Abram was still learning to trust in God. God was gracious,
preserving King Abimelech from sin because He could see the integrity of his
heart when he took Abram’s wife into his royal court. God was patient with
Abram, blessing him with great riches, honour and favour despite his failures.
When Lot chose the best land for himself, God in His grace reaffirmed His
Promise to Abram. Abram became a generous and respectful man. He respected the
property rights of others even though he knew that God would give his
descendants the whole land. God’s grace was already changing him (Gen
13:10-18). He was learning that it was God’s great grace that made him a
prosperous and successful man and he gave God all the glory for his success,
attributing none of his success to others or to himself (Gen 14:22-24).
In Gen 15, God affirmed His Promise to Abram yet again.
Abram had a crisis in faith, as he had no idea how God planned to fulfil the
Promise; all he knew was that he remained childless and he couldn’t see past his
circumstances. God was patient with Abram, conceding to his request for
a sign or assurance that God would indeed give him the land as promised. God
asked Abram to prepare some sacrifices and Abram fell into a deep sleep as God
revealed in prophetic vision to him the things that would befall his
nation. The 400 years of oppression
under Egyptian rule was revealed to him as well as the glory of the exodus from
Egypt. God’s grace to the Amorites was also revealed to Abram; God was giving
them time to turn to Him and repent of their evil. While Abram’s descendants
were yet to possess their inheritance, the Amorites would have opportunity to
turn to God.
God Himself passed between the slain animals. The
Almighty Himself condescended to make a covenant, binding Himself on pain of
death as an earthly king would bind himself when making a covenant with
another. The difference was that it was a one-sided covenant. Abram did not
pass between the animals for it was God alone who had made the Promise and He
alone who would see it to completion through His plan of redemption by the
blood of His own Son, “the seed of the woman”. Abram could not break the
covenant for he had no part in the making of it. Neither his good works, nor
the lack thereof could change the Promise and God’s plan to fulfil it. God’s
grace was, and still is, beyond comprehension.
