Living Our Faith

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him." Romans 12:1

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Categories
    Categories Displays a list of categories from this blog.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that has been used in the blog.
  • Archives
    Archives Contains a list of blog posts that were created previously.
  • Login

Redemption Journey: Covenant Promises

Posted by on in Upcoming Sermon
  • Font size: Larger Smaller
  • Hits: 4077
  • 0 Comments
  • Print

The text for this Sunday’s sermon is Genesis 17:1-26. Perhaps most famously this text is known as the “Covenant of Circumcision” but, for this Sunday and the “Redemption Journey” series I invite you to look at this text in the light of what happened before.

In Genesis 12 God called Abram, and after hearing God’s call Scripture simply states, “So Abram went as the Lord had told him.” So often what we remember of Abram/Abraham is his faithful response to God’s call. He was faithful, yes, but the whole narrative of Abram/Abraham in Genesis 11:10 – 25:11 tells the story of a man who struggled – just like we do – to trust God at all times and be a faithful follower. After hearing God’s promise, Abram and Sarai went to Canaan, travelled through the land, and then went to Egypt. There, only a few verses after hearing God's promises to him, Abram told Sarai to pretend that she was his sister so that he would be treated well by the Egyptians. Abram didn’t trust God to care for them in Egypt and took matters into his own hands. As a result God inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household.

In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with Abraham and when it became time to seal the covenant God took upon himself the full cost of keeping the covenant. When covenants were sealed in those times, the two parties would walk between the cut up animals and swear an oath which communicated to the other party, “May it be the same for me as these animals if I do not keep my promise,” but Abraham was put into a deep sleep and God sealed the covenant by himself. God’s promise to Abraham was that his descendants (which were to be as numerous as the stars) would be slaves for four hundred years before returning to inhabit the Promised Land. All of this seemed so impossible to a man without a son.

So then, in Genesis 16, Abram and Sarai took matters into their own hands. Since God had not yet given them a son, they got creative. Sarai offered her maidservant, Hagar, to Abram, Abram agreed, Hagar conceived and gave birth to Ishmael. Abram and Sarai now had their son. But this was not God’s plan. Rather, Abram and Sarai had hijacked God’s plan because they were impatient. They couldn’t wait anymore, and why would they? Sarai was well beyond childbearing years and Abram’s best years were behind him also.

But in Genesis 17 we find out that Ishmael was not God’s son of promise. The promised son would be Isaac – a child that would be born to Abraham and Sarah in a year (when Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90). Even though Abraham and Sarah sought a way to work around God’s plan, God maintained His promised line of blessing through the promised son.

By reading Genesis 17 within the greater context of the whole Abraham narrative and specifically in the context of God’s covenant (Gen. 15), Abraham’s failure (Gen. 16), and God’s affirmation of His covenant (Gen. 17), we can see God’s deep commitment to redemption. It’s in that context God calls Abraham to be faithful, changes his and Sarai’s names (God gives them a new identity), requires circumcision as a sign of commitment, and promises a son through the barren Sarah. By reading this story in its full context, we see the activity of the God of grace who keeps covenant with His people even when they are unfaithful.

Redemption is God’s promise for His people, and as shown through the unfaithfulness of His people (even the heroes of faith) it is His promise to keep. 

Rate this blog entry:
1

Comments

  • No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment

Leave your comment

Guest Friday, 29 March 2024

Upcoming Events

There are currently no upcoming events.

Devotionals