The Everlasting God

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good.

They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it,

which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us.

In his word.

This week, we are continuing our series in the book of Genesis.

You'll remember that Genesis tells the origin story both of the world and of God's people, Israel.

And when it tells the story of Israel, it begins with the story of Abraham, which is our focus.

Genesis is 50 chapters.

We're actually just doing chapters 11 through 25 to focus on Abraham and his life.

And we're doing that for two reasons.

First, to prepare us to go back to Romans, our series that we're slowly working for.

And when we head back, we'll be in Romans chapter 4, which is about Abraham.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

So we're looking at Abraham in Genesis to prepare us to look at Abraham in Romans.

The second reason is that Abraham's story allows us to ask the question,

what does it look like to follow God in faith?

Last week, we were in chapter 20.

We saw this sort of counterintuitive contrast between good pagans and bad Christians.

Abraham doesn't fear God in that episode.

Abimelech, a pagan king, does.

This week, chapter 21, we're going to have three different scenes.

And those three scenes have one thread that go through all of them,

which is God's great blessing and provision.

And in case you're getting worried with three scenes,

we're going to spend a lot of time on the first scene,

some time on the second scene,

a very small amount of time on the third scene.

With that, I invite you to turn with me to God's Word, Genesis chapter 21.

Genesis 21 · chapter mention

You can turn in your Bible.

You can turn on your phone.

You can turn in your worship guide.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.

And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold,

and it's sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

So that's why we read now Genesis chapter 21,

Genesis 21 · chapter mention

starting at verse 1.

The Lord visited Sarah as He had said,

and the Lord did to Sarah as He had promised.

And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age,

at the time of which God had spoken to him.

Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him,

whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old,

as God had commanded him.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

And Sarah said,

God has made laughter for me.

Everyone who hears will laugh over me.

And she said,

Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?

Yet I have born him a son in his old age.

Verse 8.

And the child grew and was weaned,

and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian,

whom she had born to Abraham, laughing.

So she said to Abraham,

Cast out this slave woman with her son,

for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.

But God said to Abraham,

Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman.

Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you,

for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.

And I will make a nation of the son of a slave woman also,

because he is your offspring.

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water

and gave it to Hagar,

putting it on her shoulder along with the child and sent her away.

And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Verse 15.

When the water and the skin was gone,

she put the child under one of the bushes.

Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off,

about the distance of a bow shot.

For she said,

Let me not look on the death of the child.

And as she sat opposite with him,

she lifted up her voice and wept.

And God heard the voice of the boy.

And the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her,

What troubles you, Hagar?

Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.

Up, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand,

for I will make him into a great nation.

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.

And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy and he grew up.

He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.

He lived in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Verse 22.

Verse 22.

When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized,

Abimelech said,

I do not know who has done this thing.

You did not tell me,

and I have not heard of it until today.

So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech,

and the two men made a covenant.

Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.

And Abimelech said to Abraham,

What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?

He said, These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand,

that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.

Therefore that place was called Beersheba,

because there both of them swore an oath.

So they made a covenant at Beersheba.

Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army,

rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba

and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.

And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you

for gathering us here together as your people.

We thank you even more that your word comes and brings dead things to life.

It comes where there's nothing and it creates new creation.

Father, we thank you that that's true,

that your word created new things at the beginning of the world,

creates new life in us as well.

And we ask that you would do that this morning,

that you would pour out your Holy Spirit,

that you'd be at work in our hearts here and now in a special way,

melting and softening them,

making them tender to you and your word and your ways.

That most of all, they would be drawn more and more to Jesus,

that we would see him as more beautiful and more glorious.

We ask all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

We have a lot of visitors here this morning.

So thankfully, I'm going to tell you that if you have been with us for a while,

you are aware of the overarching plot of the story of Abraham.

And if you've not been with us, I'll review that for you quickly.

We've taken some side quests,

especially a side quest with the story of Lot.

But there has been this one overarching question,

this major plot that's gone from chapter 11 goes to the end of chapter 25.

And we are kind of getting there with chapter 21.

The question, the tension starting with chapter 12 is this.

Will God keep his promises to Abraham?

Will God keep his promises to Abraham?

And if he does, how will he do it?

Will Abraham and Sarah actually have a child?

Especially Sarah.

Because remember, all the way back in chapter 11,

the first thing we find out about Sarah

is that she is unable to have children.

But there's a promise, right?

Genesis chapter 12, very beginning,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

God tells Abraham,

Genesis chapter 15,

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

the promise is repeated again.

Your son is going to be the heir.

Your descendants will be as many as the stars.

Then we proceed, chapter 17,

God tells him again,

not just chapter 12,

you'll be the father of a great nation.

No, now in 17,

we find out you're gonna be the father of many nations.

I will make you into nations

and kings shall come from you.

Chapter 17, he reiterates,

the kings are gonna come not from Hagar.

It's not gonna be through Ishmael.

No, it's going to come from Sarah.

And then in 17 and 18,

we just keep plowing in this one direction

and the promise is advanced.

In both chapters, God says to Abraham,

Sarah will have a child next year.

So we're moving chapter 11.

Sarah is not able to have children.

Chapter 17 and 18, it's coming.

It's gonna be in the year.

Meanwhile, the years are ticking by.

So every so often,

you may have caught this,

we are told Abraham's age.

At the very beginning, chapter 12,

Abraham is 75 years old.

Next, chapter 16,

we're told Abraham is 86 years old.

Chapter 17, Abraham is 99 years old.

And then we get here,

this what we just read,

look with me, verse five,

Abraham was 100 years old.

In the last couple months,

we have covered 25 years of Abraham's life.

Which means that Abraham and Sarah

have been waiting for 25 years

for God to do what he said he would do.

Takes us to our first scene here.

After 25 years of waiting,

finally,

finally,

the promised son is here.

We have the birth of Isaac.

And the fact that God has fulfilled his promise

is emphasized multiple times.

Look with me at verse one,

where it's repeated twice.

The Lord visited Sarah

as he had said.

Same verse,

the Lord did to Sarah

as he had promised.

Next verse,

verse two,

at the time of which God had spoken to him.

This is a reference back to chapter 17 and 18,

which said,

in one year,

Sarah will give birth.

The point is this.

After 25 years,

God did what he said he would do.

And not only did God do

what he said he would do,

God did it

when he said he would do it.

God has done what he said he would do.

And he did it

when he said he would do it.

God has honored his promise.

And so Sarah's laugh of cynicism

turns into a laugh of joy.

Look with me at verse six.

And Sarah said,

God has made laughter for me.

Everyone who hears

will laugh over me.

We have been set up

for that verse

for several chapters now.

Remember Genesis chapter 17,

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

God comes to Abraham,

reaffirms that Abraham's gonna be

the father of many nations.

And Abraham says,

hey, can't Ishmael just take it?

Do we really have to do this thing

where Sarah gives birth in her old age?

Remember God says,

yeah, it's gonna be Sarah's son

and you're gonna call his name Isaac.

What does Isaac mean?

Isaac means laugh.

So 17, Sarah's gonna have a son.

His name means laugh,

laughter.

Genesis 18,

remember Sarah overhears

the conversation between Abraham and God.

And what does she do

when she hears that she is going

to have a son in her old age?

She laughs.

But it's a laugh

of bitterness,

of cynicism,

of disappointment.

Right?

Now,

a laugh of hope,

joy,

and relief.

25 years

in the making.

God has fulfilled his promise.

He's honored his word.

Sarah's cynicism

is turned

to joy.

If you're familiar

with the Bible,

you know right about

the middle of the Bible

there's the book of Psalms.

And the book of Psalms

is the Old Testament

prayer book

or song book

of God's people.

And depending on

how you do the count,

some people say

a third of the Psalms,

that's the conservative count,

some people say

a half of the Psalms

are songs of lament.

So they're songs

of God's people

crying out to him

in sorrow

saying,

God,

how long?

Why does the world

have to be broken

in this way?

How long

till you bring justice

and punish our enemies?

How long

till you heal

and restore

the things

that have been broken?

But then,

the last five Psalms

have zero

laments.

The last five Psalms

all start

and end

with these cries

of hallelujah.

They are Psalms

of incredible joy

and praise.

And there's a man

who's a great scholar

in the Psalms,

this is on page seven

of your worship guide,

who comments on this

explaining why the Psalms,

which are filled

with lament,

end in praise.

The Psalms

are a miniature

of our story

as a whole,

which will end

in unbroken

blessing

and delight.

This is what's happened

with Abraham and Sarah.

25 years

of doubt

and frustration

and cynicism

and wondering,

God's made a promise,

we don't see

any progress.

Where does it end?

It ends closer

to this,

unbroken

blessing

and delight.

Of course,

there's still challenges,

right?

We'll see some of those

in the next chapters.

The story is not

totally over for them.

They will not have

unbroken blessing

and delight

now in this life.

ultimately

in the life

to come.

But why is that?

Why is it

that we have confidence

that the story

ends that way?

It's very simple.

It's a simple point

about God's character.

The character of God

is such

that he always

keeps his promises.

Why does it end

in unbroken

blessing

and delight?

Because God

is a promise

keeping God.

God ultimately

and finally

keeps his promises

to Abraham

and Sarah.

Christian,

God ultimately

and finally

keeps his promises

to you.

but

he keeps

those promises

on his own

timetable,

right?

Verse 2,

at the time

of which God

had spoken

to him,

God decided

it was going

to take

25 years.

And so it's

tempting,

right,

to stray

and come up

with our own

plan.

That's what we

saw Abraham

and Sarah

do in chapter

16.

They've had

years of

doubt,

second guessing

God's plan

A with their

own plan

B.

And I want

you to imagine

with me for a

second,

what could

have been

different?

What would

have been

different if

Sarah had

hoped and

trusted in

God's word

from the

beginning?

We wouldn't

have had to

have chapter

16,

right?

She wouldn't

have had to

go to Abraham

and say,

you know

what,

let's have

a child

through my

servant

Hagar.

She could

have skipped

all the

bitterness,

all the

pain that

that brought

her.

Imagine if

Abraham

had had this

unshakable

trust in

God's word.

There would

have been no

lying to

Pharaoh,

chapter 12.

There would

have been no

lying to

Abimelech,

last week,

right?

There's so

much pain

and heartbreak

that could

have been

avoided.

Brothers and

sisters,

we also

find ourselves

in a long

obedience.

We also

find ourselves

hoping in

God's word,

tempted to

doubt that

his promises

will come

true.

Maybe you've

been praying

for 10

years,

for a

friend or

a family

member to

come to

know the

Lord,

and you're

tempted just

to turn

away.

Maybe you've

been in a

season of

depression

or chronic

pain,

and you're

not sure how

much longer

you can hold

on.

Maybe you've

been married

for 20

years,

and even

though it's

been 20

years,

the same

arguments come

up again

and again,

and you're

ready to

give up.

Maybe your

parenting has

gotten hard

and discouraging

and you're

tempted to

believe the

lie that

it is too

late,

so it's

time to

check out.

Christian,

hope and

hold on.

God will

keep his

promises to

you.

You may

not do it

on your

timetable.

He will

do it.

His promise

to you,

by the way,

is not that

you will have

a child in

old age.

That was

his promise

to Sarah.

His promise

to you is

not that he

will make you

wealthy in

this life,

but God

has made

promises to

you.

In Psalm

34,

he's promised

you that he

is close to

the broken

hearted and

that he saves

the crushed

in spirit.

In 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10,

he's made a

promise to you.

God is

faithful and

he will not

let you be

tempted beyond

your ability.

But with

the temptation,

he will also

provide the

way of escape

that you will

be able to

endure it.

God's made

you a promise

in Psalm

125.

Those who

trust in the

Lord are like

Mount Zion,

which cannot

be moved,

but abides

forever.

God's made

you a promise

in James

James 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

Resist the

devil and

he will flee

from you.

Draw near

to God.

He will

draw near

to you.

He's made

you a promise

in Psalm

37.

I have

not seen

the righteous

forsaken

or his

children

begging

bread.

He's made

you a promise

in Hebrews

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13.

I will

never leave

you nor

forsake

you.

He's made

you a promise

in Psalm

23.

Goodness

and mercy

will follow

you all

the days

of your

life.

And you

will dwell

in the

house of

the Lord

forever.

Christian,

God

will do

what he

has

promised.

He may

not do

it on

your

timeline

and he

may not

meet your

deadline.

He

will

do

it.

Hope

and hold

on.

God

makes

and

keeps

Of course,

we don't

want to be

so heavenly

minded that

we're of no

earthly good,

as the saying

goes.

We have to be

engaged in the

work that God

has for us

here and

now,

but the way

that we

make it

is that we

never forget

where we're

going.

God makes

and keeps

his promises.

He makes

and keeps

them in

this life

and in

the life

to come.

Of course,

it's our

Lord Jesus

who tells

us the

same thing.

God already

read this for

us this

morning.

This is page

three from

Matthew chapter

six.

For the

Gentiles seek

after these

things,

and your

heavenly

Father knows

that you

need them

all.

But seek

first the

kingdom of

God and

his righteousness,

and all

these things

will be

added to

you.

Therefore,

do not be

anxious about

tomorrow,

for tomorrow

will be

anxious for

itself.

Sufficient

for the

day is

its own

trouble.

Okay, we

have two

more scenes,

and I'm

just going to

very briefly

those two

scenes point

out again

God's

faithfulness

to his

promises.

That's the

theme of

this chapter.

First, we

have the

scene with

Ishmael.

You may

have been

tracking that

in 2023,

Prince

Harry came

out with

his book

called

Spare,

which included

his grievances

against the

royal family,

and the

reason he

called it

Spare,

it was in

contrast to

the word

heir.

So he's in

contrast to

Prince William,

who's the

firstborn,

that's the

heir,

the second

born is

the spare,

the idea

is, well,

if something

happens to

the firstborn,

we've got to

back up.

Right?

That is what

is going on

with Ishmael

and Isaac,

except it's

reversed.

Ishmael is

the spare,

even though

he's firstborn.

The reason

he's the spare,

even though he's

the firstborn,

is he's born

through Hagar,

not Sarah.

But as the

spare,

he's still a

little bit of

a threat.

Not only is he a

little bit of a

threat, but he is

threatened,

right?

Isaac means he's

not going to be

the one.

Verse 12,

for through

Isaac shall your

offspring be

named.

Verse 8,

there's this big

party thrown for

Isaac.

He's weaned.

This is a big

deal in the

ancient Near

Eastern world

because infancy

has high

infant mortality.

And so if you

make it to this

point, your odds

of making it

farther are

really good.

The celebration

is this,

the air is

going to be

the air.

What's not

stated is the

spare is going

to be the

spare.

And so verse

9, Ishmael,

now a teenager,

begins laughing,

continuing the

wordplay,

laughing here

does not mean

laughing with

joy.

This is not

Sarah's laugh.

This is a

mocking laugh.

He's making

fun of

Isaac.

The apostle

Paul clarifies

this for us

writing in the

New Testament

in Galatians 4.

He says,

Ishmael

persecuted

Isaac.

So there's

some bullying

going on here.

This party

ratifies what

was always

true.

Ishmael

ain't it.

Isaac

is the

real deal.

And so

verse 10,

he's sent

away.

Verse 11,

this tears

Abraham's heart

apart because

at the end

of the day

it's still

his son.

Verse 12,

God says,

do it.

Do it

because Isaac

is the one

through whom

the blessed

line will

come.

And

God

keeps

his promise.

Remember

Genesis chapter

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

17,

Abraham had

said,

can't it

just be

Ishmael?

That's going

to make

life so

easy.

And in

17,

God says,

look,

I'm going

to make

Ishmael

into a

great nation.

Ishmael's

not forgotten.

Same thing

here.

Verse 13

of this chapter,

I will

make a

nation of

the son

of the

slave woman

also because

he is

your

offspring.

So

Ishmael

is sent

away.

God

provides,

he provides

water,

saves

Ishmael's

life.

Yes,

the line

will not

continue

through Israel

and God

will keep

his promise.

Verse 20,

God was

with the

boy and

he grew

up.

God

will do

what he

said he

will do.

Keeps

promise about

Ishmael,

he also

keeps his

promise with

Abimelech.

Remember,

Abimelech is

just here in

the last

chapter,

he's this

pagan king

and he

comes to

make a

treaty.

Why?

Why does

Abimelech want

to make a

treaty with

Abraham?

Verse 22,

he tells us

why.

God is

with you

in all

that you

do.

Why is

God with

Abraham in

all that

he does?

Because

God made

a promise

in Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

Remember

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

he said,

I will

bless you

and make

your name

great.

What is

Abimelech

see?

Abimelech

sees that

God has

blessed

Abraham

and made

his name

great.

Also in

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

God says

this,

I will

bless

those

who

bless

you

and

him

who

dishonors

you

I

will

curse.

What's

Abimelech

doing?

He wants

to get

the blessing

that comes

from blessing

Abraham.

God

will do

what he

said

he would

do.

The first

scene,

he's kept

his promise

about

the

son.

The last

scene,

he's

showing

he's

kept

his promise

about

the

blessing.

It's all

coming

together.

What God

promised

in 12

and 15

and 17

and 18

and 19,

here in

21,

he does.

How do

we end?

Verse

33,

Abraham

worships

God.

Why does

Abraham

worship

God?

Because

he's the

everlasting

God,

the one

who keeps

his

promises.

Of course,

the reason

that Isaac

matters

is Isaac

is part

of Abraham's

line.

And the

reason that

Abraham's

line matters

is that

Abraham's

line leads

ultimately

to Jesus.

That is

the greatest

fulfillment

of God's

promise in

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

that he

will be

a blessing

to the

nations.

How is he

going to

bless the

nations?

He's going

to bless

the nations

fully and

finally,

not through

Isaac,

not through

Jacob,

not through

Joseph.

He's going

to bless

them through

our Lord

and Savior

Jesus

Christ.

The one

who comes

as a

human,

lives the

life we

should have

lived,

dies the

death we

deserve to

die.

So God's

greatest

promise is

kept in

the greatest

way.

He takes

our sin

and gives

us his

righteousness.

Why are

all the

other promises

true?

They're true

because of

Jesus' death

and resurrection.

Apostle Paul

tells us this.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:20

chapter 1

verse 20

he says,

all the

promises of

God are

yes and

amen in

Jesus.

Jesus,

Jesus,

how I

trust him,

how I've

proved him,

or and

or,

Jesus,

Jesus,

precious

Jesus,

oh for

grace to

trust him

more.

Let's pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we do

praise you

and thank

you that

you keep

every

promise

you make.

And you've

kept the

most important

promise in

your son and

our savior,

our Lord

Jesus.

We ask that

you would

use that to

grow in us

an unshakable

trust and

confidence in

you that

leads to

hope and

peace and

joy and

boldness and

courage and

confidence and

humility.

We ask these

things in

Jesus' mighty

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.