Genesis #13: The Promise - Questions, Faith, and Certainty
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Today is one of those Sunday’s when I am super excited to preach. That may be good or it may be bad for yall… but either way, I’m excited about it.
Today we are going to be looking at what might be… in fact many scholars argue… that this is the most important chapter in the Old Testament.
So I’m glad you are here today… I’m glad you are watching or listening in today.
Tell the person next to you that you are glad to be in church today...
Tell the person next to you that you are glad they are in church today...
If you are watching online.... just say out loud… I’m glad I’m here.
I pray you take some time this week to dig a bit deeper into what we study as God leads you.
So we are going to jump right in today… again I don’t feel like I need to set this up any more than I already have…
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Well, that’s good to know isn’t it, but why is God telling Abram this? Where did this come from? What just happened?
Defeated 4 mighty kings in order to rescue his nephew Lot, not knowing if they might retaliate…
Then, when he returned he rebuffed King of Sodom, turning his back on an alliance...
God appears to Abram in a vision to remind Abram… I am your protection and your reward…
Abram knew this, he had just experienced God going before him, He had just declared that God was his provider.
Yet God appears and tells Abram, Do not be afraid, I am the solution to your fears.
It’s normal to want a solution to our fears, if I have more of this… or less of that This would be important for us to remember as well. The answer to our fears isn’t a formula or a method, it is a person, God himself, God says I am the answer to your fear
Often God refers to himself just as that… I AM
I am your strength.
I am your courage.
I am your health.
I am your hope.
I am your supply.
I am your defender.
I am your deliverer.
I am your forgiveness.
I am your joy.
I am your future.
God is all you need… and more.
Faith is:
(1) Intellectually believing something is true
(2) Taking a wild risk and assuming God will rescue me
(3) Being so optimistic that I have no doubts
(4) Trusting God enough to do what he says
Faith of Thomas in John 20
Faith focuses on God not our problems.
Faith focuses on God not our problems.
Abram knew how unlikely it would be that he could father a child, but he also knew God’s promise.
He knew the mistakes he had made, but he also knew God’s promise.
His hope was to walk into the future trusting that God could fulfil his promise.
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Abram knew God’s promise.
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Now before we get too hard on Abram here, let’s remember that it’s been 10 years since God promised him children. And Sarai is still not pregnant.
Abram is understandably worried that he may just be the wrong guy because it hasn’t happened yet. He says, God material wealth is meaningless without a son.
Now it might sound like he is blaming God here, but in reality he is depending on God for a son. He knows he is 85 at this point. He’s just facing facts.
Without a son, he is going to have to give things to one of his servants.
That’s how things worked in the ancient world, a closely trusted servant would be named to inherit the property if there was no other heir.
Faith trusts God’s timing, not ours.
Faith trusts God’s timing, not ours.
I think of the people who pray week in and week out
Does God not hear? Scripture is clear he does. Does he not care? - Scripture is clear that he does.
Then maybe his timetable is different from ours
Three kinds of doubt....
(1) Doubt that writes God off
(2) Doubt that disobeys
(3) Doubt that questions but still obeys
Which one does Abram show here? Do we?
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Then God answered his
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”
He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
First time to a planetarium
It was as though the sky came alive for the first time
I think of Abram in that moment. Stars that were always amazing… became awe inspiring.
Faith grows when we trust God in spite of our circumstances.
Faith grows when we trust God in spite of our circumstances.
Picture on fridge… Pete and Faith… growing in spite of awful
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
This verse is loaded with significance. Romans 4 and Galatians 3 go into righteousness by faith, not by works.
Abram didn’t have the law to obey in order to be righteous, all he had was to trust God, to believe.
The truth about biblical righteousness
(1) We don’t and can’t become righteous by good living & religious rituals
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast.
(2) We can only be declared righteous by taking the step of faith
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Belief, trust is the key, faith is what connects us to God and faith becomes the avenue which the Spirit lives in us, empowering us to live faithful lives.
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You see Abram moved from fear to faith.
He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
Asking directions… How will I know when i’m getting close? How will i know when I’m going the right way? How will I know when I’m on track?
Abram’s faith is growing… it’s not perfect
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Then in vs 15 we get God’s answer for Abram’s request for assurance
So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.
Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
Sounds strange…
Covenant making in ancient east
Buying truck signing all sorts of papers
Faith is obedient one step at a time.
Faith is obedient one step at a time.
Abram did as he was instructed.
Let it be to me as it is to these if I break this agreement
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Abram guarded the animals all day, then in verse 12
Genesis 15:12-16
Genesis 15:12-16
Abram fell into a deep sleep and God came to him
Know for Certain
Giving him more detail of the promise
Abram couldn’t possess the land, because “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” It’s just not time yet.
Faith enables certainty
Faith enables certainty
What can you be certain of today? Anything?
When we can’t be sure… anxiety, fear, stress, stress, stress,
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Then in vs 17-21
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
Faith is in the Promise Keeper, not just the promise
Faith is in the Promise Keeper, not just the promise
The pillar of smoke and fire… represent God… Think of the Israelites in the desert
God is saying that he alone will be held accountable for this covenant
Abram asks, how can I know? God says in this covenant, you have no responsibility to make this happen…
God says you can trust me to do this
Throughout the OT, we see the Israelites as being unfaithful, God pursuing them, seeking to restore them.
God would in fact bear the punishment for our unfaithfulness
That’s why in Matthew… genealogies… connecting JC to Abram
On the Cross, Jesus, punished for our sin