{"id":49,"date":"2011-02-06T21:39:44","date_gmt":"2011-02-06T20:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=49"},"modified":"2011-02-06T21:39:44","modified_gmt":"2011-02-06T20:39:44","slug":"gods-covenant-with-abraham-genesis-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=49","title":{"rendered":"God’s covenant with Abraham – Genesis 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word covenant appears more than 300 times in the Bible. Throughout both Old and New Testaments, God\u2019s relationship with men and women is describles as a covenant relationship. A covenant is an agreement or a treaty. A covenant with God is an agreement between two unequal partners \u2013 King and subjects. It is based on God\u2019s gracious promises and man\u2019s response of unconditional obedience.
\nHere in Genesis 17 we see the beginning olf the \u201cOld Covenant\u201d \u2013 God\u2019s covenant with the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The covenant which was to be the basis of God\u2019s dealings with his chosen people for the next 2000 years.
\nGod\u2019s side \u2013 blessings and promises.
\n10 times in Genesis 17:1-8 be read about what God does or will do. 13 years have passed since God\u2019s promises to Abram in Genesis 15. In that time God has said nothing and done nothing. Abram\u2019s faith must have been severely tested. But THEN we read vv 1-3
\nDescendents v 4-7
\nLand v 8
\nHeir who would be Isaac v 19-21
\nThe new covenant: rests on God\u2019s grace and God\u2019s promises, not on human effort. We have the privilege of belonging to God\u2019s chosen people, the household of faith, the church, dwelling not in the promised land of Canaan but even better in the promised Kingdom of God. All these are gifts of grace, received by faith. God kept all His promises to Abraham and He will keep all His promises to us as well.
\nAbraham\u2019s side \u2013 devotion and obedience
\nWe saw last time how Abram had already embraced those promises by faith: Gen 15:6
\nBut at well as simply trusting God, we read now how that faith is expected to be worked out in practice in everyday living. Faith is more than just intellectual agreement. As the letter of James makes clear, faith without actions is dead. And God makes clear what he will expect from Abraham.
\nv1 \u201cI am God Almighty – Walk before me\u201d
\nAdam \u2013 God walked in the Garden of Eden and talked with Adam and Eve.
\nEnoch \u201cWalked with God and then was no more, before God took him away.
\nNoah walked with God
\nIt is the destiny of the redeemed of the Lord to walk with God: Revelation 21:3-4
\nAnd it is God\u2019s requirement of His chosen people that they walk with Him Micah 6:8
\nWalk before me, God commands Abram, and \u201cbe blameless\u201d just as Noah was: Genesis 6:9
\nThat doesn\u2019t imply a state of sinless perfection \u2013 but a singleminded devotion to God, wholehearted obedience, complete surrender.
\nThis covenant will be renewed with Isaac \u2013 Genesis 26:3-5. But we can see there that God\u2019s blessing on Abram\u2019s descendents only followed from Abraham\u2019s obedience.
\nIn the New covenant: Like Abraham we are saved by believing God\u2019s promises. \u201cWe are saved by faith alone, but true saving faith is never alone.\u201d (Calvin)
\nOur proper response to God is Romans 12:1-2
\nWe must devote ourselves to fellowship with God, prayer, worship and complete obedience, total commitment. If Abraham could offer these things to God at the age of 99, without the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, then we have no excuses.
\nCircumcision \u2013 the outward sign of an inward reality.
\nGod had sealed His side of the covenant with an oath \u2013 Genesis 15:8 and17-18 \u2013 a cutting ritual.
\nGod now demands a cutting ritual from Abraham. Genesis 17:9-12. This would be the mark of Abraham\u2019s descendents the people of Israel for 4000 years.
\nThe rite of circumcision was a sign that Abraham believed God and claimed his promises. It was also a sign that Abraham in turn promised to do what God required, to walk with God and be blameless.
\nCircumcision was a religious sign \u2013 a sign of the need for change before human beings can have fellowship with God \u2013 a sign of separation from the world, a mark of God\u2019s ownership on men so they cannot forget that they belong to God.
\nIt was also a public sign so that everybody would know they belong to God. Many religions have public and visible signs \u2013 perhaps we Christians need some more public signs that we belong to God? Wearing a cross? Or fish symbol? It is too easy to blend into the crowd and hide the fact that we belong to Jesus Christ.
\nChange of name was also a pretty public sign! vv 5, 15. But then people can lie about their names \u2013 the rite of circumcision was the sign God commanded for his chosen people.
\nOutward sign was meaningless without the inward reality. Romans 2:25-29
\nSalvation rests on grace, received by faith, not obedience to Law Romans 4:9-13. The gift of salvation comes first, response by the external sign followed for Abraham. But in Judaism the outward sign and the inward reality are inseparable. To refuse the sign is to break the covenant. Genesis 17:14
\nIn the New Covenant: the sign of the covenant is believers\u2019 baptism.
\nActs 2:38-39 Colossians 2:9-12.
\nBaptism is the sign that we have received God\u2019s promises by faith and that we commit ourselves to obedience and worship. The outward sign does not guarantee the inward reality \u2013 we do not believe in baptismal regeneration. But in parallel to the rite of circumcision, in the New Covenant the inward reality will normally be accompanied by the outward sign.
\nSo Christians will normally show their faith publicly by believer\u2019s baptism. And we renew that covenant each time we eat the bread and drink the cup. We claim God\u2019s promises afresh and we renew our baptismal promises to trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and our Lord and to follow Jesus and serve Him all the days of our lives in the fellowship of the church.
\nGod\u2019s covenant with Abraham in the Old Testament is the pattern for the New Covenant sealed in the blood of Christ. It is a relationship based on God\u2019s blessings and promises and sealed by an outward sign. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. God expects the same response of faith and obedience from us as He did from Abraham. No less \u2013 maybe rather more! Genesis 17:1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word covenant appears more than 300 times in the Bible. Throughout both Old and New Testaments, God\u2019s relationship with men and women is…<\/span><\/p>\n

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