The Covenant of Promise

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Galatians 3:15–25 CSB
15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ. 17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise. 19 Why then was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one. 21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
Galatians 3:15–25 CSB
15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ. 17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise. 19 Why then was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one. 21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
Give a recap of Galatians
By Now in the book of Galatians, we are in the middle of the book and thus far we have seen the emphasis of Paul to point to the saving nature of the Gospel in comparison to this false teaching of Judaizers that God’s people need to trust in their good works and obedience to the law, especially in talking to Gentiles in trying to convince them that circumcision is one law that needs to be obeyed if one is to be a part of God’s people, similarly to the nation of Israel in the Old testament. And last week, Danny talked about the importance of faith and not being foolish in thinking that you can be saved through works. So this argument is continuing in the middle of chapter 3.
The difficulty of chapter 3
I want to prepare us as a church that chapter three of Galatians is a real difficult text to understand. David Platt likens this chapter to mountain peaks that appear back to back to back. You climb one mountain peak, your tired and exhausted, but you have to climb two more. So you climb the next mountain and you feel that you are almost out of it. Then you see that the next mountain is bigger than the other mountains before. So with that, we are going to try our best to exposit and go through these verses in order but the main thing I want you guys to understand are the main concepts that we will talk about in this sermon. So last week our passage ends on Paul speaking of the nature of one who relies on works in comparison to one who relies on faith, in the beginning of our text today Paul is going to continue to signify the difference of trusting in faith and relying on the promise in comparison to trusting in yourself and your works, and a key word and concept that we need to understand that Paul speaks of in our passage today is the word: COVENANT.
Galatians 3:15 CSB
15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.
Paul brings an illustration that hopefully his readers will understand which is that they wouldnt dare make additions or changes or dare break contracts, promises that they have had. He specifically is speaking of Covenants which his readers would understand.
By a raise of hand, how many of you know what a covenant is? When I say the word covenant what do you think of?
what is a covenant?
A covenant is pretty much an agreement of a coming together. It is when two parties come together to make a binding contract, agreeing on promises, stipulations, and responsibilities. the two parties do not necessarily have to be two equal parties for the covenants that we would see in the Bible are between two parties; usually God’s people and God himself. These covenants are binding contracts that the two parties have agreed to where there would be blessings if the covenant is fulfilled but usually there are reprecussions if a party does not hold up to their end of the agreement.
CBF, if you are a member of our church, you have agreed upon a church covenant. We have a church covenant that we recite usually in our members meetings, and we take this covenant very seriously. We are currently teaching on the importance of this church covenant in our care groups and the reason we are teaching on this subject and why we press the importance of the church covenant because the church covenant reveals to us how we ought to live as Christians together as a church. So what happens when I, or another member does not hold up to their agreement in this covenant.
The whole body suffers
It usually leads to church discipline in some type of form or manner
Those who are married here, also have a marriage covenant. Those who are married in this church have covenanted together before God and have agreed to become one. They are called to obey the commands in the Bible in how a husband ought to live and treat their wives, and wives are called to obey and treat their husbands how a wife ought to treat her husband in the Bible.
nature of a covenant
nature of a covenant
Covenants are seen as unbreakable, once a covenant is ratified, no one can annul a covenant or change a covenant.
I want to show the distinction on why v.15 is speaking about a covenant and not a ‘will’ is because wills can be altered and changed, but a covenant is unchangeable.
So there are 4 important covenants that the Bible usually refers to, and our text today is focused on two of these covenants but let me give you a brief summary of these 4 covenants.
Abrahamic Covenant: This starts off with Abraham. He was a patriarch, and a pagan man in all likelihood, yet God graciously came to Him and used Him and made a covenant with Abraham, what consists of this covenant is a: land, people, blessing under God’s rule [very important for us to understand this aspect of the covenant]
This starts off with Abraham. He was a patriarch, and a pagan man in all likelihood, yet God graciously came to Him and used Him and made a covenant with Abraham, what consists of this covenant is a: land, people, blessing under God’s rule [very important for us to understand this aspect of the covenant]
Mosaic Covenant: God gives Moses the commandments, added as a temproary supervisor to teach righteous standards and magnify sin until Christ came. [, ]
Davidic Covenant: Covenant made with King David that secures that a son of DAvid would sit on the throne forever. [, Psalm 89:3-4]
New Covenant: the fulfillment of the Old Covenant; salvation is given through faith in Jesus, and God gives His people a new heart and forgiveness for ALL people. [, , , ]
These are the covenants that are the primary covenants in the Bible and going back to our text, Paul specifically points to the relationship and differences between two specific covenants the Abrahamic [Promise] Covenant and the Mosaic [Law] Covenant. So lets look at the relationship between these two covenants which leads us to our first point of today’s sermon:
TRUST IN THE PROMISE NOT THE LAW
Genesis 12:1–3 CSB
1 The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Note * that God will make Abraham a great nation and that through Abraham’s offspring all peoples will be blessed.
So God promises to Abraham that through Abraham’s lineage [not just Israel but all people will be blessed] but there is just one problem for Abraham. He cannot concieve, He is super old at 99 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 years old. Yet God did not budge.
Genesis 15:1–5 CSB
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
Genesis 15:1–5 CSB
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
1. Trust in the Promise over the Law
Genesis 15:1–5 CSB
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
God promises and covenants to Abraham that He will make him a great nation, He promises them the land of Canaan, and that He will be blessed, and that all people will be blessed through Abraham.
God ratifies this covenant with Abraham:
Genesis 15:9–12 CSB
9 He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.
Covenants in the OT were not signed like contracts in modern time, but the two parties would usually sacrifice animals and the parties of the covenant would pass between the dead animals to basically say “If I break this agreement may I be cut up and cut off in the same way these animals were.
This is the Abrahamic [Promise] Covenant that Paul is speaking of in our passage, and he compares it to the giving of the Law to Moses in Exodus after Israel is delivered from the hands of slavery from Egypt. Let’s read
Galatians 3:16–18 CSB
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ. 17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise.
Paul deals with the issue that the Judaizers are trying to persuade the Galatian church that the Mosaic [Law] Covenant supercedes and has taken over for the Abrahamic [Promise] Covenant. The way Paul explains why one covenant is better than the other is by showing how the benefits of one of the covenants is better than the other covenant, and the fact that if you believe that Mosaic Covenant has replaced the Abrahamic Covenant then it would go against the nature of God himself.
Paul’s answer here is to show that the covenant with Abraham was an unconditional covenant of promise relying solely on God’ faithfulness, whereas the covenant with Moses was a conditional covenant of law relying on man to be faithful to the covenant
Basically in one covenant, GOd is saying to Abraham “I will” and in the other telling the people “Thou Shalt”
The Abrahamic Promise Covenant centers on God: His plan, His grace, His initative, His sovereignty, His blessings, and the other one focuses on the law and centers on what Man can do: Man’s duty, work, responsibility, behavior, obedience.
The Seed
Paul in our text speaks of the importance of offspring, but Paul isn’t speaking of all of Abraham’s offspring, but specifically one offspring, and one seed, and that is Christ. Why is this? Because he knows that the Mosaic Covenant is not greater than the Abrahamic Covenant, and that God’s people are not even under the Abrahamic Covenant anymore, they are under the new covenant. The promises made to Abraham have become a reality in Jesus Christ. They always pointed to Jesus.
Genesis 3:15 CSB
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise given in the covenant with Abraham, and also He is the son of David who will reign forever in the Davidic covenant and that the only way a person can participate in the promised blessings to Abraham is through faith in Christ, he is the offspring, and the seed that which the promises were to be fulfilled.
Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise given in the covenant with Abraham, and also He is the son of David who will reign forever in the Davidic covenant and that the only way a person can participate in the promised blessings to Abraham is through faith in Christ, he is the offspring, and the seed that which the promises were to be fulfilled. He is the seed and offspring that defeats the power of Satan, sin, and death.
The law cannot replace the promise
The nature of the promise
To Paul everything about the Abrahamic Covenant is better than the Mosaic Covenant.
The Promise Covenant focuses on what God does for His people in providing salvation for them, while the Mosaic Covenant focuses on human obedience.
The Promise Covenant celebrates God’s work in delivering people, where the Law covenant summons people to keeping the law
Even the nature of how the covenant promise was given to Abraham shows that this covenant cannot be supplanted by the Mosaic Covenant. Why was Abraham chosen? Why did God use him instead of another man? There was no reason but God’s grace and choosing.
Paul understands that the law was given to God’s people, and the law was a good thing. But it cannot replace the promise. He makes the argument that the law which came 430 years later [not 430 years after Abraham, but 430 years after God reiterated to Jacob/Israel] cannot cancel the promise.
Man cannot succeed in perfectly keeping the law, and God cannot fail in perfectly keeping the promise.
Church family, it is not wrong to have a set group of rules and laws to obey. But to say that these rules are what fulfills the previous covenant and that obeying these laws and focusing on good works leads to salvation is incompatible to the nature of God. If the Promise Covenant was based on a promise, and the Law covenant now replaces it, it would mean that God was wrong and God cannot be wrong. God said he would accomplish something and for him to recant and say that you have to do something now, not Him. This would go against the nature of God, and Paul is trying to press this truth to his readers.
If the law of Moses came as a way of salvation, then it means that God has changed his mind. It would mean that God is saying we no longer need a savior, we can rely and trust in ourselves.
the Inheritance
When one receives an inheritance it is usually given to someone that is not earned. It is usually recieved, and Paul says that in order for us to receive the inheritance we need to keep trusting in the promise. But before we go any further, what is the inheritance that Paul is talking about.
When one receives an inheritance it is usually given to someone that is not earned. It is usually recieved, and Paul says that in order for us to receive the inheritance we need to keep trusting in the promise. But before we go any further, what is the inheritance that Paul is talking about.
To speak of inheritance is to speak of our eternal reward and salvation in heaven.
Hebrews 11:8–10 CSB
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:13–16 CSB
13 These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. 14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews
Church family, Paul shows us here that the we. like the Galatians need to understand and trust in the promises of God. Trust and rely on what God has done throughout the whole story of the Bible. These Judaizers took the scriptures and saw something that they liked, they liked the idea that salvation can be found in works, because that took the emphasis off of God and put it on them. They can earn and do things their own way instead of relying on God and trusting in His promises.
Application for us: We need to not fall into this line of thinking of the Judaizers who read scripture and take the parts of the Bible they like. There is a danger in churches now to do this. We look at bible verses by itself and let those verses dictate our theology without actually seeing if it lines up with the Bible as a whole. We take verses and let that be the Bible that we believe instead of believing in the whole of scripture. Church family, we need to grow in our understanding of the BIble as a whole. Do you know how the Old Testament fits in with the New Testament? Do we know how all of Scripture unfolds to present us God’s big story and plan of redemption in Christ.
We grow in our understanding of the Bible first through our bible reading.
ask questions when you read scriptures
read scripture with others so that you can dialogue about it
try to read the Bible with the lens that is one big story, and try to read each book of the Bible and think how it fits with the bigger story of God
Church family, an application for us is to Rest in the promises of God:
The law says: DO THIS, but the Gospel says: RECEIVE THIS
so cling to the promises of God, cling to His faithfulness to His word, His covenant, and do not rely on yourself. Let that be the motivator in your obedience. The Promise and the Law are not the same, the Law does not replace the promise, but that through our belief in the Promise we are able to understand the law and obey it more completely. So with that, we know that the Law does not supplant and replace the promise, but what is the purpose of the law then?
the inheritance
2. Understand the Purpose of the Law
Galatians 3:19–24 CSB
19 Why then was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one. 21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe. 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.
:
Why was the law important to the Galatians?
Function of the Law
The Law shows us our sin
The impossible demands of the law were meant to compel men to recognize their violation of God’s standards. When a man looks at the law, he sees that his living is more than simply wrong; it is sin, an offense against the holy God, before whom no sinful person can stand.
The law shows us that we can’t be perfect, because the law exposes our sin. The law does not make us sinners but that it reveals our sin and shows us our need for Christ.
The Law increases Sin
our text says that the law was added to transgressions. This means that the law was added to sin or to increase sin. You might be confused on to why a purpose of the law was to add to sin.
Romans 5:20 CSB
20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more
look at the history of Israel, when they received the law it did not lead to Israel being model citizens and behaving well following the law to the best of their abilities. When they received the law, it led to more sin, and a time where sin reigned and ruled the nation.
The law as a guard
Our text says that the law confined us. It served as prisoner guard or warden for us, but still revealing to us that we are not free.
We need to see that not until we see that the law has arrested and imprisoned us and sentenced us to death will he be driven to despair in himself and turn to Jesus Christ.
The law even when kept to the person’s best ability is nothing but a prison.
The law as a Guardian
An interesting word that is depicted for the law is a guardian/custodian. In the time of the Galatians, this person would be kind of seen as a disciplinarian/ babysitter. A guardian had the job of watching over children during the years of immaturity. They would teach the children morals and manners. They were to be moral guides for the children when they were young. There was always an understanding that guardian only took care of the children when they were young, and when they became mature they would not be under the custodian’s authority anymore. The role of this person was never permanent. The children would look forward to the day when they would no longer have to submit to the custodian. This is the same situation with the law. The law is good in a sense where it reveals to us what is right and wrong, the Mosaic law was good for God’s people because it reveals to us how we ought to live before God. But the law does not save, and it is temporal and makes way for a greater covenant, the new covenant.
Why is the law important to us now?
The Law gives way to something greater. The Mosaic law was always supposed to be temporary and to point us to something greater. That is why it is still imperative for us to preach and teach the law and the moral standards that it reveals. Unless men realize they are living in violation of God’s law and therefore stand under divine judgment, mankind will never see a reason or need to be saved. People will not see a reason or desire to be saved if they do not see their inadequacy.
The goal for us as Christians, and for all of mankind is for us to come to a clear understanding of the holiness and righteousness of God which then reveals to us our unrighteousness. This is why the law is important for us today, so that we can come to a realization of ourselves and say “wretched am I”
For us believers, when we look back at the effects of the law, we can see that the law affected us in a positive way because it showed us our helplessness, and our need for a savior. The law for us is no longer seen as a system of salvation. The Gospel means we no longer obey the law out of fear of rejection and hope to get saved by our performance for God. But when we grasp salvation-by-promise, our hearts are filled with gratitude and a desire to please the Lord.
Tim Keller states that the gospel allows us truly to honor the law in a way legalistic people cannot. Without the Gospel we may obey the law, but we will learn to hate it. We will use it, but we will not truly love it. Only when we obey the law because we are saved, not to try to be saved, will we really obey the law well.
John Stott: “No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth”
Church family, has the law given you further appreciation and gratitude of the depth’s of God’s love in saving you? Or has the law burdened you more as you try to earn God’s favor in your works. The law provides us greater clarity of our need for God. So if we need God, we need not trust in anyone else besides God.
Now that we see that the purpose of the law and the temporal nature of the law, let us close with our third and final point which is to
3. Hold to the Promise of Faith
Galatians 3:23–25 CSB
23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
So look at our text, it says before faith came we were under the law, but v. 25 says that faith has now come. This is what Paul has been trying to say all along. He’s been trying to say that the fulfillment of the promises has come through Christ.
The importance of faith: We see in our text that faith is important and that now that it has come we are no longer under the guardian of the law. You hear people say “we just need to have more faith” but more importantly than the amount of faith, is who your faith is in. Faith in God is not just a belief in God’s existence. Faith in God is trusting in Christ for salvation and trusting Him as Lord over your life. Faith in God is believing in God’s promise of blessing for His people through his son Christ. Faith is trusting that Christ did a work that we couldnt accomplish on our own. Faith is believing in Christ alone.
Church family, is your life indicative of faith like this? We’ve been reading RADICAL by David Platt and it is giving us an idea of what living radically for the Gospel looks like. Maybe we often do not live radical lives because we do not have faith. Church family, those who trust in Christ and follow Him as Lord over their lives do not sit back and indulge in sin and follow the ways of the world just like everyone else. Those who have faith in Christ risk everything because they know that in God they have someone who is Good, worthy, and have someone that they have satisfaction in.
We often
A question you may be asking, is if faith came after the law, how did anyone in the Old Testament get saved before Jesus?
The answer to that is they got saved by faith!, Look at the life of Abraham, it says that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham was justified by faith in the promise of God, and that promise, ever since the beginning was pointing to Christ. All throughout history people have been justified by faith. Abraham and the Old Testament saints believed and had faith in God’s promises, but now we have faith in what was established through Christ. It is only by Faith we are saved. Those who lived under the Promise were saved by having faith in the future and awaiting the Promise of God. Us, Christians have faith and look back at the fulfillment of the promise and what Christ has done for us.
Conclusion: Paul wants us to live by faith in the promises of God. That God will bless His people, and this blessing finds its fulfillment in Christ. So church family, understand the purpose of the law in revealing our sin and showing us our need for Christ, but do not trust in the law for salvation. Salvation can only be found by faith in Christ.
If you are not a Christian here today, maybe faith is the wall that prevents you from considering Christianity as a viable way of life for you. How can you place your trust in God solely, when it might be easier to trust in a belief system that relies more on yourself. You might be thinking, I have to put my faith in God? How do I even know that God is trustworthy or faithful?
Why can we trust that God is faithful or trustworthy? Think back to the nature of a covenant. A covenant is an binding agreement between two parties and they are held to keep the covenant. Earlier, we talked about how covenants were finalized through a sacrifice of animals, basically saying ‘if I break this covenant may i be cut up and cut off’, and these covenants are usually dependant on both these parties to do their parts. But the Abrahamic [Promise] Covenant is not dependant on two parties, it is only dependent on God.
7-21
Genesis 15:17–21 CSB
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Genesis 15:17–21 CSB
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
It says in our text that only God walked through the sacrifices, Abram was asleep. This covenant of promise was not dependent on Abraham or any man, but soley dependent on God. God walking through the sacrifice signified that God will not break this covenant because God is faithful. God is saying, I will be faithful, I would rather die than break my word and break this covenant. God would rather die then break his covenant, and the crazy thing is that God actually dies to fulfill the covenant. Jesus, God himself dies so that the covenant wouldn’t be broken. Jesus was the only one under the law, who obeyed the law perfectly so that he could save His people from their sins. Jesus saves people from the bondage of sin by dying for sin on the cross, and on that cross takes on the sin of man and exchanging his righteousness. Jesus dies on the cross and in three days rose from the grave. Jesus triumphs over the law, over sin, over death. So Non-Christian you can be freed from sin by faith in Christ.
Why can we trust that God is faithful? That God would rather die, and die he did to fulfill his covenant and remain faithful to His people.
Church family, let’s continue to live our lives by faith. Faith in Christ is not just believing in God, but faith in what Christ, the promised Seed, ha done for us to provide blessing for all people.
Church family: we are going to go into a time of communion and after that we are going to sing Rock of Ages. You want to know what faith is? it is being confident in believing that “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling”, “naked come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; [WASH ME SAVIOR OR I DIE].
This is the Gospel in a nutshell: Wash me Savior, or I die.
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