Genesis Session 25

How many have ever hear the phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?”

What is the intended meaning behind this phrase?

It means that a person is so ingrained in his or her ways that they are unwilling or unable to learn something new. This level might look different across the board - I guess it would have to do more with how stubborn a person might be or how hardened they have become throughout life.

So let me ask you this… how many really enjoy MAJOR life change in the middle to later adult life years? I’m talking MAJOR change?

Imagine being 99 years old and God drops something completely new on you! How would you respond?

At 99, I might be thinking that it might be a good idea to start settling down. After nearly living a century and taking on all that life can bring, 99 seems to be an age of accomplishment… not an age of new beginnings.

But then we must also remember that with God… ANY AGE CAN BE AN AGE OF NEW BEGINNINGS!

Tonight we are going to look at Genesis 17 and we are going to see Abram and Sarai enter into a new season in their old age. And it truly is a remarkable season of promise and blessing!

In chapter 17, God makes a covenant with Abram.

First, what is a covenant?

A covenant is an agreement between two parties that involves promises on the part of each to the other.

The concept of covenant between God and His people is one of the most important theological truths of the Bible.

When God makes a promise with His people, He ALWAYS keeps that promise. Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said of His people.

Here is what I find to be interesting: Was God obligated in ANY WAY to make a covenant of any kind with the people on this earth?

God could have left us alone in our sin-ridden condition… He could have left us to face the consequence of our sin. However, God did not create us to perish…

Therefore, we see God at work all throughout Scripture to provide a way for redemption. His blessings are too numerous to count and His promises open doors for life and fulfillment.

But it is important to note that within the covenant… are conditions. God expects certain things to take place in order for His promises to become reality.

And it’s these conditions of Covenant that I want us to look at tonight. As God makes His covenant with Abram, He lays out some interesting conditions that we need to pay close attention to.

The Covenant Required a New Way

The way of righteousness and faith.

Genesis 17:1–2 NIV

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

The way of Faith

Genesis 17:17–22 NIV

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

As God begins to speak to Abram, He makes clear from the get go that this covenant will be one of two very important things: Faithfulness and Righteousness.

First and foremost, God says to be faithful. To trust and believe in God with all that you are.

Abram is still struggling in this department just a bit and that struggle is in regard to God’s promise to increase his numbers.

Abram is now 99 years old - 24 years have past since God first spoke the promise of descendants. That’s a long time to wait as the biological clock continues to progress in an unfavorable direction.

And even in this chapter, the Word says Abram laughed to himself when God spoke these word again. Think about the radical life-change a child would bring to a person at 99 years old!!!

Then this statement came about: If God would only use the Son I already have… that would be more convenient.

But Ishmael was not a product of God’s promise… he was a product of man’s will.

God would bless Ishmael but His covenant would not be established through Ishmael. THIS COVENANT WOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED GOD’S WAY, NOT MAN’S WAY.

Quick Discussion: What would you say the difference is between God’s blessing and God’s Covenant?

The direction Ishmael would go would not have any weight on the covenant made between God and Abram. God would bless Ishmael but the covenantal conditions would be established with Isaac, not Ishmael.

Ishmael was the result of human impatience and lack of faith. God said things would play out a certain way… but Abram and Sarai tried to go another route. Ishmael was not abandoned or forgotten by God, but the Lord would remain true to His heard… the covenant would happen HIS way.

Faithfulness was point one, but God also instructed Abram to live a righteous life. To live a life that was blameless.

God’s covenant was being made with a people who were to stand out from the rest of the world. The difference to be displayed was one of righteousness. They were to be a people who followed the instruction of the Lord.

Abram and His family were not to live as they wanted to, but were to live as God led them to. God expected for righteousness to be the norm within the covenantal agreement.

The Covenant Required a NEW IDENTITY

Genesis 17:3–8 NIV

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:15–16 NIV

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

In light of what was being promised, both Abram and Sarai are given a new identity. They will never again be the people they used to be.

Now, their lives as Abram and Sarai would forever be a part of their history… but they would no longer be defined by that history.

For Abram, his name change went from “exalted father” to “father of many nations.’

For Sarai, her name change was a bit different. Sarai in Aramaic, spoken by her parents, meant princess. But in Canaan it was rather meaningless. Sarah in the Hebrew of Canaan means princess - so God restored her dignity by changing hr name.

This change also signifies a complete break from the past. She would no longer bear the weight of being barren as God promised within the year she would have a son.

Abraham and Sarah would never again be who they used to be. God had given them new identities according to the covenant He made with them.

Watch this: this new identity was not something they could achieve on their own, but it was something they could only RECEIVE through God and God alone. Hold onto that thought for a moment...

The Covenant Required a NEW SIGN

Genesis 17:9–14 NIV

9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Genesis 17:22–27 NIV

22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Lastly, we see God seal the deal with an outward sign of obedience. Circumcision was to serve as the sign of the covenant made between Abraham and God.

Any male within the household was to be circumcised without exception. God lays out the instructions and makes clear that this is not only for this generation, but is for the generations to come.

The consequence of not following this instruction was pretty severe - anyone not circumcised would be cut off from his people as he had broken God’s covenant.

So let’s break down God’s condition for the covenant made between God and Abraham.

One - they were to live faithful and Righteous lives.

Two - they received new identities.

Three - they were sealed with a sign as God’s chosen people.

Now, all this talk of covenant might cause us to somewhat distant to the events that happened in Genesis 17. Someone might say, “Pastor, what does this covenant have to do with us today? Why should we pay attention to the promises made between God and Abraham?

Because as believers this evening, we too are living in covenant with the Lord! And I pray this is something we never forget.

God’s New Covenant with us

Luke 22:19–20 NIV

19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

These words come from Jesus at the last supper with His disciples and He speaks of a new covenant in His blood that became our reality as He gave His life on the cross.

This new covenant was paid for by the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. It was the payment needed to usher in a new era of grace.

Jesus truly paid it all. His blood covered ALL sin. And I want you to see what happens when we enter into this covenant with God through the blood of the Lamb.

First, we begin a life of faith and righteousness.

Our relationship in Christ comes by way of faith. And when we call on His name, our righteousness comes by way of justification. We are made righteous in the eyes of God. Jesus took on our sin and we take on His righteousness.

Two, we are given new identities. John 1:12-13

John 1:12–13 NIV

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The old is gone and the new has come! We are no longer who we used to be. Jesus has changed it all!

Three, we are given a seal that marks us or sets us apart from the rest of the world. Ephesians 1:13-14

Ephesians 1:13–14 NIV

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

We know throughout biblical history mankind struggled to uphold his end of the bargain. But with this new covenant comes something different.

That difference is… God has provided for us what was needed, that this new covenant can become the reality for ANYONE who calls on the name of the Lord.

We do not bear our own righteousness… but we bear the righteousness of Christ.

We do not fabricate our own new identity… but we bear the identity given to us through Christ.

We do not seal ourselves in the flesh… but we bear the seal brought onto us who is the Spirit.

Everything we are in the new covenant came from God the Father through His Son and His Spirit!

Where we failed to deliver… God will never fail. And today… because of God’s amazing love and grace, we now have the opportunity to walk in agreement with God… forgiven of sin… and promised an inheritance like no other.