BIG IDEA: God keeps His promises.
This free Bible lesson, God’s Promise to Abraham, will teach preschool and elementary students about the plan of blessing that God gave to Abraham and all of his descendants through Jesus in Genesis 12:1-3.
FOCUS BIBLE PASSAGE: Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-7; 17:1-8, 15-22; 18:1-15; 21:1-7; Romans 4:13
All of the printable activities and digital slides needed for the lesson, as well as a full printable lesson plan for both elementary and preschool are available.
Below is the outline of the free elementary Bible lesson.
PREP & SUPPLIES
- printed “Romans 4:13” coloring pages & back side family explanation for each student
- crayons or markers
LESSON HOOK ACTIVITY
(SLIDE) I am going to give you one minute to try and count the stars in this picture.
Allow time for students to try to count the stars & then discuss numbers that they reached.
Raise your hand if you have heard of a man named Abraham from the Bible.
Who were Adam and Eve? (allow responses but be sure to read the summary of Adam and Eve below)
[Adam and Eve were the first people that God created. They disobeyed by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after God commanded them not to eat from that one tree. When they disobeyed God, sin was brought into the world. With sin, death and separation from God was brought into the world. Every human is born into sin because of the sin of Adam and Eve.]
A man named Abram, later called Abraham, was born into the same family line as Adam and Eve many years before Jesus came to the earth as a man.
In Genesis 15:5 (NIrV) God made a promise to Abram:
(SLIDE)
[The LORD took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That’s how many children will be born into your family.”]
Today we are going to learn about what this promise from God means, and how we fit into God’s plan.
BIBLE LESSON
We have learned that a man named Noah was born into the same family as Adam. Who remembers what happened in Noah’s life? (allow responses but be sure to read the summary of Noah below)
[Noah was a faithful man who walked with God. In his lifetime, the world had become so sinful that God told Noah that He was going to destroy the whole world with a flood. God told Noah to build an ark, a big boat, and that Noah’s family and all of the land animals and birds would be saved by getting into the ark while the earth was flooded with water. God judged sin on the earth through the flood waters.]
Many years later, Abram was born into the same family as one of Noah’s three sons, Shem.
(SLIDE) The name Abram means “exalted father”. What does the word “exalted” mean? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) The word “exalted” means: someone or something is raised up to be super important, honored, or at a very high level.
Abram was just a man, but he was a special man chosen by God to be the father of many people who God would give special blessings. Abraham’s family was chosen and blessed by God. They became known as the Israelites. They are also known as the Jewish people.
We can read about the time when God chose Abram in the first Book of The Bible, Genesis:
(SLIDE) Genesis 12:1-3 NIrV
[“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s family. Go 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. You will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you. I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. All nations on earth will be blessed because of you.’”]
(SLIDE) God tells Abram that He will give Abram’s family (1) a new land, (2) special blessing, and (3) a large family.
Let’s discuss the 3 parts of God’s promise to Abram.
Raise your hand if you have heard of “The Promised Land” from The Bible.
(SLIDE) The “Promised Land” is the same as what we are talking about here. God promised Abram that He would give Abram’s family a new land to live in and call their own.
That land that God promised to give to Abram’s family is the land of Israel. It took Abram’s family many, many years to finally get to the Promised Land, but they made it with God’s guidance.
(SLIDE) The next part of God’s promise to Abram was a special blessing.
What is a “blessing”? (allow responses)
A blessing is something really good, like a special gift or special favor. God’s chosen people have always had, and will always have, His special blessing.
God gave Abram’s family, the Israelites, their land. God continues to give His chosen people a special blessing.
(SLIDE) The next part of God’s promise to Abram is what we are going to spend the most time learning about today. Genesis 12:2 says that God will make Abram “into a great nation”. What do you think that means? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) When God told Abram He would become a “great nation”, he meant that Abram would have a large family with many descendants.
(SLIDE) Remember what we read about earlier from Genesis 15:5:
[The LORD took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That’s how many children will be born into your family.”]
God promised that Abram would have a large family and that many people would be born into his family.
In Genesis 17:4-5, God tells Abram:
(SLIDE)
[“This is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations.”]
Who remembers what a covenant is? (allow responses)
A covenant is a promise, and it is legal term that means the promise cannot be broken.
God made a promise to Abram that Abram would be the “father of many nations”, meaning that Abram would have a large family and many people would be born into his family.
(SLIDE) The name “Abraham” means “father of many nations”.
But, for someone to have a large family and have many people born into his family, what would be the first step in that process? (allow responses and discussion)
For Abraham to have a large family, that means he would have to have some children of his own, right?
That was a problem, because Abraham didn’t have any children!
God promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, and that he would have a large family of people come after him. But Abraham didn’t have any children.
What do we know about God’s promises? (allow responses and discussion)
When God makes a promise, He keeps it.
(SLIDE) God keeps His promises! (Big Idea)
LEADER NOTE: The story of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael has been left out of this lesson. This part of the lesson focuses on God’s promise of the birth of Isaac.
We can read in Genesis 18:1-8 about a special time in Abraham’s life when he received some very important news.
One day Abraham was sitting outside his tent when God and two angels showed up nearby. Abraham greeted them, gave them water, food, and a place to rest. They asked Abraham where his wife, Sarah, was at.
Sarah was in the tent listening to the conversation, and one of them said:
(SLIDE) Genesis 18:10 NIrV
[“I will surely return to you about this time next year. Your wife Sarah will have a son.”]
Remember that Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children. Abraham and Sarah were very old and thought that they were too old to be able to have a baby.
When Sarah overheard this news, she actually laughed to herself because she thought that it would be impossible for her to have a baby at her old age.
But remember, one of the 3 visitors was God! God can do anything! If He promised that Sarah would be able to have a baby at her old age, then she would be able to have a baby at her old age!
Do you think that Sarah and Abraham had a baby? (allow responses)
Genesis 21:1-3 says:
(SLIDE)
[The LORD was gracious to Sarah, just as he had said he would be. The LORD did for Sarah what he had promised to do. Sarah became pregnant. She had a son by Abraham when he was old. The child was born at the exact time God had promised. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah had by him.]
God kept His promise to Abraham, and a son named Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah.
There is something really exciting about Isaac’s birth.
Remember how God promised Abraham that he would be the “father of many nations”?
Many years after Abraham died, Jesus was born into Abraham’s family. Jesus is one of Abraham’s many family members! Jesus was born into this chosen family as God had promised.
In Genesis 12:3 God told Abraham:
(SLIDE) Genesis 12:3 NIrV
[“…All nations on earth will be blessed because of you.”]
(SLIDE) Jesus is the reason that ALL NATIONS ON EARTH will be blessed.
(SLIDE) Romans 4:13 says:
[Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God.]
This verse is talking about Jesus!
(SLIDE) Jesus is the promised blessing to all who believe in Him.
All people who believe in Jesus receive the same promise that God gave to Abraham of special blessing through Jesus.
Jesus came to earth to live a sinless life, die on the cross to take the punishment for our sins, and raise back to life so that He can offer us new life and salvation.
Sin entered the world through the first people, Adam and Eve. Because of that sin we are separated from God.
Because of Jesus’s free gift, we can have a relationship with God. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior!
Dear God,
Thank You for the true story of Abraham, and the special promise that you gave to him. We thank You that Jesus was a part of that promise, and because of Jesus we can have a relationship with You after we choose to accept Him. Please help us to be bold enough to ask questions when we don’t understand, and bold enough to share the good news of Jesus with other people.
We love you and we pray all of these things in Jesus’ sweet name, Amen.
LARGE GROUP ACTIVITY
(SLIDE) We are going to review the lesson by building a promise puzzle piece by piece.
I will ask questions to the whole group, and for each correct answer that is given, I will reveal a new piece of the puzzle on the screen.
(16 SLIDES)
LEADER NOTE: You will need to advance the slides after each correct answer that is given to reveal Galatians 3:29. You should also plan to spend a few minutes discussing the meaning and Truths found in the verse (discussion on the next page).
There are 16 questions and 16 pieces to the puzzle, so if students struggle coming up with an answer, you will need to prompt them so that they can reveal every part of the puzzle.
REVIEW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
- What was brought into the world through Adam and Eve? (sin)
- Why did God tell Abram to count the stars? (God said that the number of descendants that Abram would have would be like the number of stars.)
- What does the name ABRAM mean? (exalted father)
- What did God promise to Abraham about where his family would live? (God would give Abraham’s family a new land, the Promised Land, to live in.)
- What is a blessing? (something really good, like a special gift or special favor)
- What promise did God make to Abraham about his family? (God promised to make Abraham’s family large.; God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants, including Jesus.)
- What is another word for “covenant”? (promise)
- What does the name ABRAHAM mean? (father of many nations)
- What does “many nations” mean? (many people in his family)
- What do we know about God’s promises? (God always keeps His promises.)
- What did Sarah do when she heard that she was going to have a baby in her old age? (She laughed to herself.)
- Who were the 3 visitors who told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby in her old age? (God and 2 angels)
- What was the name of Abraham and Sarah’s son? (Isaac)
- Who else was a descendant of Abraham? (Jesus)
- What separates us from God? (sin)
- Who offers us a new life so we can have a relationship with God? (Jesus)
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
Abraham had FAITH in God. Faith means to believe in someone or something even when you can’t see it. Today as you are having discussions with your small group, you can color a picture to help you remember the story of Abraham’s faith in God.
HANDOUT: Each student should get a Romans 4:13 coloring page.
You should inform students that an explanation of Romans 4:13 is printed on the back side of their coloring page that they can take home to discuss with their family.
BREAK INTO SMALL GROUPS TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY.
Discussion Prompts for Leaders:
- What was brought into the world through Adam and Eve? (sin)
- Why did God tell Abram to count the stars? (God said that the number of descendants that Abram would be like the number of stars.)
- What does the name ABRAM mean? (exalted father)
- What did God promise to Abraham about where his family would live? (God would give Abraham’s family a new land, the Promised Land, to live in.)
- What is a blessing? (something really good, like a special gift or special favor)
- What promise did God make to Abraham about his family? (God promised to make Abraham’s family large.; God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants, including Jesus.)
- What is another word for “covenant”? (promise)
- What does the name ABRAHAM mean? (father of many nations)
- What does “many nations” mean? (many people in his family)
- What do we know about God’s promises? (God always keeps His promises.)
- What did Sarah do when she heard that she was going to have a baby in her old age? (She laughed to herself.)
- Who were the 3 visitors who told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby in her old age? (God and 2 angels)
- What was the name of Abraham and Sarah’s son? (Isaac)
- Who else was a descendant of Abraham? (Jesus)
- What separates us from God? (sin)
- Who offers us a new life so we can have a relationship with God? (Jesus)
- Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
- Use any extra time to discuss the lesson and/or the memory verse.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ROMANS 4:13 ESV
This passage is referring to Jesus. Jesus is part of the promise that was given to Abraham by God.
God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as large as the number of stars (Genesis 15:5). Jesus was one of those descendants. Jesus was born into Abraham’s family line when He came to earth as a man.
Through Jesus, all of humanity is blessed (Galatians 3:29).
Jesus offers new life, salvation, and a way to have a relationship with God. Jesus is the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).
Jesus is the reason that ALL NATIONS ON EARTH will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Jesus is the promised blessing to all who believe in Him.
All people who believe in Jesus receive the same promise that God gave to Abraham of special blessing through Jesus.
Abraham had FAITH in God. Faith means to believe in someone or something even when you can’t see it.
When a person believes in Jesus and puts their faith in Him, they will receive salvation and new life in Him.
CLOSING REFLECTION
We learned that God made a promise to a man named Abram that his family would be given a new land to live in, special blessings, and that he would have a large family. Abram’s name was changed to “Abraham”, which means “father of many nations”. Jesus was born into Abraham’s family and is the promised blessing to all who believe in Him. Through Jesus, we can have new life, salvation, and a relationship with God.
Reflection Questions:
- What promise did God make to Abraham? (that his family would be blessed)
- How was Jesus part of the promise God made to Abraham? (Jesus was born into Abraham’s family and gives the special blessing of salvation)
- How are we a part of the promise God made to Abraham? (Jesus offers salvation to anyone who believes in Him; People who believe in Jesus are part of Abraham’s family)
- Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
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