The Covenant with Abraham

INTRO

Have you ever put your faith in someone or something?

Or in other words have you ever put your full trust in someone or something?

The obvious church answer is “yes, Jesus” but there’s other people and things you put your faith into

The most common illustration is the kid jumping into the pool

Remember when you were little and your mom or dad was telling you to jump in the pool but you were so scared they weren’t going to catch you

What would they say? - “trust me”

When you jumped you were exercising faith, full trust that your parent would catch you

Another example is when you came in here 15 minutes ago and sat down

You picked your seat and sat down; you sat down in full faith that the chair was going to hold you

TENSION

I bring this up because tonight as we continue our Genesis series we are going to looking at the next part of Abraham’s life

As we look at this next account we are going to see that Abraham is a man of great faith

Even more so than we thought from last week

Interestingly enough tho…

before we see Abrahams faith we see him in a place that many of us have been before

a place of doubt

TRUTH

Recap

Last week we saw…

God chooses a idol worshiping old guy named Abram who’s wife can’t even have children to be the one whom He is going establish His people through and bless the whole world through one of their children

Promises Him

to make him a great nation

give him land

bless him

bless the whole world through him

All he has to do is leave his family, home town, and lifestyle behind

And He does it

Reality

As we arrive to chapter 15 about 10 years has passed since God called Abram and a lot has happened

The situation in Egypt

Abram and Lot seperated

Abram then saves Lot from a bad situation

And they have made it to the place God promised to show them - Canaan

But you know hasn’t happened?

a baby…

Abram is starting to have some serious doubts about whether or not God is going to be faithful to His promises

Doubt

Genesis 15:2–3 CSB

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

And because of this reality begins to set in for Abram…

God you’ve called me here…

I gave up everything

I left everything behind

You promised to make me a great nation through many children

but it seems like I’m only getting older and my wife is only getting more barren

I want to pause here and make a point…

Faith isn’t the absence of doubt

Because we have faith in God doesn’t mean we can never have doubts

i feel like that is lie from satan that has inflitrated Christian culture

A lie that culture of tries to use to break down our faith

Yet the reality is that having doubts is not sinful

but what we do with our doubts matters

instead bottling them up and acting like they aren’t there

or letting the world speak into them

So what should we do with our doubts?

we should follow Abram lead and take them to God

He is bigger than our doubts

and He cares for you so much to walk with you through them

While He isn’t going to audibly speak to us like with Abram

He may speak to us through His word

Or a small group leader

parent

pastor

Let’s see how God responds to Abrams doubts

God’s Response

Genesis 15:4–5 CSB

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.” 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.”

God hears Abrams doubts and responds with assurance be restating His promises

restating it with an emphasis

He emphasizes his promise of giving Abram many children by telling him to look at the sky and count the stars

then says that is how numerous his offspring will be

Abram heres this and the text tells us

Faith

Genesis 15:6 CSB

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

Abram believes the Lord or in other words he puts his faith in the Lord

and because of that God counts it as righteousness

This is going to be an important verse that we come back to but before hitting on it on want to talk about something thats interesting

See even though we are clearly told that Abram believes the Lord the next sentences tells us that Abram is still doubtful

Abram is like… yes i believe you Lord

but how do i really know

And so to prove to Abram that His word is true God does something odd to us

Covenant

Genesis 15:9–10 CSB

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.” 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.

This seems so strange to us, but it wouldn’t have shocked Abraham one bit

Back in Abram’s time, when two people made a serious agreement (a covenant), they didn’t just shake hands.

Instead, they took animals cut them in half and laid the pieces on the ground creating a bloody path between them

Then the two people making the agreement would walk through the middle together.

What Did This Mean?

By walking through the pieces they were saying:

“If I break my end of the deal, let me end up like these animals, torn apart. My life is on the line.”

That’s insane, right?

Imagine if we made contracts this way today:

“I promise to turn in my homework on time, and if I don’t… well, guess I’m done for.”

“I promise to be home by curfew, and if I fail… I get split in half like a cow.”

It sounds ridiculous, but that’s how serious this was

This was a life-and-death commitment.

Now, Here’s the Crazy Part…

Abram probably thought God was about to make him walk through the pieces

promising that if he failed, he’d pay with his life

But that’s not what happens…

Genesis 15:17 CSB

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.

What’s actually happening here?

Well, the smoking fire pot is a symbol for God 

This means that God himself “walk” through the pieces of the animals

God promises on His own life to fulfill the covenant

So, to answer Abraham’s question of “how can I be sure these promises will happen”

God looks Abraham in the eyes and says, “I promise on my own life”

What an absurd reality for Abram…

man just voiced his doubt of God’s promise

instead of God just dismissing his doubts or even just stating His promised

God makes it clear as day that His faithfulness is sure

so sure that He puts his own life on the line

Covenant Fulfillment

Abram believed the Lord

Abram put his faith in God and that faith is counted to him as righteousness

His faith puts him in right standing with God

Romans 4:19–22 CSB

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.

Abram had faith that God would do what he promised and guess what… God did

I don’t have time to read the whole OT to you tonight but to summarize it…

Abraham miraculously has a son who has sons who has sons who become the people of Israel (God’s chosen people)

Israel becomes a great nation (promise #1)

who eventually inherit the promise land (promise #2)

and not only was Abraham greatly blessed but so was the entire world through him (promise #3)

Remember that savior child that God promised Eve that we read about last week who would eventually come and have ultimate victory over Satan, sin, and the grave?

The savior child whose named we learned was Jesus, the greater Adam

Well Jesus wasn’t just an offspring of Eve, He was also an offspring of Abraham

Matthew 1:1 CSB

An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

God blesses the world through Abraham by giving us Jesus

And if you don’t know who Jesus is or what He has done then you may be wondering… how is Jesus a blessing to the world?

Jesus is a blessing to the world because He came to save us from our sin

See, the sin that entered the world back in Gen 3 didn’t just cause problems with our horizontal relationship (earthly) but also with our vertical relationship (God)

God is holy and cannot be near sin so that means our sin has separated us from Him who we were created to be in relationship with

But Jesus came to change that…

Jesus left His place in heaven to put on flesh and bones here on Earth

Jesus lived the life you and I can’t, a sinless life yet died a sinner’s death

Upon the cross Jesus took on our sin and paid the price we deserved for it… death

But He didn’t stay dead… 3 day later He resurrected from the grave

Proving

He was who He said he was

can do all that he said He can do

and ultimately defeating sin and the grave

while offering us forgiveness for our sins and eternal life with Him

All we must do is follow Abram footsteps and put our faith in Jesus as our Lord and savior

Romans 4:23–25 CSB

Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Just like Abram we too must have faith

Faith is the only condition that must be met by us to be saved

But the greatest part about faith is that it is not something we earn, it is something freely given to us by God

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.

So, the faith that is necessary for salvation is something given to us by the grace of God

Gospel Connection

But what’s crazy about this account is that not only does Jesus fulfill the promises made to Abram in this covenant but the account of God walking through the animals

Is a beautiful foreshadowing of the gospel

this covenant God makes with Abram is pretty much a spitting image of the New Covenant Jesus established through His life, death, and resurrection

Salvation is a One-Sided Covenant

The covenant God makes with Abram through this ceremony makes it abundantly clear that it’s fulfillment isn’t determined by Abrams faithfulness or unfaithfulness

it’s it going to be fulfilled either way

because it is through God’s alone not Abrams works

The New Covenant or Salvation is the exact same way

we talked about this last week:

We bring nothing to our salvation, it is solely the work of Jesus our behalf

The covenant or promise of Salvation is not something that we deserved yet it was a gift freely given to us

and because we didn’t earn it by our work then our lack of works doesn’t mean it is taken away

Our salvation is a gift of God and is secured by God

Just like the covenant with Abram was secured by God’s life on the life

Our salvation is secured by Jesus’ life being give up for us

APPLICATION

So, as we look at Abram’s story, here’s what I don’t want you to miss tonight

Abram wasn’t perfect

He had doubts

He struggled to trust

But God remained faithful

And just like God invited Abram to trust Him, He’s inviting us to do the same

So how do we respond to this?

Three Ways:

Go to God

When Abram had doubts, he didn’t run from God, he brought them to Him

You don’t have to pretend like you have it all figured out

God can handle your questions, your struggles, and even your doubts

So instead of bottling them up or letting the world define your faith, take them to God

2. Trust in God

Abram didn’t see how everything was going to work out, but God was still moving

Some of you are in a season where you don’t know what God is doing, but let me remind you

just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean He’s not working

trust in Him even when you don’t have all the answers

I know that isn’t always easy which is why we must do the last thing

3. Rest in God

Abram didn’t earn God’s promises…God secured them

In the same way, your salvation isn’t based on how “good” you are

it is based on what Jesus has done for you.

You don’t have to carry the pressure of “being good enough.”

You are saved by grace through faith

RESPONSE

So, where do you need to apply this?

Maybe you need to start going to God with your struggles

Maybe you need to trust Him with something in your life that feels uncertain

Or maybe, you need to stop trying to earn His love and finally rest in His grace

Wherever you are, know that God is faithful

He was faithful to Abram

He was faithful in sending Jesus

and He will be faithful to you