The Abrahamic Covenant

I have a confession: I never really understood the Abrahamic Covenant. The subject always intimidated me. I wondered, "Did God change the game plan that he had given previous prophets like Adam, Enoch and Noah?"
A second confession: I never really sought to understand it, until I was pretty much forced to as a Gospel Doctrine teacher. So that's pretty lame.
The good news is that I took on the challenge and have started to see the BIG PICTURE of the covenant Jehovah made with Abraham about 4000 years ago.

If you want to get a better understanding of why the Abrahamic Covenant is so important in God's plan for all of his children, including YOU, check these out:
"Abrahamic Covenant" in the Bible Dictionary. A very clear, concise explanation with references.
"Covenants" a General Conference talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson "When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us."
Special Witnesses of Christ: In this video, Elder Nelson talks about the Abrahamic Covenant: it's blessings and responsibilities.
BYU TV Pearl of Great Price Discussions: The Abrahamic Covenant. Four BYU religion professors discuss how the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is bringing about the promises made to Abraham. This was very helpful to me.

Many of my past posts have been lengthy, but I was slammed with a flu virus this past week, so although I studied the lesson, I did not have the energy to write much.

I will simply say that preparing this lesson helped me to put some puzzle pieces together so I could see a bigger picture.

The BYU TV episode helped me to see that the covenant made with Abraham was the same gospel covenant made with prophets and their followers since Adam. But as with the Melchizedek priesthood, God has used Abraham's name by which to call it. You can ponder on the reasons why.
This TV episode also showed how Joseph Smith was given line upon line over several years before he fully understood the Abrahamic Covenant and his (and the Saints') role in fulfilling it and being blessing by it.
I love their conclusion that part of the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant is that we don't have to do it alone--we have lots of help!

• The gift of the Holy Ghost
• The commandments and scriptures to guide us
• The Temple
• Ward members and other church resources
• Purpose in life

After reading through and viewing all of the above references, I came to see how my efforts

• to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
• perform sacred temple ordinances for my deceased family members (and others),
• and to teach the gospel to my family,

are all part of my contribution to helping the Lord fulfill his promises to Abraham.

And in fact, because of my Patriarchal blessing, I know my lineage in regards to Abraham's "seed." That plus my increased understanding, helps me to feel a part of something much bigger.

Did you know that researchers found out that when children know family stories and feel they are part of something bigger than themselves, they have better self-esteem and are able to handle the ups and downs of life?
It's true! I blogged about the amazing power of family stories and the research is fascinating. In fact, the Church linked the article about it to their family history lesson.

We are all part of the family of Abraham and can share in all the blessings he was promised as we do three things:

1. Be baptized and honor that covenant
2. Receive the blessings of the temple, including the everlasting covenant of marriage
3. Honor the Atonement of Jesus Christ to keep our covenants, exercise faith in Christ, and continually repent of our sins.

Did I miss anything?