Purpose in Genesis (Genesis 12: 2)
“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
As foundational as the story of Abram, God’s intent was always that we would become a blessing to others. God comforts, so that we can give comfort. God grants peace, so that we will become an attractive aroma. God instills joy, so that we might impart joy. God blesses us with vitality and strength, so that we might have energy to love. God gives grace, so that we might be gracious. God guides us into success, so that we, from experience, can lead others. Our story, our witness, is meant to allure, to demonstrate God’s goodness. In that is direction and purpose. In that is meaning.
Notice how early in chapter twelve the protagonist’s name hadn’t yet changed: Abraham was still Abram. As fundamental as our name is to us, this is important. Abram hadn’t yet grown into his fullness. Just like us, there is a starting point, not yet complete, not yet mature, where God leads us outward and onward. We are all a work in progress, something that will bloom into a bouquet meant to offer.
Abram believed in a God who could make something out of nothing, who could call forth into existence something not yet perceived. Trust is the crux. Confidence in God’s ability to fulfill promises, to bring circumstances to the point of realization, is essential. We are not righteous by any stretch of the imagination. We have flaws and faults. But God can transform our inner being so that we become fruitful. Attracted by our seemingly divine energy, people are inspired.
King David wrote Psalm 51 at a low point in his life (after his indiscretion with Bethsheba and his murderous act against her husband). We all have pits that we need to climb out of. We’ll make it, if we only believe. David was at a point of earnest contrition; his spirit was broken. He prayed for a clean heart and a new and right spirit. Through God’s presence, he wanted to be better. He needed to be reminded of God’s unwavering promise of salvation. He opened himself up and became malleable. Throughout all he encountered he anticipated restoration by way of God’s steadfast love. And his promise to God, his vision, was that having been brought back, his experience would serve as a witness to God’s redeeming benevolence, and his renewed elation would guide and inspire others back to the creator, the deliverer, the sustainer of all things.
Again, we are blessed so that we will be a blessing. God’s infinite love for us translates into deep feelings of affection for others. God’s gracious and merciful disposition given on our behalf creates in us an attitude of respect and appreciation for those we encounter, with those on the receiving end getting a glimpse of how God imparts a sense of affirmation and belonging. God’s nonjudgemental attitude toward us makes us humble and kind and accepting of people’s personalities, instilling a sense of comradery and unity. As you go about your day, remember that nobody has fallen so far as to find themselves beyond the pale of God’s “hasad” (unrelenting compassion).
Old Testament Israel lost sight of their purpose to be a blessing and were taken into exile. The law had made some of them hardhearted and proud. Their own ideas about righteousness made them judgmental, standoffish, and stern; a tendency we all possess. The apostle Paul tells us that their story is meant to be instructional. In the bible we learn that God has so much compassion for people experiencing the human dilemma of free will and sin that he went the entire distance through Christ to make a way. In this, Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel. The dividing curtain between the sacred and profane was torn from top to bottom meaning it is God’s work from start to finish. He initiates our faith, then brings about faithfulness. The realization that salvation is a gift, justification by faith through grace, miraculously transforms us, giving us power to live up to the standing of which we already possess. Joyfully, we reciprocate God’s love by loving others. And people benefit by our witness.