Welcome to The Turnaround!

Week One Focus: God’s Vision and Desire is Generational

Introduction

For the third day, we come together to seek God’s blessing on our nation’s future.
Today’s scripture speaks of the cascading generations of the righteous. We see God’s vision to be our God for generations!

Insight

Moses writes in Genesis 17:7 that events occurring 500 years earlier defined not just the life of Abraham but also shapes the 21st -century church. Scripture tells us that Abraham is the father of the church. (Romans 4:11, 16) This surely inspired the classic Sunday school song Father Abraham.

In Genesis 17:15-21, God lets Abraham (and you) know that the future of God’s people will come through the descendants of the promise (Isaac). This passage is important because our identity in Christ begins with our relationship with Abraham.

We read in our Bibles: Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as his offspring.

~Romans 9:6-8 ESV
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel to Abraham saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So that in Christ Jesus, the blessings of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. And if you are Christ’s, you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

~Galatians 3:7, 8, 14, 29 ESV

Genesis 17:7 is a promise to each of us. The people of God in every generation are given a vision of seeing the nations bow the knee to Christ. It is God’s promised plan of history. We have every reason to resist the unfaithful culture around us and to focus on the certainty of a Christ-honoring future of an established kingdom of God on earth.

Our unity with Christ means our unity with the promises to Abraham.

The world is our inheritance. Through us, God draws the nations to Christ. Let us look not to culture but to God’s promises. As we join hands with the people of God, we complete our role in the establishment of God’s ordained future. God’s heart is generational, and we have a responsibility to align our hearts with God’s heart to see faith passed from generation to generation.

Turnaround Question

How do the promises of godly generations and transformed kingdoms broaden my vision of God’s purposes for me?
How does knowing that God made a promise to you, to your children, and to generations to come change how you teach your children about the path that lies before them?

Prayer

Lord, teach us your Word, transform our mind, and let us know your thoughts. Fill us with your presence that we may bring glory to the name of Jesus all the days of our lives. Remind us of your promises and the importance of passing them down to generations to come. To God be the glory forever. Amen.

Artwork by Kyle Trudelle of Trudelle Galleries