Genesis 17: Promises Kept

Introduction

Stepped into Chik-fil-a for first time in over a year. Angels sang. Skies opened. Life is good… They promised me in the drive through they would reopen, thought the promise would never come to fruition.

Over the course of your life, you’ve had promises made to you, and you’ve made some promises. You’ve made promises to your children. You’ve made promises to your spouse.

You’ve experienced the power of a promise. That promise that someone made to you gave you hope for a better day coming.

We’ve all experienced the pain of a broken promise. When someone didn’t come through on their word, you were devastated.

God is the promise-maker. Genesis 3:15… As Christians we are awaiting the fulfillment of a promise - that Jesus will return and bring us into our eternal home with Him.

For 24 years Abraham waiting for God to make good on a promise: a child.

In Gen. 17, God is getting ready to make good on His promise to Abraham. Such a HUGE moment in Abraham’s story. THIS is what Abe has waited for.

Such a good passage for us… A reminder that wince we are in a covenant relationship with God we can know He will keep all of His promises to us.

What do you need to know about God’s covenant with you? Three truths:

God’s covenant is gracious.

Ishmael is thirteen years old. Abraham is 99 years old.

For thirteen years, tensions were high between Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah. Twenty-four years prior, when God promised to make Abram a great nation, this couldn’t have been what he meant.

Abraham has his child, but it cost. It cost him relationally with Sarah. There was another woman in the home.

Every day when Sarah looked at Ishmael she was reminded of the decision she made 14 years earlier to give her servant to Abe, and every time she looked at Ishmael she was reminded of her own inadequacies. She couldn’t give Abe a child. Giving Hagar to Abram did not work out like she thought it would.

Abraham had waited for years for God to fulfill His promise to him, and over and over again, Abe messed it up.

Ishmael now 13, entering adulthood, and God comes back to Abraham to remind Abraham that Ishmael is not God’s plan.

vs. 1 “I am God Almighty.” El-shaddai. Abe needed to know that God was Almighty. Abe needs to know there’s nothing God cannot do.

Because God has revealed Himself to Abe, Abe has a responsibility to walk before God by faith and in holiness (vs. 1).

vs. 2 “I will set up my covenant...” God did that in Gen. 15 - About 15 years prior before Abe messed everything up.

A covenant is a chosen, formal relationship or partnership in which two parties make binding promises to each other and work together to reach a common goal. They’re often accompanied by oaths, signs, and ceremonies. Covenants contain defined obligations and commitments, but differ from a contract in that they are relational and personal.

In Bible times, covenant made between people, groups of people, or nations. Often, a larger nation would make a covenant with a smaller nation offering protection for that nation in exchange for a tribute.

God changes Abe’s name to Abraham (vs. 5): father of many nations. Descendants and land. Kings will come from you. From Abe’s lineage - Saul, David, Solomon… Ultimately, one true King. A royal promise.

Covenant is central to understanding the storyline of the Bible. Covenant = a promise God makes to His people.

First time word covenant used in Bible: Noah. A promise to never flood the entire earth again.

Now, the Abrahamic covenant. A promise to bless and build a nation through Abraham.

This is so good. The God who has called Abe into a covenant relationship with Himself has also called you into a covenant relationship through faith in Jesus.

Think about God’s gracious covenant to you - in some ways similar to Abrahamic covenant:

It’s initiated by God. You don’t wake up and say, “I need a plan to get back to God.” God has made the plan. When you were dead in sin, God came to you and opened your eyes to His goodness. We didn’t go looking for God, He came seeking us.

We don’t set the parameters. There’s no bargaining. There’s no changing the terms of the covenant. You try to change the terms. (Abe tried to change the terms… Eliezer, Ishmael) God has determined what He wants to do in your life. It’s not open for discussion, but it’s good. You can never look at God and say, “I have a better plan.” Or, “I have a better plan of salvation.” It’s not possible to have a better plan than God’s plan.

It’s unconditional. Abe messes up, but God doesn’t mess up. You’re going to mess up, but God’s not going to mess up. You’re going to fail God, but He’s not going to fail you. God’s has promised to save you, and that promise is not null and void when you sin against God. He’s gracious.

Don’t lose your awe of God’s grace. Promise of what will happen...

Getting radio fixed in car - Didn’t see the fine print… God keeps His Word.

God’s covenant is sealed with a sign.

In Genesis 9, when God made a covenant with Noah to never again flood the earth he put His bow in the sky. It was a sign - a visual reminder of the covenant that God made with His people.

Sign in Gen. 15.

In Gen. 17, God reaffirms his covenant with Abraham with a sign: circumcision. A 99 year-old man and everyone in his household circumcised!

If you’re Abe you’re asking, “Can’t I get another rainbow?”

Circumcision wasn’t unusual in ancient cultures, but circumcision would take on signifiant meaning for the Hebrew people.

Like the rainbow, it’s a sign of God’s promise, but very different than the rainbow. The rainbow a promise to all people. The circumcision a promise to Abraham and the people of Abraham - a promise to God’s chosen people.

It’s personal - the sign not something you see in the sky, but a sign you see in privacy, in the intimate moments of life.

Note who was part of the covenant family: Vs. 12 - Every male in your household or purchased. You were either born into the covenant family (Jews), or you were brought into the family (purchased… or proselytes).

Think about you: you were born and purchased. John 3: you’re in the family because you were born again. You were purchased. You are bought by the blood of the Lamb. He paid the price for your sin.

Think about the sign: in the private, intimate moments of life Abe reminded what God was going to do through him. That primitive cut was a reminder that not only he, but his seed belonged to God. It’s a permanent sign.

In those most intimate moments that a Hebrew man shared with his wife, the sign of the covenant was a reminder of what God was producing through the most intimate moments of marriage: a great nation that would be a blessing to other nations.

But, that primitive cut didn’t make someone faithful to God. Descendants of Abe had an external sign - But… just because you had the external sign didn’t mean you lived faithfully before the God who’s sign you wore.

We’re under a new covenant through faith in Jesus Christ - the King who came through the lineage of God’s OT covenant people. God has fulfilled His covenant to Abe in Jesus.

Covenant God made with us an everlasting covenant, and God has given a “sign” of His covenant to us.

Baptism? Lord’s Supper? In a sense, both are “signs” or visual reminders of the everlasting covenant God has made with us.

God’s people need an internal circumcision: Deut 30:6, Jeremiah 4:1-4, Ezekiel 11:19, Romans 2:28-29

This internal circumcision a result of the Spirit giving us a new heart. (Ezk. 36:26-27)

What made Abe a child of God wasn’t what was done to his body, but what God did in his heart (Gen. 15:6).

No outward act makes you a child of God. Not circumcision, not born in the right family, not church membership, etc.

God wants more than you conforming to a set of rules. He wants you to love him, know him, and follow him. An external sign on the body doesn’t do that. You need something to happen inside of you.

You belong to God’s everlasting family because of faith in Jesus.

The sign of the covenant is something God has done inside of you. (Reality - something inside of Abe. Gen. 15:6) Your heart has been circumcised. You’ve been given a new heart - a heart that is sensitive to God’s work. Something has happened inside of you. Don’t doubt your salvation. You don’t have to feel insecure or feel like you don’t matter.

I don’t want the old life… I want the new…

God’s covenant prompts active faith.

A circumcised heart is a transformed heart. A transformed heart acts in faith.

God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah - “Princess” she was royalty who would bring forth a royal line.

Then the big promise: “I’ll give you a child through Sarah” (Gen 17:16).

Abe’ first response was laughter. Lack of faith? Maybe… Shock… Hard to imagine at their age. What about Ishmael?

God to Abe: “In a year...”

Like Gen. 12 and Gen. 15, Abe believes and acts. Gen. 12 - Abe believes and leaves his homeland. In Gen. 15 Abe believes and gathers animals to cut in half. In Gen. 17 Abe believes, gathers his men, and they’re circumcised.

Abe believes and acts. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way. James 2 - Abe is James’ example of someone who lives by faith.

Like you and me, Abe messes up, but he holds on to a promise that will change everything.

If you’re a believer, you’re holding on to a promise that changes everything. God promised through Abe that He would build a great nation that would bless all the nations. He’s promise to forgive all your sins and bring you safely home.

If you’re not a believer, here’s a promise: you can have a new life through faith in the Promised One. You can believe that God was faithful to fulfill His promise to Abe - a great nation that the Messiah descended from. A Messiah who is a blessing to you. Who died the death you deserve and rose from the dead.

Maybe this morning, God initiating a covenant relationship with you. Will you respond?

For those of us who are a part of the covenant family, will you will live with:

Closed heart (not receptive to Spirit’s work) or open heart (want to grow, want to love, want to hear His voice.

Closed hands (Hands off. Leave me alone.) or open hands (Everything I have is yours. Give and take away as you will.)

Closed mouth (never bless, never share the Gospel, never encourage) or open mouth (encourage, bless, share Christ.)