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God Made the Fathers of the Nations

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[Genesis 17:4~5]

"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

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God appeared and said to a 75-year-old man named Abram.
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” If Abram obeyed God's command to leave the land he was living in,
He promised that God would make him a great nation.

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Abram, who had no children, was overjoyed to hear the word of God's promise.
This is because God had promised Abram that He would give him children, and that his children would become many and become a great nation.
Abram believed the word of God and went with his wife Sarai to Canaan, the land God had spoken of.

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Abram and Sarai thought that God would give them children soon when they arrived in Canaan. However, 24 years after arriving in Canaan,
God's promise was not fulfilled until Abram was 99 years old.
Abram and Sarai were too old to believe in God's promises anymore.
They thought it was impossible for God's promises to be fulfilled.

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Then, one day, God appeared to Abram, who was 99 years old, and said to him.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said,
“I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your umbers.”
(Genesis 17:1~2)
Abram fell to the ground and worshiped God.

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God continued to speak to Abram.
“No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham,for I have made you a father of many nations.”(Genesis 17:5)
God once again told him the promise He had made 24 years ago, and gave him a new name.

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God gave him the name Abraham instead of Abram (great father).
Abraham means [father of many nations]. God made a bigger promise that Abraham's descendants would make them into many nations beyond a great nation.

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God also made a new promise to Abraham.
“I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.”
(Genesis 17:6)
God made another new and wonderful promise that many kings would come out of Abraham's descendants.

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God, who made a new promise to Abraham, gave a special command. From that day on,
He commanded that every male child born to a man living with Abraham be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. He also commanded that all males in the house of Abraham be circumcised, regardless of their origin.
The meaning of being circumcised was a promise that the word of the covenant made to Abraham would have the same effect on all descendants who were circumcised

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God also spoke about his wife Sarai.
“God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai;
her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.
I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”(Genesis 17:15~16)
God also changed the name of Sarai, Abram's wife, to Sarah. And he told Abraham that when he was 100 years old, he would give birth to his son Isaac through Sarah's body.

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When God spoke these words, Abraham, who was lying on the ground, laughed and talked to himself. “How can a hundred-year-old person have a baby?
Sarah is ninety years old, how can he have a baby?”
Abraham thought it impossible because he and his wife Sarah were too old.

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Abraham, who did not believe in God's word, made another request to God. “I hope that Ishmael will be blessed by God and live.” Ishmael, whom Abraham spoke of, was the then 13-year-old son of his maidservant Hagar.
Abraham thought he could never have a child between himself and Sarah.

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God confirmed this again to Abraham who said this.
“No, your wife Sarah will bear you a son.
Let him name him Isaac. I will make my covenant with your son Isaac, and it will be an everlasting covenant with the descendants of Isaac.
Isaac will give birth to Sarah around this time next year.”

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God clearly stated that he would make an eternal covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah bore, and ascended to heaven. Abraham obeyed God's command and performed circumcision.
On that day, Ishmael, who had been obtained through Abraham and his maidservant Hagar, was also circumcised. And he circumcised all the males who stayed in Abraham's house.
By being circumcised, all who were with Abraham became the promised people of God.

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God's promises were fulfilled to Abraham and his children.
As God had promised, when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac.
What Abraham thought was impossible, God showed him that there is nothing impossible.
God's promise to make Abraham the father of many nations was fulfilled.
God gave him several other sons besides Isaac, and they became many nations.

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Also, the promise that kings would come out of Abraham's family was fulfilled.
King David is a prime example of that. After King David, many kings came out.
What is even more amazing is that Jesus, who came as King to save the whole world, also came to this earth through the family of Abraham, fully fulfilling God's promise.
If anyone believes in Jesus, who has come as King, he or she can become God's promised people and enjoy the blessing of walking together with God in heaven forever.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)