Faith And Covenant - The Life of Abraham

Faith & Covenant
Genesis 15

Structure:
1. God's Promises and Abrams Faith
2. God's Unilateral Covenant with Abram

Scripture:
- Judges 6:13
- Romans 4:1-5
- Jeremiah 34:18
- Genesis 2:21
- Hebrews 11:9-10
- Luke 22:20-21

Quotes:
-“I take thee to be my wedded wife (husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

-Ray Venderland says it well: "Think of it. Almighty God walking barefoot through a pool of blood! The thought of a human being doing that is, to say the least, unpleasant. Yet God, in all his power and majesty, expressed his love personally. By participating in that traditional, Near Eastern covenant-making ceremony, he made it unavoidably clear to the people of that time, place and culture what he intended to do. “I love you so much, Abraham,” God was saying, “and I promise that this covenant will come true for you and your children. I will never break My covenant with you. I’m willing to put My own life on the line to make you understand.”
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Sermon Notes:

Consider marriage.
• The Bible calls this union as a marriage covenant!
• This is not just saying you love each other and lets form a family. But also you enter a contract of love, where you say in front of many witnesses (that is why elopement doesn't work) "“I take thee to be my wedded wife (husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
• As both of you enter this marriage you create a strong bond to one another.
• In times of difficulties you don't just pull the plug and leave
• In our day and age marriage is losing its design
This marriage covenant is a glimpse of something greater which is God's covenant with his people.
• God enters a covenant at various times in history with people to bless them. Not because they have done something special, but because God himself is a gracious loving God and he truly cares about us.
◦ Out of all the people in the world, God is the one that truly cares about you.
• Even though people sinned before God, God made a covenant through Adam promising that there will come a Savior. Who will crush the snake on it's head!
• After the flood God made a covenant through Noah that he will never destroy the world with a flood, no matter how bad people are.
• And today we will read about another important covenant that God makes with Abram where he will bless Him, by giving Abram descendants, he will give him land, and ultimately bless the whole world through their family.
◦ This Abrahamic covenant as its often called, is very important to the story of the Bible.
◘ Because it shows how God works, it points to the things that God sees as valuable.
◘ It also shows why God didn't just destroy Israel like other nations for their abominable sins.
◦ The basic point for us from this covenant is this: God himself promises to bless us and to care for us, and our response is to trust Him!
Open with me to Genesis 15

The structure of this passage is very simple. It's divided in two parts.
• v. 1-6. In the first part God promises decedents to Abram
• v. 7-21. In the second part God promises land to Abram
Both of them follow a similar structure, where
1. God reveals himself and makes promises
2. Then Abram has a complaint and/or a question
3. Then God reveals things to him and confirms them.

I. God's Promises and Abrams Faith (1-6)

God tells him "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great"
• Abram did a courageous thing, he just defeated four kings to save his nephew Lot and of course in a few years there might be retribution, and those kings might try to get back at Abram. So there might be fear about that.
◦ That is why God says don't be afraid, I will be your shield. In other words "I will protect you"
• Also remember Abram does not take anything from the spoil of that defeat because he says "I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord". Meaning God will provide for me.
◦ So that is why God says your reward will be very great.
◦ Meaning I will take care of you so don't worry.

In other words: God says I will protect and provide for you, just don't be afraid. "I am your God, your shepherd"
• So Abram, did a brave thing, but now he placed himself in a place where he can have enemies and problems.
• In the 21st century we basically think that we don't need anyone to survive but in reality, but ultimately we have no control over our lives
• Yet, awesome it is for us to know GOD.

Yet, Abram somewhat questions God by pointing out his biggest dilemma
• He says v.2-3 "Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?... Look you have give me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir"
• God you're saying you will do all this, and provide for me and give me protection, but what about this?? I have no heir."
◦ In those days that was a big deal, everything you have is going to be someone else's domain.
◦ Abram is somewhat right to raise this issue, how can you promise me all this stuff, and yet my biggest need is not solved???
• We often have that in our minds don't we???
◦ We read about God's promises, and his power, yet when we look into our lives, we don't see God working
◘ Where is God? Why do I still have this issue? Where are all the miracles that God showed in the past?
◘ This is the same question Gideon asked the Lord "Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about?" (Judges 6:13).
◘ We might not say anything, but deep inside we sort of developed this perspective that if God works, he works in bigger areas and I am a small person, why would he bother with me???
◘ Or we have doubt.
◘ How can I trust God when I prayed to God for a certain need and he did not answer??? \
◘ Where is God when this illness came upon me? Why is he not healing me?
◘ Why is God allowing this great evil and pain to enter my life?
• What do we do with these various thoughts that come to mind that seems to shake our convictions and break our foundations???
So God speaks to Abram and tells him:
• "This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir". He took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the starts, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "Your offspring will be that numerous"
• What does God say? - look at the sky that is how big your family will be.
◦ Does God do a miracle? - no. Does he shows his Greatness? - no
◦ He simply promises again, I will do it, simply because God himself had said it.
◘ God is the reason why it will happen.
◦ When Job had many doubts about why evil came upon him, what does God do? He shows up and says who are you Job and who am I? Look at the world, and see who I am that is controlling your life. And Job closed his mouth!
• God allows things to happen to us, because he has purpose for all things.
Look what Abram did:

It says "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness"
• one commentator grammatically translate v.6 as "Now Abraham was believing in Yahweh"
◦ Or "further trusting" Him.
◦ Against all odds, Abram trusts God! -
◦ Not that he did not have faith, but his faith was rekindled even more. And that trust is what counted as righteousness.

• Was Abram righteous? - no he was not, at this point in the journey of faith we see he is messed up many times for not trusting God to provide for his household during famine.
• But he believes the Lord, He trusts that God will make this happen. He will give him an son and a huge family.
◦ He trusts God!
• Then that faith is credited to him as righteousness.
• Does that mean Abram totally changed and become a new person? - no, it did not make him more righteous, but rather this righteousness was "imputed on him" he was counted as righteous before God! He was declared righteous.
◦ Even though Abram sinned and will sin, before God he is righteous because he believes God will make this happen.
◦ Faith relies not on the person but on God
◘ Faith says I cannot do this but God you can. And I trust you!

Romans 4:1-5
• What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about — but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

• Righteousness is to be right before God.
◦ He is the one before whom the world walks and will stand at the end of their lives, whether they want to admit it or not.
◦ Those who are right before God, are on God's side.
◘ Yet it says that "all" are sinners before God.
◘ Nothing we can do can bring this righteousness, all of our "good works" are stained by sin.
◘ It's like a child with muddy hands trying to help you set the table, no matter how much he tries it will be all stained.
◦ Yet what makes it right, and why the Abram is considered the Father to all of us is :FAITH In GOD
◦ God said he will find a way to make us righteous, and he did.
◘ He sent his son who took on himself all of our sins.
◘ Jesus died for us so that by his blood we are cleansed.
◦ Now our faith in God is what "counts us righteous"
◘ Because you admit you cannot do it yourself, you need God, you trust God to make it through. And he made it possible through the Cross and the Grave!!!!
◘ Doubts target not us, but God.
• That is why when someone comes to faith in God, they repent of their sins, they cast them on Christ, and put on righteousness.
• That is why it's called "grace" - it is undeserved, freely given to anyone who believes.

◦ If there is anyone here today, who has tried to make it right themselves but failed, you are in a perfect position to come to God. Trust Him. Come to him!
◘ He has done it, cling unto his achieved work on the cross.
◘ He is reaching toward you with his hand, grab his hand in faith.
◦ He is ready to forgive you, to make you clean, to be your shepherd, but you have to respond in faith!
◘ This means you come to him in repentance of your sins. That you have messed up, you need a saviour. You cannot live like this by your own strength.
◘ In repentance you believe in the work on the cross. That Jesus died for you, he lived this life perfectly so that he can impute "his righteousness" unto you.
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II. God's Unilateral Covenant with Abram (7-21)

God then tells Abram another thing: "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess"

Abram says "Lord God, how can I know that I will posses it?
God repeats his promise by entering into a covenant with Abram
• God tells him to bring a 3 year old cow, 3 years old female goat, a 3 year old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon......
• Jeremiah 34:18, says precisely the same thing:
◦ "As for those who disobeyed by covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces"
• In fact the Hebrew word for "covenant" (berit)- literally means "to cut a covenant"
◦ God uses a cultural expression of the time to prove to Abram that he will indeed do what he says he will do
• Then there is a scene where Abram is driving away the birds from the cut pieces and then he goes into "a deep sleep"
◦ Where "great terror and darkness descended on him"
◦ This is the same language is in Gen. 2:21 "So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place"
◘ In Genesis 2:21 God is creating a woman for the man, then they are connected to one another in a marital covenant.
◘ And here God is about to establish a covenant with Abraham.
◘ The marital covenant is in view
• First God tells Abram the future of his family.
• Then we read that "a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram"
◦ Now notice the uniqueness here: God himself passes between the pieces and what is Abram doing? - he is simply observing.
◘ What does that mean? - God is taking the initiative on himself alone to fulfill his promises to Abram.
◘ He is making a "unilateral covenant".
• In this covenant Abraham has no part but simply receives it and believes God will do it!
• Ray Venderland says it well: "Think of it. Almighty God walking barefoot through a pool of blood! The thought of a human being doing that is, to say the least, unpleasant. Yet God, in all his power and majesty, expressed his love personally. By participating in that traditional, Near Eastern covenant-making ceremony, he made it unavoidably clear to the people of that time, place and culture what he intended to do. “I love you so much, Abraham,” God was saying, “and I promise that this covenant will come true for you and your children. I will never break My covenant with you. I’m willing to put My own life on the line to make you understand.”

In comparison, think of the Sinai Covenant (this is when God makes a covenant with Israel after he leads them out of slavery, by mount Sinai),
• God bring the terms of the condition if people will obey him he will bless them but if they disobey, he will curse them. That was a "bilateral covenant".
• In reality it was broken as soon as it was set in place. They made a golden calf.
◦ Israel couldn't do it, Adam couldn't do it and so can't we.
◦ We are weak and incapable to do all things right.
• The only one that could do it, was God himself.

That is why Abrahamic covenant supersedes the Sinai Covenant, because God says I will make it happen!!! I will do it and nothing will ruin this, I place my life on the line for this.
• This covenant was the main reason why God dealt with Israel's sin and never destroyed them. Even when the people of Israel sinned greatly by sleeping with other gods, God punished them but never left them.
• He placed himself in a position where he will bless them, with people and land and they will be a blessing to the whole world.
• Because Israel is good? No because God himself will do it.
◦ Hebrews 11:9-10 talking about Abraham "By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God"
◘ Abram is simply looking forward to what God is building and designing.
• The work is the Lords, he says he will do it, he will make it happen and nothing in this world will thwart his plan.
◦ Looking ahead, we see God gave many descendent to Abraham, even when they were in slavery and there was no hope. God shows up and takes them out with his mighty hand. Even when Israel abandons God, and follows false idols God does not leave them, he punishes them and then rescues them.

God promised to make Israel a blessing to the nations and he has done it!
• God sends his own Son to finish the work that he promised to do.
• Jesus is God in the Flesh
• Jesus walked these dusty roads, he experienced our difficulties, he came to give his life as a random for many.
◦ Jesus in Luke 22:20-21 "And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, 'this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you"
• As God is walking through the cut animals with their blood oozing down to the ground, this is a picture of Jesus becoming a lamb who is cut to pieces on the cross and his blood is oozing down for us, as these animals were.
◦ And Jesus at the cross bears the consequences of sin, sin that separates us from God. He bears the punishment that we deserve for all our sins as single stream from the Father.
◦ And at the end he yells with his loud voice, "it is finished"
◦ Now the whole world can come to Him in repentance and faith to receive forgiveness from sins and salvation for their souls!
• The Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled in Jesus Christ because the nations are blessed through cross of Christ.

What is your response?????????
• Are you going to follow in the steps of Abraham who believed the Lord. Will you be believe in Jesus by surrendering yourself to Him?
• Will we place our trust in Him and Him alone even when our life looks grim?
• If you trusted God, do you know God's promises to his own people, and do you keep on trusting God through thick and thin.

Amen!