Covenant Communion

INTRODUCTION:

This morning we’re going to finish a series we’ve been working through entitled “Faith & It’s Reward.”

In this series we’ve been following the faith journey of the original founding father of faith: Abram.

We’ve seen him learn to walk with the Lord through thick and thin, mountain high and valley low.

Called in Genesis 12. Fruit of faith.

Challenged in Genesis 13. Fear & famine.

Restored in Genesis 13. Revive & Renew.

Last week we saw Abram display incredible courage as he rescued his nephew Lot from the hands of four powerful kings who were bent on his destruction.

He has now come back to his land. Denied the material prosperity of the king of Sodom and recognized the source of his true victory in his interactions with Melchizedek.

Conversation & Covenant

This morning we pick up our story in Genesis 15 which describes the official covenant commitment ceremony between God and Abram.

It is in this chapter the Lord ceremonially confirms his promise with Abram even as he cautions him of what that may require in the future.

There are so many different directions that we could take this passage. So many important theological truths are established in these 21 verses.

The two truths that I was us to see this morning are the communion and confidence we can experience in the Lord as we come to understand his covenant with us.

Communion & Confidence in God are found in his covenant with us.

So I’ve entitled the message “Covenant Communion & Confidence.”

COMMUNION WITH GOD

The dynamics of this special promise take place within the context of an important conversation between God and Abram.

The conversation between God and Abram is the third of many many other conversations in the book of Genesis.

Genesis 12:1-3 (God’s initial call)

Genesis 13:14-17 (God’s promise after Lot leaves)

Genesis 15 (God’s covenant)

Genesis 17 (Covenant confirmed)

Genesis 18:16-33 (Intercession for Sodom)

Genesis 22:1-18 (Instructions for Issac)

Having regular conversations with God in prayer is central to living a life of genuine faith before the Lord.

Prayer is one of God’s greatest gift to us because we can have communion with God through prayer.

What an amazing gift. The Lord didn’t have to make prayer an option much less communion. We certainly haven’t “earned” the right to have God engage with us in conversation. It’s a grace gift.

Growing in this arena in our church is one of the things God really impressed upon me during the sabbatical.

We can try and grow in all of the areas that we show weakness in spiritually but if we don’t learn to keep ourselves in a posture of prayerful dependance upon God we will never see him achieve in us and through us what he ultimately desires.

Comfort for our Fears

What do we receive from God when we go to him in prayer? This passage shows us at least two things.

Let’s pick up in Genesis 15:1

Genesis 15:1 CSB

1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.

The “these events” of verse 1 are probably a reference to the happenings of Genesis 14.

I’m not sure about you but if I led a military campaign against four regional powers and successfully overcame then it’d be on my top 10 list of important life events.

We can see from verse 1 that as a result of Abram’s action there was a sense in which he was struggling with fear and insecurity.

In response to that fear and insecurity God provides comfort and understanding.

In prayer we receive comfort for our fears.

Why might Abram be afraid?

retaliation from the eastern kings?

poverty from having to pay out his men for their service?

the ongoing safety of Lot and/or his own house in Mamre?

There would’ve been all sorts of reasons for Abram to be anxious and afraid. So God comes to him in a vision and reminds him of two central truths.

God often does this when we pray. We don’t just speak to him. He also speaks to us. He often speaks by way of REMINDER.

Protection & Prize

The first thing he reminds Abram of is that I am your protector.

“Don’t be afraid because I am your shield.”

The gift of assurance is one of God’s greatest gifts when we are afraid.

Sometimes we can endure incredible suffering if we’re given the assurance that God is with us and that he is going to keep us through the difficulty we’re walking in.

But the Lord doesn’t just give Abram assurance for his fears.

He also gives him a promise to ease his anxiety/insecurity.

Abram is reminded that God is his PRIZE.

“You reward will be very great.”

Now this could be understood as God reminding Abram that even though he gave up the opportunity to enrich himself through the king of Sodom that God still had plans to bless him with material prosperity.

But I’m not sure that’s the best way to understand it.

I actually like the KJV translation (or NIV84) of this verse better because it emphasizes that the reward of Abram isn’t just what God can give. The great reward is GOD HIMSELF.

Abram had already received, in the Lord, everything he needed for his present and his future. Whatever he may have lacked - he didn’t - because in possessing God he possessed the greatest reward of all.

The same is true for us. In Christ we have all that we need. Sometimes it’s not until Christ is all that you have that you realize he’s all you ever needed.

Answers to Our Questions

After Abram receives comfort for his fears he then begins to articulate some questions that he had been wrestling with.

This is another reason prayer is so valuable in the Christian life.

In prayer, not only do we get to voice some of our questions and lingering doubts. We also often get to hear God’s answer.

Genesis 15:2–3 CSB

2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

In prayer we receive answers to our questions.

Some read this question by Abram and assume he’s angry or upset at the Lord because God had promised him an heir and descendents as numerous as the sands on the seashore.

I don’t see it that way. I think Abram was struggling to believe in God’s promise but his current circumstances made it difficult for him to believe that God’s promise was going to be fulfilled through a biological child between him and Sarai.

Doubts Don’t Destroy

You can call this a faithless lack of patience. But I see it more as a realistic accommodation.

It reminds me of Jesus’ conversation with the man who had a son who was very sick.

He says to Jesus, “If you can heal my son...” And Jesus responds with a rebuke, “IF? ALL things are possible for those who believe.” (Mark 9:23) True statement.

The man’s response? I think similar to Abram’s response. “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

In prayer, don’t let your doubts destroy your faith.

Doubts can be a friend of faith not an enemy.

Like doubting your answer on a test can be what God uses to bring about a greater liklihood of answering the question correctly so also can doubt in your heart bring greater levels of confidence in God.

But that will only happen if you’re VOICING your doubts before the Lord.

Delays Don’t Disturb

The Lord doesn’t run away from our questions. He listens to them. And he responds to them with the truths we need to know.

Genesis 15:4–5 CSB

4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

I love how the Lord responds in these verses because not only does he reconfirm his original promise to Abram.

He also gives Abram a visible picture of what the realization of that promise is going to look like.

What a gift. God doesn’t just say I’m going to do what I said. He says, “When I do what I promised, it’s going to be so visible and so overwhelming everybody is going to recognize it was from the Lord.

That’s what we receive in prayer. We are reminded that doubts don’t have to destroy our faith. And delays don’t have to disturb God’s plan.

The delays of God will often disturb OUR PLANS. But they don’t disturb God’s plans.

In fact, the delays of God are usually strategic delays. They are delays that prepare us to actually receive the promise when God brings it about.

Abram wasn’t yet ready to handle what God’s gift of Issac was going to bring in his life.

So God gently reminds him that my delay is not a cancelation.

Righteousness For Our Faith

In response to these answers from the Lord Abram has a decision.

He can either believe what God has said and move forward in faith. Or, he can disbelieve and continue with a life of unbelief.

In verse 6 Abram chooses the former over the latter and God rewards him greatly as a result.

Genesis 15:6 CSB

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 is one of the most important verses in all of the Old Testament.

The New Testament authors quote Genesis 15:6 four different times and in each case it was fundamental to their understanding of how salvation is received through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Rom 4:3, 22; Gal 3:6; Jam 2:23)

Salvation is essentially what is meant by the Hebrew word “righteousness.”

It means “to meet the standard.” Adherence to what is required to meet the standard.

What’s the standard in this context? The standard is doing what it takes to be pleasing to God. It’s having what is required to experience communion with God and fellowship with God.

And in the case of Abram it wasn’t his moral record or sinless life that made him righteous. It was his faith. It was his willingness to believe God.

In prayer we receive righteousness for our faith.

New Testament Articulation

This is what the New Testament authors consistently argued when it comes to how we understand our salvation and our growth in godliness.

In Romans 4 it’s the conclusion of Paul’s argument that all of us are hopelessly dead in our trespasses and sins and God’s justifying grace is our only hope in salvation.

How then is that grace recieved? Not by works! By grace through FAITH.

Romans 4:2–5 CSB

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.

A little later in that same chapter he continues. Rom 4:20-22

Romans 4:20–22 CSB

20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.

The Christian life is lived by faith to faith. He argues the same in his letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 3:5–9 CSB

5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard—6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness? 7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. 9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.

In other words, the Christian begins by faith, continues by faith and is finished in faith.

In prayer we are reminded that God responds to our faith with his righteousness.

It is through prayer that we’re able to say to God, “even though I can’t see HOW or WHY or WHEN I choose to live my life as though you will do what you say you will do.”

That’s what it means to live by faith.

CONFIDENCE IN GOD

In verses that follow we see that God doesn’t just credit Abram’s faith with the gift of righteousness. He also confirms that gift with a promise.

This conversation between God & Abram establishes the second key truth of this passage.

We can have communion WITH God through prayer.

We can have confidence IN God through his promise.

Verses 7-11 show how this promise is established between Abram and the Lord.

Genesis 15:7–8 CSB

7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “Lord God, how can I know that I will possess it?”

Notice what Abram is asking here. He’s experienced communion with God through prayer but now he’s asking, “How can I have confidence?” How will I know?

What do I have to show others for the fact that this is indeed something you’re calling me to do and something you promise to accomplish it?

On one hand, Abram just needed to look back. “I AM the God who called you out of Ur of the Chaldeans.” Did I keep my promise to you then? Yes? Then you can trust me with the promise today.

Sometimes, all we need in order to find our confidence in God is the look back and remember his faithfulness to his promise in our past.

Was God faithful in the past? Then trust him with your future!

If I was faithful then, I’ll be faithful today! If you can trust me with your past you can trust me with your future.

Commitment Through Covenant

But the Lord doesn’t stop there. In verses 9 the Lord secures his promise through the cutting of a covenant.

Essentially the Lord is saying, “You’ve shown you’re commitment to me so now let me show you my commitment to you.”

A covenant, at root, is a relational contract with defined stipulations and consequences for meeting/failing to meet them.

Genesis 15:9 CSB

9 He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

We know from the OT that the cow, female goat and ram were all mammals authorized for sacrifice according to the law of Moses.

We also know that for those who couldn’t afford those kind of mammals that a pigeon or a turtledove could be used in their place.

The one thing unique here that isn’t repeated elsewhere is the young age of the animals.

Confirmed Though Blood Sacrifice

Genesis 15:10–11 CSB

10 So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

You might wonder why is Abram cutting these animals in half?

For us it’s strange but when God made the request for these particular animals Abram would’ve know exactly what God had in mind.

God is inviting Abram into a covenant commitment ceremony.

And the first thing we see about God’s covenant with Abram is that it is confirmed through blood sacrifice.

You would cut the animals in half to create an alley between their dead carcasses. Given the size of birds you’d just put one dead bird on either side.

The idea of a covenant commitment ceremony is that each person would walk up and down the isle with the dead animals on either side as a way of promising, “If I don’t fulfill the terms of this covenant then may it be done to me as has been done to these animals.”

In other words they were “swearing on their life.” (We use similar language today.)

There’s a similar sealing of our covenant with God through the New Covenant.

Except the New Covenant isn’t sealed through the blood of cows and goats. It’s sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, sinless spotless sacrificial lamb.

Certain In Every Circumstance

In verse 12 we see mention of the time of day. Sunset. Days in the Hebrew calendar are reckoned from sunset to sunset.

After shooing away the birds, Abram falls into a deep sleep. Genesis 15:12-16

Genesis 15:12–16 CSB

12 As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. 14 However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. 15 But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

If you put yourself in the shoes of the original audience this prophecy by God to Abram is literally what they just lived through.

The Lord was predicting the events between Genesis 46 to Exodus 13.

430 years of Israel’s enslavement/oppression while in Egypt. (Ex 1:11-14)

the 10 plagues of God’s judgment on Pharoah and Egypt. (Ex 7:14-12:30)

Israel’s exodus from Egypt to the promised land. (Ex 12:35-36)

And Israel’s conquest of Cannaan in driving out the Ammonites. (Judges 10:7-11:33)

The Lord also tells Abram that he would live to be a “good old age.” Which is 175 years old for those who are curious. (Gen 25:7-8) That means Abram was about “middle aged” when he received this covenant.

All of this was a very dark Omen for Abram. But God tells him “you can know this for CERTAIN.”

I love that about the Lord. Even in the darkest of days we can have certainty around his covenant promise.

God’s covenant promises are certain no matter our external circumstances.

On the one hand it was encouraging because he knew God was completely sovereign over the future and the promises would be literally fulfilled.

On the other hand he knew that the fullness of the promise would stretch past his lifetime and that the only way to truly participate in God’s promised future was to first walk through incredible suffering.

God’s covenants are secure and our God is sovereign no matter the circumstances we may find ourselves in. In every season. In every generation.

Completed By God’s Actions, Not Ours

God’s covenants are confirmed through the shedding of innocent blood. They are certain and secure in every season and circumstance.

Finally we see how God’s covenant is completed in verses 17-21. Gen 15:17-21

Genesis 15:17–21 CSB

17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

So remember the context. If you go back up to verse 12 you see the sun begin to set and a “deep sleep” come over Abram just like the deep sleep that came over Adam before God gave him the gift of a wife.

When the sun had fully set we see God come down in the form of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch.

These are two of the most common ways that God reveals himself throughout the Old Testament.

During the exodus it was a Pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

In Isaiah 6 the temple was filled with smoke and a burning coal from the altar touched his lips.

These are powerful images of the presence of God and the power of God.

The point being made is that God’s covenant wasn’t kept because of what Abram did or did not do.

God’s covenant are completed by God’s actions and not our own!

Traditionally both parties would walk through the sacrificed animals and swear on their life that if they didn’t keep the covenant then their life should be taken.

But in this case God is the only one who does any walking. Abram is left on the ground sleeping.

The Lord was solemnly obligating himself to fulfill the terms of the covenant. He was symbolically indicating that he would himself be split in two if he failed to carry out his promises.

Fulfillment in Christ

And in this way God’s covenant with Abram is ultimately pointing to an even greater covenant and that is the New Covenant God has established with us through Christ.

That covenant was also confirmed through the shedding of blood. Except that blood wasn’t the blood of cows, goats and rams. It was the sinless blood of the God in the flesh.

As the book of Hebrews says Heb 9:13-14

Hebrews 9:13–14 CSB

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?

In other words, all the blood sacrifices of the old testament were just pointing to the real and ultimate sacrifice which was Jesus Christ on the cross. (Rom 3:22-26)

The new covenant established through Christ on the cross was not just given to those original disciples but it is available to all who believe in every generation.

It’s a covenant that is protected by God (certain and secure) kept in heaven regardless of our circumstances here on this earth. (Rom 8:38-39)

As Peter said to the suffering Christians in Asia Minor In Christ Jesus we have an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us.” (1 Peter 1:3)

Like the covenant with Abram God is sovereignly overseeing the implementation of this covenant and will bring about it’s completion at the proper time when God’s purposes are finished and the wickedness of this world has become ripe for God’s harvest of judgment.

Finally, the fulfillment of God’s covenant in Christ is completed by HIS ACTIONS and not our own.

Salvation is God’s gift of grace. Received by faith. We do not contribute to our salvation in any way shape or form.

The covenant that God established with Abram finds it’s ultimate fulfilment through Christ on the cross.

The new and better covenant is for all of those who belong to Abram’s house through faith in Abram’s messiah. Jesus is the seed through whom all the other nations of the earth would be blessed.