An Old Covenant For A New People

Before I get into todays sermon, I want to add on to the announcement that Matt made about this class. In Matthew 28, Jesus calls us to be a people who are busy making disciples in the world. One of the many reasons this isn’t happening as much as it should be, is that we buy into the lie that we just don’t know what to say when hard things come up. We are all going through different and sometimes messy things in life and so it can be difficult at times to know exactly what to say, but there isn't a script for discipleship. This 8-week study, will help guide us into a firm foundation for what it means and looks like to do discipleship. If you have any interest in counseling others, or just want to know how to better respond in everyday conversations with those we love, this study will help you. If you are interested you can get with me after the service and we can work out the details of the class and I can send you the link for the study guide. If you can’t get the study guide for yourself just let me know and let’s become a people who are fulfilling the call to make disciples.

Sacred text: Galatians 3:13–14 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

Introduction:

September 13th, 2013, is a day I will never forget. It was the day that me and Krista got married in a little small church in Panhandle. It was an early morning after a long night of hanging out with my best friend and best man Joey. That day, we got all dressed up, made our way to the church, and began to greet people as Krista and I tried to stay separated from each other. Finally, we came together and made vows to one another, and entered into a lifelong covenant before God and all of our guests. This covenant has not been full of good times and constant sunshine. Like all couples, we have had our fights and times of darkness. We have had our trials and sufferings with each other and with others. But, we have endured all of it. We have endured because we promised each other and God that we would keep Him in the middle of everything and not let anything separate us. The covenant is a bond that holds tight forever and is sealed by God himself. Today, we will see how a covenant like this is made in Scripture and what it entails. So, you can open your Bible to chapter 15 of Genesis as we prepare to see the covenant made with Abram.

Context: In Genesis chapter 12, God made three promises to Abram in a blessing that he received. Genesis 12:2: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” God promised Abram that he would make him into a great nation, that his name would be great, and that he would be a blessing to future generations. Remember, just two weeks ago, Pastor Ricky preached on the call of Abram, where God had called Abram from his home and sent him out into a new world. Abram faithfully took up this command; he gathered up his people and possessions and left his home. Then, we see this story begin to blossom into separation, trials, and even some suffering along the way. Then we get to this point in chapter 14, remember last week, Abram rescued Lot and received a blessing from Melchizedek. Now we enter into chapter 15, and something very special happens. God makes a special covenant with Abram. Before we get into this today, I want us to understand what a covenant is and the pieces we see within the covenants. A covenant is simply a promise made between two parties for a specific outcome that cannot be changed or voided along the way. You can write these down if you would like, there are also 5 pieces of a covenant that we will see through out the text today. First, we see that there are always two parties involved in a covenant. Second, covenants always come with conditions. Third, Covenants almost always contain blessings and cursings. Fourth, Covenants normally affect more than just the two parties making the covenant. Lastly, Covenants normally contain signs as a seal of the covenant. Today, we will see each of these elements. It is also important to note, that the covenants we see in Scripture contain two elements of application, one is national and the other is universal. National being that it applies to the specific people being affected by the covenant, such as the Israelites, universal is that which applies to all people as we will see. So let’s begin with verses 1-7.

The Two Parties Identified (Genesis 15:1-7)

Read Genesis 15:1-7

Genesis 15:1–7 ESV

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

After these events came the Lord.

“After these events” meaning after the conquest of Abram to rescue Lot, the Lord came to Abram in a vision. The Lord said, “Fear not Abram, for I am your shield.” At this point, Abram was most likely scared and ready for more combat, as he had just conquered a great army of kings, and retaliation was most likely coming his way. But God, don’t you love that? But God came to Abram and said, “Do not be afraid; I am your protection, your shield, and strength, and your reward will be great.” But what is this reward?

This is exactly what Abram is thinking: “What reward could you offer me that will not end up in the hands of another?” Abram is childless, and any reward given to him will be given to someone else not even from his own bloodline. A slave child born in his house would become the heir of all that Abram possessed. So what good is a reward? Now, this may seem a little odd, but you have to understand that back in those days, having a male heir was everything, it was a status among others, and it ensured that what was yours stayed in the family. So, Abram not having an heir is a major problem, especially if this reward from God is intended to be familial.

But God.

In verse 4, we see God’s response to this situation with Abram not having an heir. God says, “Abram, this person will not be your heir because I am going to do something miraculous, and an heir from your bloodline will take possession of all you have.” Did you catch that? A promised son will come take possession of all that is promised to him. Then God takes Abram outside. God shows Abram the stars, and I can just imagine that this is a perfectly clear night, and God says, “Abram, I am going to make your offspring so plentiful that you won’t even be able to count them, just as you cannot count the stars in the sky right now.” What a good and miraculous promise for God to make. And Abram believes.

Abram believes.

Before I move on, I want to point out the impact of verse 6. “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited to him as righteousness.” The word “credited” here in Hebrew carries with it the meaning of imputation. The Lexham Bible Dictionary defines imputation as “The act of reckoning a legal debit or credit to an account.” In other words, it is a legal act in which my debt is taken and credit is given to my account. Now, we often ask the question, “How does the Old Testament point to Christ?” What does Christ do for us on the cross? He imputes his righteousness in exchange for our debt! Look at Romans 4:22–25 for just a moment. Starting in verse 22, “That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Divine imputation. You see, Abram believed every bit of this promise from God in faith, so God credits it to him as righteousness. Abram becomes righteous in the sight of God, despite his sinfulness. This is the same thing we see happening as we, debtors to God, in faith, believe in the promises of Christ, and this divine imputation takes place! Church, this is the gospel! Right here in the Old Testament. Man, through faith, is being counted as righteous before a holy God, through divine imputation. A great exchange of sin and righteousness, that was not deserved, but graciously given. Then in verse 7, God is not done speaking yet; he says, “Look, I took you out of the land of Ur, and I am giving you the land for which I called you to.” God will take his people through the wilderness to the promised land. These are gospel glimpses that we need to be taking and holding onto as we walk through Genesis.

The land

This promised land is the land of Canaan, it is also symbolic of the future promised land that we will all inherit, that is the inaugurated kingdom of God. Remeber the national and the universal aspects of the covenant. Now for the Israelites to get to this promised land, they will be facing some very dark times and suffering. This is also symbolic of our walk as Christians, as we are like exiles in a foreign land, on our way to the promised kingdom of God. Dwight L. Moody puts it this way, “Take courage. We walk in the wilderness today and in the Promised Land tomorrow.” I want us to remember this as we continue through this text, that there is a symbolic meaning behind all of it, which applies to us as Christians today.

And let us not forget about our pattern, those 5 elements I mentioned earlier. Here in these first verses we see the two parties of the covenant, Abram and God. We also see gospel glimpses of the New Covenant of grace starting to form. Now let us move on to the next verses, 8-12.

God’s Conditions (Genesis 15:8-12)

READ Genesis 15:8-12

Genesis 15:8–12 ESV

But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

Abram seeks reassurance

Now, it may seem odd that Abram was credited with all of this righteousness for his belief in the simple words of God, and then here he seems to question God about all of it. If you are questioning something, it is because you do not fully believe in it. But, John Calvin brings some clarity to this saying, “Therefore Abram in vain desires to be assured of the future possession of the land, while he ceases to depend upon the word of God. I answer, the Lord sometimes concedes to his children, that they may freely express any objection which comes into their mind. For he does not act so strictly with them, as not to suffer himself to be questioned.” Two things I want to point out here. First, is that Abram was questioning God, seeking reassurance of His promises, because he didn’t trust the simple words of God. We see this happening all of the time don’t we? We may even do it our selves. Asking God for signs and wonders, when His Word has already made it perfectly clear. Second, God concedes to his children, like a loving Father would do, and seeks to reassure us of his many promises. What a kind and loving God that answers His children, and meets them with reassurance that what he says will happen, will happen. Maybe not in the same ways we see in Scripture with burning bushes and visions in the night, but God still works wonders, amen. Consider Abram's moment of questioning God's promises as a reminder that even the most faithful individuals can wrestle with assurance and doubt. Sometimes our faith journeys lead us to questions, and that’s okay. It's in those moments that God can draw us closer to Him and strengthen our faith. Just as God reaffirmed His promises to Abram, He will also reassure us of His faithfulness when we seek Him in the midst of our doubts. Church, trust Him, even in your doubts, and draw close to him in his Word.

God concedes and seeks a sacrifice

In verses 9 and 10, we see God do this. He concedes to Abram and seeks to give him the reassurance he wants. God asks Abram to bring these animals and prepare a sacrifice in which God would show up and reassure Abram that everything God has told him is true and will take place. Abram obeys, he brings the animals, he cuts them up, and he prepares this sacrifice. But God seems to leave him, we see that Abram sits throughout the day after preparing this sacrifice, and birds of prey are coming down trying to steal the carcasses for themselves. Abram eventually falls asleep, and suddenly, something miraculous begins to happen.

Here in these verses, remember those 5 elements of a covenant, we see the conditions being made. God is saying, “Bring me these animals and I will seal this covenant with you.” “Do this, and I will do that.” But, before we see the sealing of the covenant, some blessings and cursings are made.

Blessings, Cursing's, and Those Affected (Genesis 15:13-16)

READ Genesis 15:13-16

Genesis 15:13–16 ESV

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Sojourners among the Egyptians

The first thing we see is that the people affected by this covenant are the offspring of Abram. God says they will live among others not of their tribe for four hundred years. Sojourners in a foreign land. God also mentions that the nation they serve will be judged and their exit will be made, along with great possessions. God said that they would be afflicted for those four hundred years as servants. Now, this is a long time to sit under a foreign ruler and a foreign people who do nothing but cause you pain and injury, and you will have to serve them. While we can't see Abrams's immediate response or the expression on his face here, you can imagine those thoughts going through his head. Abram could have stopped God right there and said, “You know what, that seems just a bit harsh, so I am gonna go ahead and pass on this one, but thanks.” But God is not done here, and he goes on into the blessing.

Things made right

Verse 14 show us the goodness of God in his blessing of Abram and his offspring. After four hundred years, God will free these people from their affliction, and they shall come out on the other side with great possessions. Not only is God going to see them through to the other side of this painful time in their lives, but He is also going to multiply their possessions. More importantly, God is going to build their faith and dependence on Him, through all of it. Don’t hear me saying that God will bless you materially if you make it through this next trial in your life. We do not preach a prosperity gospel here. These possessions carried meaning and weight in those days, unlike they do now. But what I want you to hear and see is that God brings us through the trials and fiery times that we seem to be going through in life. No matter how long it lasts or how deep it goes, God is the one who brings you out of it, not you. If we believe this, why aren't we running to God in everything that happens? Instead, we try to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and tough our way through life alone. And listen, I do this all of the time! When something happens, I tell myself, be strong; you can fix this on your own. I listen to culture telling me to be a man, toughen up. When the reality is that I am weak and needy. I mess things up, usually worse than they were initially. I need God! I am dependent on His help. This is the attitude we should have. There is nothing wrong with being strong and manly. There is nothing wrong with being a housewife or a working wife. There is nothing wrong with being single or married or having a bunch of children. But do it according to God’s standards and not the cultures. We see this in Abram and his willingness to be faithful and obedient to God.

Abrams blessing

Verse 15 shows us that Abram receives his own personal blessing as well. Abram will live a very long life and depart to be with his ancestors at a good old age. And verse 16 says that Abram’s offspring will come back to this land after four hundred years because the promised land of Canaan is not yet ready for them. Gospel glimpses. So, verses 14-16 show us the blessings, cursings, and the people involved in this covenant being made between Abram and God. If you have been paying attention to the specific points, these are the third and fourth pieces of the covenant model I described in my introduction. But we have one final piece to look at and that is the signs of the covenant.

Signs of the Covenant (Genesis 15:17-21)

READ Genesis 15:17-21

Genesis 15:17–21 ESV

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

The covenant sealed

Finally, in verses 17-21, we see that God seals the covenant and tells Abram that the land promised to him will be his. Abram, already in this deep sleep and receiving vision from the Lord, now sees a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passing between the divided animals. Now, don’t miss this, there are two things here that are symbolic of our lives in Christ. Many say, and I would agree, that the smoking fire pot is symbolic of the darkness that the Israelites will go through in those four hundred years, but it is also symbolic of the darkness we tend to find ourselves in. Likewise, the flaming torch symbolizes the light and victory of the Israelites after those four hundred years, as well as the victory and light we have in Christ. You hear us mention this phrase sometimes, “Post tenebras lux.” This is Latin for “after darkness, light.” This was the rallying cry of the Swiss Reformers in Geneva as they navigated some very dark times and, at the same time, kept their eyes on the God of light and his grace in sustaining them. God expected this from the Israelites as they went through these four hundred years of darkness. This is what God expects of us as we navigate through some of our own dark times. This is precisely what God was showing Abram here in this vision and sealing this covenant. You are going to go through some of the darkest times, but God is ever-present, and he will see you through. Is this how you view God and the trials and suffering you go through? If it isn’t, you have lost hope in the God of light.

I know that we have all been through some dark stuff, and maybe right now, you feel like you are in some of the darkest of times of your life. But, God gave us the light of the world so that we don’t have to feel our way through the darkness on our own, as if we are blind and just stumbling along. He gave us His Son for salvation, his Spirit for sanctification, and His Word to light our way through this dark world. Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” 2 Peter 1:19 “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” The Word is our light, but we must open it, read it, and live it.

The Lord does not shine upon us, except when we take his Word as our light.

John Calvin

Are you turning to God in his Word or are you just trying to make it day by day in your own wisdom and strength? Turn to God, open his Word, and let it be the light and lamp to your feet church. God loves you too much to just let you go through this dark world alone and without the wisdom to make it. More than that, God gave us his Son to redeem us, even in all of our failings, and darkness.

Conclusion:

I am going to end our time here in Galatians 3:13-18 if you would like to turn there, it will be on the screen for you as well, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.”

Invite the band up

There are two aspects of these Old Testament covenants, one being universal and the other being national, and both are seen here. The national aspect is that this covenant applied nationally to the people of Israel. The universal aspect is what Paul is referring to right here in Galatians. We are not children of Abraham through circumcision, rather we are children by way of Christ grafting us into the family, a profound connection that resonates with us in the New Testament. This is the New Covenant that we all know so well. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 11, that the Gentiles are now, through Christ, grafted into the family.

The New Covenant is God’s appointed vehicle for fulfilling the Abrahamic blessings to Israel. But the Abrahamic Covenant also promised universal blessing, so the New Covenant becomes as well God’s vehicle of salvation for believers since the Cross. - unknown

It is Christ who fulfills the covenant. It is Christ who brings us victory. It is Christ who gives us light in our darkest times. It is Christ who has the final victory and brings us into the promised land with him forever. This is what we try and invite people into every week. If you are a Christian then understand that God has given you victory in Christ and he has given you the light you need for this dark and stormy world in his Word. But are you resting in the light of God’s Word, or in your own strength and wisdom? That is a question you need to wrestle with today. If you have not come to know Christ yet, I pray that the Spirit is working in your heart at this very moment to make a confession of repentance and trust in the finished work of Christ. You to can have this light and victory! There will be pastors in the back of the room, if you would like to talk about this or pray, or to make that confession of faith. If there is anything weighing on you today, grab one of the pastors and let them know. Let’s pray.

Prayer: God, I pray that as a church we are being a people committed to you as much as you are committed to us. I pray that we see your promises and understand that they cannot be broken, altered, or forgotten about. Lord help us to be faithful and obedient, trusting in your goodness, walking in faith, as your covenant people. Amen.