Abraham's Covenant

 Little Sally met her father at the door. "Daddy, I want a nickel." Dad pulled out his wallet & offered a $5 bill. Sally hung tough. "I don't want that. I want a nickel." Aren't we like that so often with our Heavenly Father? Don't we insist on the small thing we know / can see? Refusing His offer of a blessing a hundred times more valuable? Abram knew all about that. In Ge 12:1, God told 75yo Abram (& 64yo Sarai), "Leave Haran. Go to Canaan." The promise? Ge 12:2-3. Great number of descendants (nation), great name, & great blessings (to him & to all through him). He arrived, & in Ge 13:14-17 God again promised land & offspring like dust. Abram grew wealthy, split with Lot, & waited for an heir. God spoke next in Ge 15:1-6. Your heir will be a son, not a servant. Abram & Sarai kept waiting. After 10 years with no heir, Sarai wonders. Does God need help? Can the heir come through Hagar? They see a nickel. In Abram's 86th year, Sarai's 77th, they are proud parents to Ishmael! Finally, a son! God remains silent. Years go by. Is God blessing their nickel? Can Ishmael be the heir of promise? After 13 long years of silence, God finally speaks in our verses. Let's look at Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16. 1aWhen Abram was 99 yo, the Lord appeared to him. This isn't peekaboo. When God appears, there's purpose. 1b"I'm El Shaddai, God Almighty." Is this shock & awe like it sounds? God does have unlimited power to do whatever He says He'll do. But to Abram, there's more going on. God revealed His Name! To Abram, He's saying, "Hi, my name is..." God is inviting him into relationship! From here on, it's more than 'God says' & 'Abram does...' God wants relationship! (With all of us!) What will it take to be in relationship with God? 1c"Walk before me & be blameless." Walk with... we talk with those we walk with. That sounds doable. But blameless? Really? It doesn't mean perfect. Then how can we be blameless? It starts the same way it did for Abram. Look at Ge 15:6. 6Abram believed the Lord. The Lord credited his faith as righteousness. With faith, we're counted righteous. But we still may not be blameless if we have unconfessed sin. Part of Abram offering sacrifices for his sins was confessing them. He could be forgiven-blameless-just as we can. To walk with God, we'll need to be blameless. Working on being blameless will also help our walk with God. Just as it will help Abram. For Abram, there's another blessing in store. As he walks blamelessly with God, God says, 2"I'll confirm my covenant between me & you. I'll greatly increase your numbers." A great name. Descendants as numerous as the stars. Land. And all peoples blessed through him. Abram's part? To start, walk with God & be blameless. As we do, God will reveal more & more to us. Just as God kept revealing more & more of His promise to Abram. 3aAbram fell facedown. He's stunned into worship. That God suddenly appeared to him is enough But, even more, God wants a relationship! 3bGod said, 4a"As for me, this is my covenant with you. All God has promised in the past? God's part? 4a"You'll be the father of many nations." This isn't new. Nor is it all God has promised. But by saying this, God points to the totality of His promises to Abram. The sign of God's new covenant with him? 5a"No longer will you be called Abram." Abram means high / exalted father. Ironic for a man who's father of none. That old man is gone. 5b"Your new name will be Abraham." Abraham means father of a multitude. Abram will be a new man, Abraham. Why? 5c"I've made you a father of many nations." Past tense. From God's view, it's already done. And God isn't stingy with His promises! More than just Ishmael & Isaac, Abraham's grandsons will be the tribal patriarchs of nations. (From Isaac, Esau & the nation Edom, & Jacob & the nation Israel; from Ishmael, all the other Arabic nations around them.) 6a"I'll make you very fruitful." How so? 6b"I'll make nations of you." And not just nations. 6c"Kings will come from you." The kings of those nations descended from him. There's also one particular king. 7a"I'll establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me & you & your descendants after you for the generations to come." The King, King of kings, will also be in Abraham's line. All this from the covenant God offers. What's the essence of any covenant with God? 7b"I'll be your God & the God of your descendants after you." He'll be our God. We'll be His people. Only God can make a covenant. (Ever try, "God, if you'll... I'll..."? Did it work for you? Only God can make a covenant in which God binds Himself to the terms of that covenant. This covenant isn't just for Abraham. 15aGod also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai." She's included, too. Sarai = My Princess. But she'll be a new woman. 15b"Her new name will be Sarah." Royal Princess. Her new name reflects her new status. She's mother of royalty. God isn't done. 16a"I'll bless her & will surely give you a son by her." She's the one through whom all God's blessings will come. Not Hagar. Not Ishmael. Sarah's son. 16b"I'll bless her so she'll be the mother of nations." For ~300 years after Solomon, Israel had northern & southern kingdoms, 2 nations. 16c"Kings of peoples will come from her." There were kings in Samaria (northern kingdom) & Jerusalem (southern kingdom). This is interesting. But what's our takeaway? Only God can make a covenant. We have no power to offer Him anything. But He's El Shaddai-God Almighty. He has power to deliver on every promise. He's never failed. He never will. Our part? Faith. That's all it takes. Whether Old Testament or New Testament era, faith is how we enter God's Covenant. Abram was faith's pioneer. He believed (faithed) & God reckoned him righteous. In faith we too can approach a holy God. Only in faith. Why? He's holy. We aren't. He's pure. So pure that if unholiness gets too near, it's eradicated. That's why no one can see God's face-not till we're perfected. Then we'll be able to see Him as He is. In faith, we trust that God provides a way for us to come near Him. In faith, we trust that in Jesus, we're made blameless & righteous in His sight. In faith, we can come boldly into God's presence. Moreover, in faith Jesus invites us to call God Abba! Pappa / Father! In faith, we're adopted as co-heirs with Christ. In faith, we become sons & daughters of the king. It's all by faith. We enter by trust. In faith, all God's promises are ours. He has the power to bring into existence what isn't. He spoke a word & Creation came into existence. He can help us find our keys. Whatever we face, He can help. Often, God asks us to step out in faith. When Israelites entered the promised land, in Josh 1:3 God promised every place where they set their foot. It took great faith to set their foot on occupied ground. As they acted in faith, God gave it to them. Other times, God calls us to wait in faith for Him to bring it to pass. Like Abram's heir. If we help, we're choosing a nickel instead of blessing He wants us to have-much more valuable. We walk by faith, not by sight. We enter into God's promises & His covenant by faith. Including His covenant with us. God has been revealing His covenant ever since the Fall. God promised Eve a seed who'd defeat Satan (crush his head). Over millennia, God revealed more & more of His covenant with humanity. Each covenant (Noah, Abram, Moses) is part of that progressive revelation. It all led to Jesus. God's covenant with us is through Jesus. Remember His words in the Lord's Supper in 1 Co 11:25. 25"This cup is the New Covenant in My blood." God's terms? Accept His Son Jesus. Receive the Holy Spirit. Cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He transforms us into Jesus' likeness. As He does, we'll walk before God, blamelessly. Righteous. Our covenant blessings? We participate in the blessings God promised all His people in every age. He'll walk & talk with us. He'll be with us always. He'll give us His Spirit. And we'll gain eternal life. God offers a priceless inheritance. Why do we insist on a nickel's worth of supposed blessings in this life? What's our problem? It's the direction we're looking. When was Abraham's faith strengthened? When he looked up & tried to count the stars. He didn't have Jesus. We can look at Jesus. As we gaze into His wonderful face, we'll find ourselves walking on water. He's the treasure beyond price. In faith, He's ours. As are all the priceless treasures of the New Covenant. Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 - Abraham's Covenant Page 1 of 1