We can be secure in God’s promise
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1/ Insecurity & uncertainty is an unsettling experience.
Sometimes we are just not sure about something.
It just doesn’t seem right and we don’t know why.
There may be an issue at work and we don’t know how to deal with it.
Or a family dispute and our sense of security is threatened.
Or a financial challenge that we are not sure we can meet.
Or a sense that we should try something new, take a risk and get involved in a ministry that seems a bit beyond us.
I was reminded of these truths at the Qld Baptist Assembly a few years ago
Toni & I were at the business day of the QLD Baptist convention.
It is when the big decisions of the denomination are made.
It is also a time for networking, of catching up, of hearing of new ideas and projects.
During one of the breaks a lady said hello to me and asked how we were doing.
Now I knew I had met her before but I couldn’t place where from; so we chatted and I told her what we were doing and that was about it.
Later on Toni told me that this lady was one of the leaders from a church that was interested in calling us.
A church we had turned down.
As I was standing there with Toni; feeling bad that I hadn’t asked how her church was doing as I know that they are still without a permanent pastor.
I was reminded of the uncertainty that followed our decision to turn down their call.
It was a very secure option.
Insecurity & uncertainty is an unsettling experience
I was reminded of the feeling of not knowing what was next, of not actually having anything to go too, of being uncertain about finances, housing, everything.
Abraham had the same experience when God told him to leave where he was.
Genesis 11:31 tells us that Abraham’s father one day decided to leave their home country, a very wealthy place and head to a foreign land, the land of Canaan.
One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.”
In Acts 7:4 we read that the Jewish people clearly understood that Abraham had no real idea what was next.“
So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.”
And then we read that God made a promise to Abraham.
It was a gracious promise, a promise that Abraham did not earn.
Abraham had not started out as a worshipper of the Lord.
His people were pagans.
But God made a promise; he gave him a plan for his future.
He offered Abraham a covenant, a binding promise.
We read about it in Genesis 12:1-3 and again in Genesis 13:14-17 and again in Genesis 15 and also in Genesis 17:1-8
2/ The covenant is based upon God’s gracious promise.
Not upon anything that Abraham did or could have done.
Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed the LORD and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
There is no action, no act.
No earned worthiness, no intrinsic worth that Abraham possessed.
He simply believed God’s gracious promise.
In Genesis 15: 9-18 we read of a mysterious ceremony.
9 The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. 12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.” 17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—
This sacrifice demonstrated the seriousness of this covenant.
But it is not a sacrifice as was normally offered; for the animals are not burnt.
Instead the two halves are laid out like a pathway and it is the Lord alone in the form of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch who walks down this path.
What does this mysterious ceremony mean; how does it relate to God’s promise to Abraham?
Now there are layers upon layers of meaning in this ceremony.
The sacrificial animals may represent Israel or its priestly leaders (M. Douglas, Purity and Danger [London: Routledge, 1966]
The birds of prey represent unclean nations, such as Egypt (so Cazelles). Abrahams’ actions in driving away the birds represent his defending his descendants against foreign attackers[1]
The dividing of the animals in half mirrors other treaties of the time, where the parties agreed to a curse that they would be cut in two like the animals if they broke the agreement.
The time lapse between Abram’s falling asleep (v 12; cf. v 15) and God’s walking between the pieces (v 17).
Represents God walking with his people in the form of the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud during the Exodus.
It also represents his promise to be their God and walk among Israel.[2]
Every type of sacrificial animal is represented to underline the significance of the scene; all Israel is involved.
Finally, there may be some as yet unknown significance in the choice of three-year-old animals[3]
But most importantly above all these interesting theological points is this simple fact.
It is God who made the promise; Abraham did nothing to earn it.
The covenant is given by grace.
3/ It is exactly the same with the new covenant – it is given by the grace of God,
5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
Do you want peace in the midst of uncertainty?
Do you seek security?
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
4/ The new covenant gives us a security which we can trust, even in the most difficult of times.
It is the security of relationship with Christ that is our ultimate security.
Everything else can be gone in an instant.
But Christ remains.
We can be travelling happily through life one moment and then!
Everything changes.
Everything is taken away.
One Sunday afternoon about 6 years ago we went to see my parents.
We had dinner and then headed home.
On the way home we witnessed a very serious motorcycle accident and stopped to render assistance.
By the time I grabbed the first aid kit other people were already helping the motorcyclist.
So I went and helped the guy lying in the middle of the road who had half his leg torn open to the bone.
It wasn’t what I really wanted to deal with, but it had to be done.
The motorcyclist was riding along one moment on his nice Harley.
He was wearing hi vis work gear so he was probably on his way home from work.
The next moment he loses control of his bike and comes off.
Suffering very serious injuries.
Now we are still not sure if the guy he hit stepped out in front of him or was lying in the middle of the road, as he shoes were laid neatly on the road side by side.
But the motorcyclist didn’t see it coming.
He was just happily riding along.
We can be travelling happily through life one moment and then!
Everything changes.
Everything is taken away.
So what remains?
Recently students in Africa went to university, as they did every day.
They were seeking to make a better life for themselves.
Many would have been the first generation in their family to get a higher education.
Then terrorists burst through the doors and shot them.
Many were targeted because they were Christians.
We can be travelling happily through life one moment and then!
Everything changes.
Everything is taken away.
So what remains?
The only thing of eternal certainty is Christ.
6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
The Apostle Paul had nothing to fear from life or death!
He knew that life could be incredibly difficult.
But he was sure of ultimate victory
Let me ask you, “If Jesus Christ has conquered death, the last enemy, then why fear anything else?”
Warren Wiersbe writes, “The joyful message of the early church was the victory of Christ over death, and we need to return to that victorious emphasis.” [4]
Yes there are uncertainties in life, we all experience them.
And yes they can be cause of great concern and worry.
We need to exercise wisdom in our choices.
To seek the counsel of those who have gone before us.
To weigh up our options and choose that which fits with the principles of honesty and integrity.
Of graciousness and concern for others.
But at the end of the day the only thing of eternal certainty is Christ and the promise that the Lord has graciously given you that death is defeated through his victory on the cross.
Believe that promise and it changes everything for eternity.
[1] Wenham, G. J. (1998). Genesis 1–15 (Vol. 1, p. 332). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
[2] Wenham, G. J. (1998). Genesis 1–15 (Vol. 1, p. 333). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
[3] Wenham, G. J. (1998). Genesis 1–15 (Vol. 1, p. 333). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 643). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.