The Gospel According to Abraham

Introduction

Opening Illustration: When I was a little boy I recall one weekend. I was very little and I was signed up for Indian Scouts which was like Boy Scouts at the time. And there was a father son retreat. One event was a race. The father and son would stand at one end, and about 20 feet away was a platform with a piece of wood in it, and a nail sticking half way out, and a hammer. And the son and the father would take turns running up, taking a swing at the nail with the hammer, and then running back. First team to knock the nail all the way in, wins. I very vividly remember that my Dad and I won that event. But it was no help to me. Not once on my trips to the nail, did I ever land the hammer on the head of the nail. In fact, if my memory serves me, I made things worse by knocking the nail sideways. My Dad alone, was responsible for my victory. I just happened to be on his team.

Personal: When many think of the Christian faith, they believe the way they came to faith was a combination of God’s effort and their effort. In theological terms, this is called synergism (which simply means to work together). But the truth is that God Alone is resonsible for our salvation. We’re involved in the process, everything needed for our salvation originated with God. This is called Monergism (which means to work alone). The question becomes, did God work alone, or did God work with you, to accomplish your salvation?

Context: We are continuing our sermon series through Genesis. We now are in our second week of studying Abram. Last week we saw Abram’s call, and we learned that when God calls, faith walks. Today we look at the Covenant that God made with Abram. And what I want us to see from this text is that from start to finish, God alone provides everything the sinner needs.

I God Alone is our Shield and Reward

Where do we see this in our text today. First, we see in our text that God alone is our shield and reward. Verse 1 is one of those verses in scripture that we can pass over so quickly, and miss the awesome reality that is presented to us. I wish I could preach this entire sermon simply on this one verse. The Lord says to Abram:

Genesis 15:1 “… Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.””

I AM YOUR SHIELD

What does it mean that the Lord is Abram’s shield? Note that it does not say that God will give us a shield. Indeed in Ephesians 6 we see that we need to take up our shield of faith. But here God says that He is our shield!

Context: First, we would do well to consider the context of the passage. Last week we studied Genesis 12 together, in which Abram had his first calling from God. But we have skipped over chapters 13 and 14 which tell us more about Abram’s story. In chapter 14, Abram’s nephew Lot, who had traveled with him, was kidnapped during a raid. And Abram went to battle against five different kings who had aligned themselves together on a rescue mission to save his nephew. It’s the first taste of war that we read of in Abram’s story. And we can just imagine the tension in Abram’s own heart as he went into that battle with only a few hundred men against five kings. And yet he came out alive!

God Protects His Promises: Abraham had just learned very physically that God was his shield. God would protect him. God would surround him. God would not let his promises to Abram fail, therefore anything that came to Abram that threatened the future of God’s promises in his life of the land and the descendants would be thwarted by God. God would protect not just Abram, but God’s promises to Abram. With that background, let us consider the various ways that God was Abram’s shield, and therefore the various ways that God is our shield.

God is our Shield: Church, what a precious promise of God that He is your shield as well. Remember that Abram was unique, and the promises that were given to Abram of prosperity and land and many descendants are not the same promises to given to you. But make no mistake, God has promises many overwhelmingly good things to you. And He is your shield. He will guard those promises perfectly. Nothing will threaten them in the least.

Shield of our Hearts: Christ is the shield of your heart, guarding you from losing hope. He guards the burning wick from being extinguished. He will keep your faith when you feel cannot.

Shield of our Minds: Christ is the shield of your mind, guarding you from lies. Lies about yourself, likes about God, lies about God’s purposes. He will protect your mind when the enemy tries to sow division and doubt.

Shield of our Souls: But most importantly, Christ is the shield of our souls. On the cross we see the magnificent truth that God is our shield most clearly. For on the cross, God Himself in Christ steps in between us and the wrath of God. The wrath that should have fallen on us, falls on him as he shields us from what we are owed as a result of our sin. Just as a man would hold a shield up in battle to protect against the wrath coming towards him, Christ is held up before us, and he protect us.

Rooted in Love: I want you to see the love in these words “I am your shield.” Shields take a lot of damage. Shields receive blow after blow after blow to protect you. This is what Christ has done, who is your shield.

I AM YOUR EXCEEDINGLY GREAT REWARD

Second, we read at the end of Genesis 15:1,

Genesis 15:1 “… your reward shall be very great.””

Translation: This little phrase has been the cause of all kinds of consternation among scholars, because it is a difficult little phrase to translate from the Hebrew to the English. I prefer the way the NIV translates this phrase as I think it captures what is intended based better. The NIV reads:

Genesis 15:1 NIV

… “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Can you see the difference? In this translation, which I believe is more accurate, it is the Lord Himself that is Abram’s exceedingly great reward. It is not just that Abram will get a reward, the Lord is Abram’s reward! “Abram, I will be your shield and I will protect you. And at the end of the day, whatever else you gain in this life, I myself will be your greatest gain!”

Do you know the Lord as your great reward? Is he more precious to you than anything and everything else in your life? Oh how we settle for lesser rewards!

Illustration - Adoption: Imagine a family three children on Christmas morning. The children run downstairs, while the parents make their coffee. And the first child sees a big present with his name on the card. He opens it, and it is a brand new video game system. He is so excited, and the other two siblings can’t believe the extravagence of the gift, and wonder what they got. The second son sees a very large box with his name on it. He opens it and its a brand new Electric Guitar. Both the other two children are in shock. What a gift! The third son has lived in the home for a few years as a foster child. And over those years learned to love this family, but also knows the pain he may one day need to go elsewhere. This third son looks for a box with his name on it but doesn’t see one. Instead he notices a card sitting in the middle of the tree addressed to him. He opens the card and realizes his gift, he’s going to be fully adopted by this family. He has forever parents. His is secure and stable. There is no more going back and forth. No more lawyers. Of the three children, whose is the greatest gift? Indeed, even the other two children recognize that the greatness of their gifts pale in comparison to the gift given to the third son.

Personal: Church, as with Abram, the Lord Himself is your reward. Beyond everything else he will bless you with in this life, and that list is long. We have freedoms that previous generations would never imagine. We have prosperity. We have bodies that work, and community, and a church that loves us. Blessing upon blessing upon blessing. And yet the greatest reward in a Christian’s life is the Lord Himself.

God alone is our shield. And God alone is our great reward!

II God Alone Provides our Righteousness

Setup: From start to finish, God alone provides everthing the sinner needs. We have seen that God alone is our shield and our reward. Next we see that God alone provides our righteousness. Verses 2-6 are some of the most often quoted verses in the entire New Testament. The New Testament authors regularly this passage to instruct New Testament Christians about grace, and what it means to be a recipient of grace.

The Passage: The passage begins with Abram asking a question. This question is not to be read as Abram doubting God’s ability, but rather as a curiosity of how God will go about making good on his word. In verses 2-3 Abram essentially says, “God, your promises are so good. And yet I remain childless. How will all your good promises to me possibly be fulfilled since I don’t have an heir? And right then and there in verse 4, God says that Abram will indeed have a child. Then we read the following:

Genesis 15:5–6 “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.”

Counted as Righteousness: It is that last little phrase that is so important for us. Abraham believed God, and that belief was “counted to him as righteousness.” Let’s get the language correct of what this means. Abraham was considered righteous before God, not because of anything that he had done, but simply because of the object of his faith. This is a radical idea, and it is at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This question is at the heart of every religion, and every philosophy, and every person’s life since the Fall. How can we be made righteous? Or put another way, how can we know that we will have a right standing with God when we die? Abraham, we are told, was counted as righteous, not because of any works he did, but because of his faith, and more particularly as we will see, the object of his faith.

Tend to Get This Wrong: Before we get there, let’s realize that this is a particularly striking way of being found righteous. It rubs up against all of our preconceived notions.

Israel’s History: Throughout Israel’s history they would lose sight of this key verse. They would forget that Abraham was counted as righteous because of his faith. In fact we have many traditional rabbinic writings that discuss Abram’s righteousness according to the law. Why was Abram counted righteous, they say? Because of his adherance to God’s law. And in fact, in the Pharisee tradition that we discover by the time of the New Testament, that is what matters most, our righteousness as seen in our obedience to the law. And if we’re fair to the Pharisees, this sounds right.

Gentile History: But its not just the Israelites that have tried to answer this question, Gentiles and the nations have all wrestled with this. The Stoic philosophers believed that righteousness was in one’s strength, and ability to rise above the pains of this world. Some philosophies believed that righteousness was found in wisdom, the smarter you were, the more you could hold your own in debate, the more righteous you were. Others found it in the degree to which you detached yourself from this world like a monk.

But Abram “believed God, and God counted it to him as righteousness.”

We Are Like Abram (Highlight & Blooper): This is why the Bible’s focus on grace is so radical, and so precious. All of those solutions I just gave are works based solutions. Be more religious, and God will consider you more righteous. The problem is that all of us are like Abram, we’re a mixed bag of highlight reels and blooper reels. Genesis 14 is a highlight reel for Abram, he valiantly rescues his nephew. But the end of Genesis 12 is a blooper reel, when he feared Pharaoh and lied about his wife. Chapter 16 is an even bigger blooper reel, when he married his wife’s servant and tried to bypass God’s plan. That’s you and me. Now, if you add our thought life, into the equation, the way God does.

Illustration: Accounting Ledger: Perhaps the easiest way to visualize this is an accountant’s book. And in fact its the way most people think of God. We imagine standing before God on our judgment day, and there is a great accounting book of our lives. On the left is all our sin (our liabilities for the accountants), and on the right is all of our earned righteousness (our assets if you like). We can imagine our life in the balance. Many of us deceive ourselves, and like to imagine that our righteousness outweighs our sinfulness. But that’s only because we forget what Christ teaches. Every little thought of pride, of anger, of lust, of envy, of covetousness, of godlessness is put into that sin column. Every time you should have prayed and didn’t is put into that sin column. Every time you should have trusted God, let him comfort you, but instead you worried in a godless way, put into that sin column. Every time you gossiped put into that sin column. Suddenly, you realize is is unfixable. You’re not just in debt, you’re bankrupt.

NT: The entire Bible recognizes this sinful condition, and that is why from Genesis through Revelation, we have a story of grace, a different way of attaining righteousness. In the book of Romans, the Apostle turns to the life of Abram as the example of the Gospel of Grace. His point is to show that grace is not something new to the Old Testament, but it is consistent throughout the whole Bible. Paul writes,

Romans 4:1–5 “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

The Principle: Abraham was counted as righteous because of the object of his faith, God. Christ’s righteousness is perfect. He knew no sin. Christ’s ledger before the Father is spotless and perfect. He alone has a ledger worthy of heaven. And by faith in Him, Christ’s righteousness is applied to your account. This is startling! We call this imputed righteousness. This is why it is not just any faith that saves a person, it must faith in Christ. Because it is the object of our faith, Christ and his righteousness, that gets applied to our account. So that when God judges us, he judges not according to whether our good deeds outweighed our bad deeds, but he judges according to Christ’s earn righteousness.

Illustration - Farmer & Wages: Imagine for a moment a farmer who hired men to work in his field, promising them each $500 for a day’s work. The men work hard all day, and at the end of the day, he gives them each their due, what they’ve earned. Now imagine that same farmer walks into town, and as he walks down the street he sees a well known very poor family in the community walking home. He pulls the man aside, and says “Here’s $500 because I love you.” The first men earned their $500, but this poor man had someone else’s funds credited to his account because of nothing he personally had done. That’s grace!

Gospel of Abraham: Abram is the poor man, not the hired the worker. You are the poor man, not the hired worker. In fact that Romans 4 passage says that Abram, like you and me, was ungodly.

Romans 4:5 “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

Why Good News: This is such good news. If we spend our whole life hoping that we will squeak by and have enough debits in our account to outweigh our debts, the scriptures we will be sorely discouraged when we stand before the judge. The judgment has already been cast. We have broken the law in full. The wages of sin is death. But through the cross, Jesus Christ satisfies the law. He pays the debt that we owe, and offers us a righteousness that we did not deserve, his own righteousness. And to all who receive this gift by faith, that perfect righteousness is credited to our account.

God alone provides our righteousness.

III God Alone Seals the Covenant

From start to finish, God alone provides everthing the sinner needs. We have seen that God alone is our shield and our reward. Next we saw that God alone provides our righteousness. Finally, God alone secures the covenant. Genesis 15:7-20 give us a very strange image.

Cut a Covenant: After making these promises, and Abram being declared righteous because of his faith, God then seals his promises to Abram through a covenant. This is the fourth time in our study of Genesis that the topic of a Covenant comes up. We see the word directly in verse 18 where we read:

Genesis 15:18 “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram…

Our English translation says the Lord “made” a covenant with Abram, and that is correct. However, if you want to be very technical, in the Hebrew the way that covenants are made is that they are cut. The Lord “cut a covenant” with Abram. We see where this language of cutting comes from here in this passage.

Walk Through: God instructs Abram to take various animals: a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon. And he instructs to cut those animals in half and lay them on the ground with each side next to each other. Abram would have understood what this meant. In fact one of the reasons we understand the symbolism of this is because of later passages in the Bible which use very similar language.

Jeremiah 34:18 “And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts—”

And so, as best as we can piece this together, it seems like the image is that Abram was to lay these animals cut apart forming an aisle between them. And at the given time the two sides of the party would walk through the animals together as a symbol of their commitment to each other. Quite literally, they make a pathway of blood, through which they walk together. The two sides are saying “If I break my end of the covenant, let me become like one of these animals, let my blood be shed.”

Abram’s Expectations: If you try to get into Abram’s mind, it must have been quite a remarkable day for him. He must have been expecting God to show up in physical form and walk down this aisle of divided animals together. You can see his preparation as he drove away the scavengers that were circling for the food. Then we are told:

Genesis 15:12 “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.”

While he is in a deep sleep with darkness over him, God foretells the future of Abram’s descendants. God looks out over history, with perfect providence, and informs Abram that his descendents will be servants in a foreign land (referencing Egypt and the book of Exodus), and then he tells that they will eventually be released and brought back to this land. Then we read this.

Genesis 15:17 “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.”

Indeed, God Himself passes between the animals in a symbol of a fire and smoke, likely a foreshadowing reference of the fire that would many years later lead the Israelites by night, and the pillar of smoke that would lead them by day.

Christological: This is full of rich symbolism. Scholars and pastors over the centuries have seen in this covenant with Abram symbols and elements that seem to foreshadow Christ in incredible ways.

Abram’s Passivity: First, see Abram’s passivity in this covenant. He was placed in a deep sleep. Typically both parties would walk between the aisle of blood of a symbol of their commitment to each other. This is an entirely one sided covenant. God declares a promise that will take place, and God secures that promise by solely passing between the carcasses. This promise is not dependent on Abram’s faithfulness. In fact, Abram will fail at various times in the upcoming chapters. This covenant is made while Abram is knocked out cold. It is sealed by God alone passing between the animals. So it is with us. When God gets a man or a woman and makes them a Christian, a follower of the one true God, it does not happen synergistically (a combination of God’s efforts and man’s efforts). Rather, it is entirely a work of God, monergistically. God raises you from death to life. God transforms your heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. God gives you the gift of faith, a faith that you would never muster if left to yourself. God implants his spirit in you. It’s God alone!

Bloodpath: Second, there is another startling element in this scene. Remember, typically both parties of the covenant would walk down the bloodpath, saying to each other if either breaks the terms of this covenant, then let him become like one of these sacrificial animals. Abram never walked down the bloodpath. God appears in two symbols, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch and passes down the bloodpath. It is almost as if, a substitute is made for Abram to represent him in the bloodpath. It is almost as if God is saying “Abram, if you screw up this covenant, the punishment will be had, but it won’t be you.” O Church, see the precious truth of the gospel in this passage. Indeed Abram failed the covenant. David failed the covenant. Solomon failed the covenant. The Israelites failed the covenant. You and I failed at the covenant. And the consequences are death.

At the Cross!: But God has walked the bloodpath on our behalf. He made good on that promise, at the cross. When Christ willingly took on the punishment of the covenant in your place. Do you see the grace in this passage. The promises of the covenant are gifted to you by grace, and that grace cost Christ his life. He became the sacrifice to love you. And he promised he would do that before you were even born.

God alone seals the covenant.

Conclusion

God alone is our Shield and our great reward.

God alone is our righteousness

God alone seals our covenant

What is left to do Church, but give our lives wholly to the one who gave his life for us. To repent of any area of our life that does not reflect this extraordinary grace. And to simply bask in the goodness of what it means to be radically loved by God.