20230521 Genesis 17: The Father of All Nations
Genesis: Looking Back in Order to Move Ahead Spiritually • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” 9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” 15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” 22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
I want to make your head hurt. Expand your view of God. Expand your understanding of the Bible. Expand the depth of your theology.
What does Vertical Church believe?
We are a biblical, systematic, catholic, evangelical, and reformed church
Biblical - our Book
The Bible is the only written revelation of God. The teachings and philosophies of men do not stand in authority over the Bible. The Bible stands in authority
Systematic - Our approach
Systematic theology “is not to come to the Bible with a preconceived system, but rather to come to the Bible, listen to the Word of God in all of its particular details, and then try to discern how all of these individual truths fit together. The assumption of systematic theology is that the Bible is coherent. Though God reveals many things to us, all of His truth is unified in His own person and His own character.” - Sproul
Catholic - our Foundation
Apostles’ Creed: 6 Studies for Individuals or Groups Study 6: The Church, Forgiveness and Eternal Life (Ephesians 4:1–13)
When the Apostles’ Creed uses the term catholic, it means “according to the whole” or “universal.” In saying that the church is catholic we affirm that its message is valid and relevant to every age and every situation.
Affirmations of historic Christianity - the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the substitutionary atonement of Christ,
Evangelical - our Salvation
The key statement here is, justification by faith alone. The gospel, or good news, is that God declares guilty sinners righteous, not by their goodness, because only perfect goodness could achieve salvation, but by the meritorious and substitutionary work of Jesus. And this righteousness that God bestows on the guilty sinner is a free gift that is received by faith alone. Not by works or by a mixture of faith and works but by faith alone.
To be Evangelical is to believe that you cannot earn your way to heaven, but you can receive by faith alone the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Reformed - our Doctrine
If you were to ask 10 individuals the most important doctrine is in Reformed theology, you would probably get 10 different answers.
One might say amilennialism, another might say election, another might say predestination. The most important doctrine is the sovereignty of God.
How is the relationship of God’s sovereignty to His holiness, what is the relation ship of God’s sovereignty to His omniscience, that He knows everything? What is the relationship of God’s sovereignty to His omnipresence, to His omnipotence? If what we believe does not demonstrate God’s perfect sovereignty, His rule over all things, including the events of history and what will take place in the future, then we will find ourselves to be worshiping a God of our making, a God who is less than omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, a God who is not in control of all things but is instead controlled by circumstances beyond His control. The God of the Bible is sovereign.
“In Reformed theology, we constantly test our doctrine by going back to our fundamental understanding of the character of God. I think that is the central unique factor of Reformed theology—it is relentlessly committed to maintaining the purity of the doctrine of God through every other element of theology.” - Sproul
(1) A proper view of God demands a proper response (17:1)
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
When the Lord demands, the only proper response is: I can’t
We must place ourselves in the posture of dependance: blessed are the poor in Spirit. If we think we are able we will be consumed with either guilt or a false external righteousness.
The failures of Abram
The grace of God
(2) The Sovereign God who enters into a covenant relationship with his children (17:2-14)
2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” 9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
(3) God initiates it, God enables it, God sovereignly accomplishes it (17:15-27)
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” 22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Because the Lord is Sovereign
He is omniscient - More than knowing the future, he determines the future
He is omnipotent - He is able to do what is humanly impossible
He is omnipresent - More than simply being everywhere at the same time, He stands outside of time. He stands in the past, the present, and the future.
As Paul said to the Greek scholars in Athens:
28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
God is truly the Father of All Nations
Let’s pray