The Covenant of Grace: Covenant Signs
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Covenant Theology...
The unity of the Biblical narrative
The basis of relationship of God with his people.
He has bound himself to his people...
in an eternal covenant.
Covenant of Works - with Adam
Covenant of Grace: Adam, Noah, Abraham
From Gen. 15,
God made a covenant with Abraham.
Literally, he “cut” a covenant.
Animals cut in two.
Pass between the parts...
If I break the covenant,
may it be to me like these animals.
So the promise of Genesis 15 was approximately 24 years prior to Gen. 17.
~11 years living in Canaan...
Ishmael is born.
Abraham was 86 years old when he was born.
Gen. 17 begins with Abram being 99 years old.
24 years after God “cut the covenant” with him.
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
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, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”
Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
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.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
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.
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.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
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,
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.
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.”
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
Remember
Noah… the sign of the rainbow.
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Signs of the covenant are designed to remind us of God’s faithfulness.
Yet, interestingly, the one who is talked about remembering when he see the sign...
is God.
Not that he could forget.
But the sign prompts him to act on behalf of his people.
In slavery in Egypt,
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
After the people made the Golden Calf,
Moses’ prayer is a plea for God is to remember the covenant.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
Notice that the basis of Moses’ prayer...
is the covenant promises of God to Abraham and his descendants.
God gives us signs to remember.
Signs which he responds to in some way as well.
Signs and Seals of the Covenant
Signs and Seals of the Covenant
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Signs - point us to the real thing.
Seals - a guarantee or an authentication
In our culture,
we sign our name.
Or use a raised seal to authenticate something.
In older cultures,
it was a signet ring pressed into wax as it dried.
Marking that document as authenticated.
Seal of God’s Promise to His People
Early on in Gen. 17, God reminds Abram of who he is.
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, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”
“My covenant” (God) - "my covenant be in your flesh"
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 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.
The Sign of the Covenant
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
The Sign and What It Signifies
The Sign and What It Signifies
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Notice the posture of Abraham.
Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,
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.
Also, a sign of the land...
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.”
Sacramental Union
(v. 10) "this is my covenant... every male shall be circumcised."
(v. 11) "it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you"
The sign is not the covenant.
Though the writers of Scripture interchange the sign and the thing it signifies.
The sign points to real heart change of God's people.
Surrender, humility, repentance, forgiveness
Sign of the Covenant
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Sign of Salvation
(“circumcised in heart”)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
Sign of Faith
He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,
and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
The Recipients of the Sign
The Recipients of the Sign
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God is making this covenant with Abraham.
Who else is supposed to receive the sign of the covenant?
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,
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. 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.”
Who should receive the sign?
Abraham
Baby boys at 8 days old.
Every male (born or brought in by purchase - like a servant)
That is exactly what Abraham did.
When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
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.
Sign of the Covenant
Sign of Cleansing
Sign of Salvation
Sign of Faith
All given to children before they professed faith in Christ.
Again, the claim that they were saved in any way other than faith in Christ
is simply not supported in the Scriptures.
So the sign of salvation given to the children of believers.
B/c sees them as PART of the people of God.
They are “In”...
not “out” until they profess faith.
Signs Can Change. The Covenant Cannot.
Signs Can Change. The Covenant Cannot.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
This is the same language at Gen. 12, 15, and 17...
The sign has changed,
but when did God begin to consider the children of believers at OUTSIDE of the covenant?
He never did.
That’s why in Acts 16,
Paul and Silas travel to Philippi.
Lydia
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Philippian Jailer
Paul and Silas in prison.
Great earthquake opened the doors of the prison
and unfastened their shackles.
The jailer awoke and saw the prison doors open.
He was about to kill himself (punishment for failed prison guard)
Paul, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are here.”
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
It seems that the move from OT development of this covenant to the NT...
From more restrictive to less restrictive.
From only nation of Israel to the nations.
From only males to males & females.
So if our children were now not to partake of the covenant sign...
wouldn't that probably have been specifically mentioned.
If it's an Eternal Covenant, why did circumcision stop?
It was the sign of the covenant,
not the essence of the covenant itself.
From a bloody sign of cleansing...
to one that did not require blood...
b/c had already fulfilled the blood requirement of the covenant.
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
“Your Great Name”
The covenant is about God’s faithfulness to sinful people.
“Redeemer, my Healer, Lord Almighty
Defender, my Savior, You are my King”
Benediction:
Benediction:
