Sign Of The Promise

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Genesis.

And we're in chapter 17 this morning.

Genesis chapter 17.

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

If this is your first time with us or first time in a while,

we're walking through the book of Genesis and we've come to chapter 17.

If you don't have a copy of God's Word with you, that's okay.

We should have one in a seat back nearby, somewhere close by you,

and you're welcome to use that copy of God's Word this morning.

But we're in Genesis chapter 17, and when you've found it,

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

I am God Almighty.

Walk before me and be blameless,

that I may make my covenant between me and you,

and may multiply you greatly.

Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him,

Behold, my covenant is with you,

and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

No longer shall your name be called Abram,

but your name shall be Abraham,

for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful,

and I will make you into nations,

and kings shall come from you.

And I will establish my covenant between me and you,

and your offspring after you,

throughout their generations,

for an everlasting covenant,

to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

And I will give to you and to your offspring after you,

the land of your sojournings,

all the land of Canaan,

for an everlasting possession,

and I will be their God.

And God said to Abraham,

As for you,

you shall keep my covenant,

you and your offspring after you,

throughout their generations.

This is my covenant,

which you shall keep,

between me and you and your offspring after you.

Every male among you shall be circumcised.

You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins,

and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised.

Every male throughout your generations,

whether born in your house or bought with your money

from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,

both he who is born in your house

and he who is bought with your money

shall surely be circumcised.

So shall my covenant be in your flesh,

an everlasting covenant.

Any uncircumcised male,

who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,

shall be cut off from his people.

He has broken my covenant.

And God said to Abraham,

As for Sarai, your wife,

you shall not call her name Sarai,

but Sarah shall be her name.

I will bless her,

and moreover,

I will give you a son by her.

I will bless her,

and she shall become nations.

Kings of peoples shall come from her.

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed

and said to himself,

Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?

Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old,

bear a child?

And Abraham said to God,

Oh, that Ishmael might live before you.

God said,

No, but Sarah, your wife,

shall bear you a son,

and you shall call his name Isaac.

I will establish my covenant with him

as an everlasting covenant

for his offspring after him.

As for Ishmael,

I have heard you.

Behold,

I have blessed him

and will make him fruitful

and multiply him greatly.

He shall father twelve princes,

and I will make him into a great nation.

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac,

whom Sarah shall bear to you

at this time next year.

When he had finished talking with him,

God went up from Abraham.

Then Abraham took Ishmael,

his son,

and all those born in his house

or bought with his money,

every male among the men of Abraham's house.

And he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins

that very day,

as God had said to him.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old

when he was circumcised

in the flesh of his foreskin.

And Ishmael, his son,

was thirteen years old

when he was circumcised

in the flesh of his foreskin.

That very day,

Abraham and his son Ishmael

were circumcised.

And all the men of his house,

those born in the house

and those bought with money

from a foreigner,

were circumcised with him.

The grass withers

and the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord

endures forever.

Father, we praise you

for your word.

And we pray this morning

that as we look at promises made,

God, would you give us

patient faith.

Lord, would you lead us

to walk before you

and be blameless.

And ultimately, Father,

would you lead us

to look to Christ by faith

this morning.

And it's in his name

that we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Tomorrow is kind of

a big day for me.

I shared in the

Grow Class hour

this morning

in Sunday school

that tomorrow

is going to mark

thirteen years of marriage

for Amanda

and myself.

Our marriage has officially

entered the teenage years.

For some of you,

that's not saying much.

I know you've been married

much longer than that.

Some of you

married less than a week.

Thirteen years ago

seems like a long time

to me.

I don't remember a lot

from thirteen years ago,

but I'll tell you

one thing that I remember

with just vivid clarity

was the process

of picking out

the perfect engagement ring

for my soon-to-be bride.

And those of you

who have proposed before

understand that process.

You go through

all the catalogs.

You visit all

the jewelry shops.

You go through

cut, clarity,

carrot,

all the four or five C's

of picking out

the perfect ring.

I wanted to pick something

that she would love

to have on her finger

forever

and never ever

want to take it off.

And then I remember

the first time

that she put my ring

on my finger.

It felt kind of weird

at first,

a little unnatural.

Now it's,

I hardly even notice it.

It's kind of a part of me.

I rarely ever,

if ever,

take it off.

But I wonder

if you've ever thought

about why we do

that whole thing

in the first place.

Why do we go through

the process

of purchasing a ring

and putting it

on your spouse's finger?

And what's the big idea

beyond the wedding ring

besides just a photo opportunity

or to brag

and show it off

to your friends?

Well,

that ring,

yes,

it's beautiful.

Yes,

it's valuable.

But it also serves

an important function,

doesn't it?

That wedding ring

on our finger

is a sign

of the covenant

that you have made

with your spouse.

It's kind of shorthand

for the vows,

shorthand for the promises

that you've made.

So it's a reminder

of the promises

that you've made to her

and she has made to you.

It points us

to our promises

and our responsibilities.

It's a symbol.

It's a sign

of the covenant

that you made

in marriage.

In many ways,

as we come to our passage

this morning here

in Genesis chapter 17,

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

we can see

that the same

is true

for circumcision.

Circumcision,

biblically speaking,

is a sign

of the covenant

that God has made

with Abram.

And you know,

you may have noticed

as you read

through your Bible,

the Bible talks

about circumcision

kind of a lot.

And so this may be

a little bit

of an uncomfortable thing

to talk about

this morning,

but we kind of

got to get used to it

as you read your Bible.

It's a little bit strange

if you're not used to it.

Now y'all,

I read this passage

to my boys this week,

right?

They had a lot of questions

that came up

about this passage.

What in the world

is going on here?

And the Bible talks

about circumcision

almost a hundred times.

And it's not just

an Old Testament topic.

It's brought up frequently

in the New Testament

as well.

But you know,

even if you're

a more mature believer

in the room this morning,

I would be willing

to bet that you probably

have some questions too.

What is this all about?

And so this morning

as we come to Genesis

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17,

I want us to understand

the sign of circumcision.

And what we'll see

is three functions

of the sign.

This will be our outline

this morning

if you're a note taker.

We're going to see

three functions

of the sign

of circumcision

here in Genesis 17.

First,

we see circumcision

is a promise.

It is a promise.

It really is a reminder

of all of God's promises.

Like a wedding ring,

it's a symbol,

it's shorthand

for the promises

that God made to Abram.

And we know that Abram

needs to be reminded

of God's promises,

don't we?

We've seen over and over

and over again

this delay in fulfillment

has led Abram to doubt.

He needs reassurances

of God's promises.

Look there to verse 1

with me,

chapter 17.

It kind of gives

this time marker here.

It says,

verse 1 tells us

all of this happens

when Abram was 99 years old,

which means,

if you're keeping track,

this has been 25 years now

since Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

25 years of waiting

from the time

when God first spoke

to Abram

and first made

these promises to him

all the way to this point

when God is reaffirming them

by the sign

of circumcision.

Between last chapter

and this chapter

and this chapter,

it's been 13 years

of waiting.

Now these chapters

are just back to back

to back in our Bible.

We can read them

sitting down

maybe in about 10 minutes

total,

but we should recognize

that from chapter 12

here to chapter 17,

this represents

25 years

of Abram's life.

So far as we know,

it's been 13 years

since God last appeared

and last spoke.

I mean,

that's a long time

to wait.

Abram's not getting

any younger.

Sarai is not getting

any younger.

She's still barren.

The promises have

yet to be fulfilled

and again,

Abram here needs

to be reassured.

God,

will you do

what you've promised?

So,

verse 1 says,

the Lord

appeared to Abram

and he reveals himself

by a new name here.

He says,

I am God

Almighty.

El Shaddai.

God reminds Abram

that I am powerful

to fulfill my word.

I am God Almighty.

Nothing's too hard for me.

Don't focus so much

on your weakness

and your inability

and your struggle.

Focus instead on me

and my strength

and my power.

I am God Almighty.

I will do

what I promise.

You know,

that's what faith is,

by the way.

Faith is looking

away from yourself,

away from your ability

and inability,

away from your weakness

and looking in trust

to the power of God.

Faith is clinging

to the promises of God,

not what we can do,

but what He alone

is able to do.

God comes,

He appears,

and He speaks.

He commands Abram,

walk before me

and be blameless

that I may make my covenant

between me and you

and may multiply you greatly.

And what does Abram do

in response?

He falls on his face.

That's the right response

to the presence of the Lord,

by the way.

He falls flat on his face

in reverence

and in fear

and in awe

and in worship.

And God again,

once again,

reaffirms His covenant

with Abram.

You wonder,

13 years has gone by.

What,

what's God gonna do now?

What is God gonna,

gonna say now?

It's been 13 years, God.

What are you gonna give me now?

God comes

and He simply reaffirms

yet again

the very same promises

He's already made.

Verses 4 through 8

are basically just a repeat

of what we've already seen

and heard.

You remember chapter 12?

God calls Abram.

He promises to multiply

His offspring,

to give them the land of Canaan,

to make Him an agent

of blessing to the whole world.

Chapter 15,

God appears.

He confirms these promises

in a covenant.

And now,

chapter 17,

He gives this visible,

tangible sign

of the promises.

But notice again,

it's all essentially

the same promise,

isn't it?

This is not a new covenant

made with Abram.

It's the same promises

that He's been waiting for

for the last 25 years.

Only now,

He gives a sign.

He puts a ring

on Abram's finger,

so to speak,

to remind him

of the promises.

Well,

let's remind ourselves

this morning.

What are they?

What are the promises

God's made?

You can think about it

basically in three categories

here,

the promises God makes

to Abram.

It's a promise

of posterity,

a promise of place,

and a promise

of prosperity.

Promise of posterity,

prosperity,

and place.

God,

here in verse 4,

look there with me.

He reaffirms this promise

of posterity,

offspring.

Behold,

verse 4,

my covenant is with you.

You shall be the father

of a multitude

of nations.

And God affirms this

by giving Abram

a new name here,

doesn't He?

No longer shall you

be called Abram,

which means great father,

but now your name

will be Abraham,

which means father

of a multitude.

I will make you

exceedingly fruitful,

verse 6,

and I will make you

into nations,

and kings shall come

from you.

Now that's new information,

isn't it?

Kings shall come

for you.

This is a new development.

And we see

a royal promise.

Kings now will come

from the line of Abram.

That's the posterity

promise.

God reaffirms

the promise of prosperity

here in verse 7.

This is blessing,

a promise of blessing.

I will establish

my covenant

between me and you

and your offspring

after you

throughout their generations

for an everlasting covenant

to be God to you

and to your offspring

after you.

What's the blessing?

What's the prosperity?

The prosperity promised here.

It is God himself.

God promises

to be their God,

to be with them

as their God.

We call this

the Emmanuel principle.

It's God with us.

God commits

to be with

the offspring of Abram

and for them.

His presence

will go with them

as their God.

God,

this is the primary blessing

of this covenant.

Everything else

is icing on the cake.

But he goes on

and he reaffirms

yet again

this promise

of a place

here in verse 8.

I will give you

and your offspring

after you

the land

of your sojournings,

all the land

of Canaan

for an everlasting

possession.

And again,

he says,

I will be

their God.

So you see

these three

categories here.

Again,

God reaffirms

his promise

of people,

prosperity,

and place.

And would you just

notice the emphasis

here?

This emphatic

language of God,

I will multiply

you, Abram,

not just a little bit,

but greatly.

Not just nations,

but a multitude

of nations.

I won't make you

just fruitful,

but exceedingly fruitful.

This isn't just

a covenant,

it's an everlasting

covenant.

25 years

later,

Abram may have

some issues here

understanding how

God's going to do

this,

but God has not

wavered one bit,

has he?

God has not

backed down

off of his promise.

He's doubling

down here.

Church,

we should take note

here,

just for a moment

as we apply this

to us.

Do not let

the delay

between God's

promise

and fulfillment

lead you

to doubt.

Do not let

the delay

between God's

promise

and fulfillment

put you

in a state

of distress.

God is

not

slow

to fulfill

his promises.

Two thousand

years

since Christ

came,

and he promised

he's coming

back.

He promised

us

Christ

will come

back.

He will

crush the

serpent.

He will

end evil

for good.

He will

put an

end to

sin.

He will

renew

all things.

Death,

grief,

pain,

sin,

sorrow,

all of it

is gone

for good.

When will

it happen,

Lord?

This delay

between promise

and fulfillment

can easily

lead us

to doubt,

can easily

lead us

to distress.

Our God

who stands

outside of

time is

just as

committed to

his word

25 years

later,

2,000 years

later,

as he was

the moment

he first

spoke his

promise.

But we

need to be

reminded often.

So here,

knowing this,

God gives

Abram a

sign of

the promise,

a reminder

in his

flesh,

the sign

of circumcision.

Just as I

can look at

my wedding

ring and

see this

reminder,

I belong

to my

wife,

she belongs

to me,

we have

promised to

be faithful

to each

other,

we have

promised to

love one

another,

so now

Abram and

his offspring

after him

can see,

can look at

this physical

sign of

circumcision

and remember

God's

promises made

to them.

But it also

goes the

other way.

The second,

we see,

yes,

circumcision is

a promise,

but second,

circumcision is

a prescription.

The sign

itself is

a responsibility

for Abraham.

It's not just

what God

will do

for Abraham,

it's also

what Abraham

and his

offspring

must do

in order to

enjoy all of

these blessings.

Look there

to verse 9.

God says

to Abraham,

as for you,

you shall

keep my

covenant,

you and

your offspring

after you

throughout their

generations.

This is my

covenant which

you shall

keep between

me and you

and your

offspring after

you.

Here it is.

Every male

among you

must be

circumcised.

You shall be

circumcised in

the flesh of

your foreskins,

it shall be a

sign of the

covenant between

me and you.

He who is

eight days old

among you

shall be

circumcised.

Every male

throughout your

generations,

whether born

in your house

or bought in

with your

money from

any foreigner

who is not

of your

offspring,

they all

must be

circumcised.

Verse 14

says,

any uncircumcised

male who

is not

circumcised in

the flesh of

his foreskin

shall be cut

off from

his people.

He has

broken my

covenant.

Now that's

some clever

language,

isn't it?

You notice

that play on

words there

with this

cutting

language,

right?

In the

ancient world

when they

made a

covenant,

they didn't

just make

a covenant,

the language

they used

was they

cut a

covenant.

And here

God says,

I'm cutting

a covenant

with you

Abraham,

and you

must cut

off,

or you

will be

cut off.

This is

not optional,

is it?

That raises

an important

question though,

doesn't it?

Is this

covenant

conditional

or is it

not?

Theologians

debate this

sort of thing.

This might not

be interesting

to you,

but theologians

sort of get

boxed up

in these

categories.

Is this

conditional

or is it

unconditional?

Is it

bilateral?

Is it

unilateral?

Let's just

try and keep

it simple

here.

I think

the best

way to

understand

what's

happening

here is

to simply

say what

the Bible

clearly

says.

It is

pretty clear

to me

there are

conditions.

Abram

must do

this.

Cut off

or be

cut off.

It's not

optional.

And at

the same

time,

it is

clear,

God

will make

certain

that the

promises

of the

covenant

are fulfilled.

One way

to think

about it

is that

God

will

certainly

fulfill

his

promises,

but not

every

individual

offspring

of

Abraham

will

get

to

enjoy

them.

Why?

Because as

you read

on in

your

Bibles,

they

break

covenant

with the

Lord.

God

does

everything

he

promises.

He

brings

Israel

out of

Egypt.

He

multiplies

the

offspring.

He

brings

them

into

the

land

of

Canaan.

Eventually,

praise

God,

he brings

about

the

promised

Messiah

through

the

line

of

Abram.

the

Bible

is

abundantly

clear.

God

has

fulfilled

every

promise

made

to

Abraham.

But for

Abram

and his

descendants

to enjoy

these

blessings,

they

must

obey

this

command.

You

must

be

circumcised.

In

fact,

as you

read on

and see

in the

book of

the

law,

we see

circumcision

becomes

shorthand

for the

whole

law.

The

law is

not

unclear,

is it?

It

is do

this

and

live.

Obey

my

law

and

you'll

get to

enjoy

the

blessing

in the

land.

You'll

get to

be my

people.

But

disobey,

break my

covenant,

you will

be

exiled,

just like

Adam and

Eve in

the

garden

were

exiled.

And

of course,

what

happens?

They

break a

covenant,

and they're

sent away.

God

guarantees

what he

will do,

but there

is a

condition

here for

Abram

and his

offspring

to enjoy

it,

not just

his

physical

offspring

either.

Look,

look here.

Notice here

that from the

beginning,

this covenant

is open to

the nations.

Did you

notice that?

It is not

just the

physical

descendants of

Abram,

it's also

those who are

brought in

from the

outside,

from the

very beginning,

God's plan

is to bless

the world,

and he will

do it.

But at

the very

same time,

we see

there is

a condition.

They must

meet this

condition in

order to

enjoy these

blessings.

You can

imagine,

even still,

after all

these

reassurances,

all these

appearings,

all these

promises,

reassured,

reaffirmed,

Abram here,

99 years

old, he

still has

to be

wondering,

God,

how will

you do

it?

how in

the world

are you

going to

multiply

me

and my

offspring?

So here

again,

look at

verse 15.

Yet again,

God reaffirms

the promise.

God said

to Abraham,

as for

Sarai,

your wife,

you shall

not call

her name

Sarai,

but Sarah

shall be

her name.

I will

bless her,

and moreover,

I will give

you a son

by her.

I will

bless her,

she shall

become

nations,

kings of

peoples shall

come from

her.

And once

again,

what does

Abram do?

He falls

on his

face,

only this

time he's

not

worshipping,

what's he

doing?

Verse 17,

Abram falls

on his

face and

he laughs,

he can't

believe it.

Shall a

child be

born to

a man

who's

100

years old?

Are you

serious?

Shall

Sarah,

who is

90 years

old and

barren?

Is she

really going

to bear

a child?

God,

you've

got to

be

kidding

me.

Now,

I know

you keep

saying

this,

I know

you're

not backing

down off

of your

promise,

but this

is just

so crazy,

so

impossible,

so unlikely,

I can

hardly believe

it.

So God,

I've got

an idea.

How about

you just

take

Ishmael?

Can you

just bless

Ishmael?

Oh,

that Ishmael

might live

before you.

Maybe this

plan made

in the flesh

can just

work out

after all.

Don't you

just love

that?

And don't

we tend

to operate

the same

way?

We make

our own

plans without

a thought

to the

Lord.

We do

what we

think we

have to

do to

get what

we think

we have

to have

and then

we ask

God's

blessing

on our

plans

after the

fact,

once they're

already in

motion.

You ever

do that?

God won't

do it

that way.

The promises

of God

cannot be

achieved

by human

effort.

The promises

of God

cannot be

earned,

achieved,

merited,

brought about

by anything

in us.

So God

says in

verse 19,

no,

Sarai,

Sarah,

your wife

will bear

you a

son and

you shall

call his

name Isaac.

Again,

here,

two new

names,

two new

names.

Sarah,

which means

princess,

that's a

hint of

the royalty

that's to

come from

her womb

and Isaac,

which means

he laughs.

Now,

Abram would

be reminded

every time

he called

Isaac's

name that

God's

word,

his

promises,

however

unlikely they

seem,

is nothing

to laugh

at.

He is

God

almighty

and he

will

accomplish

everything

he

promises.

God

promises an

offspring,

Isaac,

through

Sarah and

he promises

now to

extend the

covenant

blessings

through

him.

Don't lose

sight of the

big picture

here.

Remember the

big picture?

We are

tracing the

promise God

made all the

way back in

Genesis 3

of the

seed of

the woman,

an offspring

of Eve,

an offspring

of the woman

who will

come and

crush the

head of

the serpent.

It's in

him that

all the

nations of

the earth

will be

blessed.

It's in

him that

this curse

of sin

will be

peeled back

and undone.

And now

we have

clarity.

God says

this promised

Messiah will

now come

through

Isaac.

I will

establish my

covenant with

him as an

everlasting

covenant for

his offspring

after him.

As for

Ishmael, I

have heard

you, I

haven't

forgotten

about him.

And behold,

I have

blessed him

and will

make him

fruitful and

multiply him

greatly.

He shall

father twelve

princes, I

will make him

into a great

nation, but I

will establish

my covenant

with Isaac.

By the way,

he's coming

next year.

Sarah shall

bear,

to you,

this child,

at this

time next

year.

Can you

imagine this

anticipation?

Twenty-five

years of

waiting, and

now we're

less than a

year away.

The child of

promise is

coming.

We're almost

here.

So how does

Abram respond?

Look there to

verse 22.

Abram responds

in the obedience

of faith.

How do we

see faith?

If faith is

trust in

the promises

of God,

that's

invisible.

We can't

really see

faith, can

we?

How do we

see it

manifested?

We see

faith manifested

externally in

obedience.

When he had

finished talking

with him, God

went up from

Abram, and

then Abraham

took Ishmael,

his son, and

all those born

in his house,

or bought with

his money,

every male among

the men of

Abraham's house,

circumcised the

flesh of their

foreskins that

very day, as

God had said

to him.

Abraham was

ninety-nine

years old when

he was circumcised

in the flesh of

his foreskin.

Ishmael, his

son, was thirteen

years old when

he was circumcised

in the flesh of

his foreskin.

That very day,

no delay in it,

no waiting,

Abraham and

his son Ishmael

were circumcised,

and all the men

of the house,

those born in

the house,

those bought with

money from a

foreigner, all of

them were

circumcised with

him.

This is quick,

complete, total,

immediate obedience.

That's what faith

looks like.

The obedience of

someone who's

trusted in the

promise of God.

So, we see that

circumcision served

as a promise,

we've seen it

served as a

prescription, but

there is a third

function here, and

here's where it

comes to us this

morning, church.

Here's where it

comes to bear on

us.

Third, circumcision

is a pointer.

It is a pointer.

As we read

through the Old

Testament, and we

see God's dealings

with Abraham, and

we see how he

deals with his

people under the

Old Covenant, we

need to understand

that that's not

where it stops.

All of this is

pointing us

forward to a

new and better

covenant, the

new covenant of

grace in Jesus

Christ.

These promises here

made to Abraham,

they have a

partial fulfillment

in the life of

Israel, yes, but

that's not all.

They are

ultimately,

finally fulfilled

in Christ.

Christ.

This is good

news for us,

church.

We shouldn't

read this and

think, man, it

must be nice to

be a Jew.

I wish I had some

of those promises,

right?

I wish that God

would be for me.

I wish that God

would give me a

land and a place.

I wish God would

bless me and give

me a certain hope

and a certain

future and be my

God.

Don't you see?

Christian, you can

read these promises

and rejoice.

All of these are

yours by faith in

Christ.

Think about this

with me for a

minute.

The God who

made all things,

rules over all

things, spoke all

things into being,

holds all things

together.

This God is

your God.

He is your God

in Christ.

He is for you

in Christ.

He delights in

you in Christ.

He loves you

in Christ.

He stands to

defend you from

all your enemies

in Christ.

He is working

out all things

for the good of

those who love

him.

And are called

according to his

purposes.

This God is yours

in Christ.

We are the most

prosperous people in

all the earth,

church.

Who is more

blessed than us?

What blessing

could we desire

more than the

Lord himself?

He says, I'm

yours in Christ.

Not only this,

but we have a

future place to

inherit.

Not just Canaan.

Canaan is too

small.

Romans 4 tells

us the promise

made to Abraham

and his

offspring was

that they would

be heirs of

all the world.

all the earth.

Just imagine it.

Totally renewed,

freed from sin,

no more curse,

no more evil,

no more pain,

no more death,

no more tears.

A perfect place

where Christ the

King will reign

forever and ever.

Where Christ,

our Emmanuel,

will be God

with us

forever more.

forever more.

That is your

future in Christ.

And who can come

enjoy it?

All the people

of God.

His spiritual

posterity.

Not just the

children of Abraham

according to the

flesh, but those

who share the

faith of Abraham.

Children of God

from every tribe,

every tongue,

every nation.

These promises

of people,

place,

prosperity,

are all fulfilled

in Christ

and in Him.

By faith in Him.

Church,

we are heirs

of all the

promises of God.

But there is

one condition.

You know what it is?

You must be

circumcised.

not according

to the flesh,

but according

to the Spirit.

You must be

circumcised

in your

heart.

Meaning,

you must be

born again

by the Spirit

of God

through faith

in Christ.

You must be

given a

new

heart.

you must be

spiritually

circumcised.

In fact,

that's exactly

what this

fleshly

circumcision

is pointing

to.

Physical

circumcision

is a

pointer.

It's a

shadow.

It's this

partial

black and

white

fuzzy

image.

But as we

come forward

through the

new covenant

and the

new testament

and we see

what Christ

has done,

we see

this image

in full

4K

high definition

color.

We see

the substance

to the

shadow.

Physical

circumcision

is pointing

us

forwards

to true

spiritual

circumcision.

Not to

baptism,

by the way,

which our

Presbyterian

friends,

who I love

them so

dearly,

believe,

but to what

baptism represents.

physical

circumcision

points us

forwards to

true

spiritual

circumcision

by faith

in Christ.

And if you've

received that,

then we

baptize you.

If you want

to be one

of the people

of God,

if you want

to be an

heir of all

the promises

of God,

there is

one way,