Prayer Within The Covenant

So let's hear the word of God as we find it in Genesis 17.

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

I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless.

I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.

Abraham fell face down and God said to him, as for me, this is my covenant with you.

You will be the father of many nations.

No longer will you be called Abram.

Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

I will make you very fruitful.

I will make nations of you and kings will come from you.

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants

after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

The whole land of Canaan where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession

to you and your descendants after you and I will be their God.

Then God said to Abraham, as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after

you for the generations to come.

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep.

Every male among you shall be circumcised.

You are to undergo circumcision and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and

you.

For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,

including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner, those who

are not your offspring.

Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.

My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.

Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people.

He has broken my covenant.

God also said to Abraham, as for Sarah, your wife, you're no longer to call her Sarah.

Her name will be Sarah.

I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.

I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations.

Kings of peoples will come from her.

Abraham fell face down.

He laughed and said to himself, will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?

Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?

And Abraham said to God, if only Ishmael might live under your blessing.

Then God said, yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac.

I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you.

I will surely bless him.

I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.

He'll be the father of 12 rulers and I will make him into a great nation.

But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.

When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

On that very day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money,

every male in his household and circumcised them as God told him.

Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised and his son Ishmael was 13.

Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.

And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Now, I was walking through the meadows this week.

I was mentioning to a couple of people.

I saw this sign.

I have no idea what the sign was for.

Who put it there?

But it caught my eye.

It said, be defined by a vision of something bigger than you.

No idea.

It was probably something to do with selling falafels or something.

But it struck me as a great message for the Christian life.

And it seems really appropriate as we think about the story of Abraham.

You know, what is our something bigger as Christians?

Ultimately, that something bigger is the fact that the sovereign Lord is king.

We celebrate and we find our strength in the sovereign rule of God.

That is to define our vision for life, all of life, including our own.

The lordship of Christ and his kingdom is to dominate the horizons of his people.

Again, on a related theme, I was reading a book called The Preacher's Catechism this week.

And the author, Lewis Allen, he wrote this.

He said, faith is a hungry business and true faith must be continually fed.

Key to that diet is a robust confidence in Christ's lordship.

For our faith to be established and to grow strong, we need to understand that Jesus Christ is Lord.

As we come to this part of Abraham's life, we see that he needs his life of faith to be redefined.

Defined by a bigger vision, to be reminded of God's greater promise.

And the God who makes covenant promises comes again to him.

Just as he did last week, Genesis 15.

So we see him again coming to revive his faith.

In the middle of Abraham's doubts and questions and fears,

he discovers once again, our God reigns.

And that's good news for him.

It was Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch theologian, who said,

not a square inch of all, there is not a square inch of all creation over which God does not say mine.

So we live in that reality that every aspect of life,

every aspect of this created universe belongs to God, belongs to the Lord Jesus.

So we find ourselves as Christians trusting in the sovereign rule of God.

We are invited to live with faith that Christ is King.

We're invited to live in that reality in life's joys and in life's struggles.

But I'm sure we've probably all come to understand that maintaining that faith is hard.

There are many obstacles, barriers, challenges to that.

Abraham knew it.

He knew it as he waited to see how God was going to fulfill his promises.

And I'm sure we've come to find that too.

I still remember the first talk I ever gave on Christianity,

probably because it took place on a camp bus on the way to Alton Towers at six o'clock in the morning.

That's a tough shift, trying to talk truth to sleepy teenagers while riding a bus.

But I remember, because we're heading to Alton Towers,

talking about the theme of life being like a roller coaster,

bringing with it ups and downs and lots of times where you're thrown for a loop.

And how do we learn to trust God in that situation?

And the life of faith, likewise, can be for us something of a roller coaster

with ups and downs and highs and lows and sometimes thrown for a loop.

We see it in the story of Abraham.

We see it in many of the characters in the Bible.

So we have the reality that King Jesus rules and reigns over all.

And it's critical for our lives to see that, to trust that, and to rest in that.

But we also need to acknowledge that there are many ways in which that faith is challenged.

We are invited to trust in the promise-making God,

especially as he is revealed to us in the Lord Jesus.

Jesus, Jesus who is described as the cornerstone upon which our lives of faith are established.

Also the anchor holding us to God.

So we are invited to exercise faith, acknowledging that faith often is weak,

and often we struggle.

So it's good to remember the sovereign rule of God,

and that he is for his people.

I was reading Richard Sibbes this week.

He used the image of a mother and a baby when talking about faith.

You know, when a baby is little, for security it clings on to,

he or she clings on to their mum or dad.

But ultimately the child's safety doesn't rest in their grip,

it rests in their parents' strong arms.

And we need to know that reality.

At times when life makes no sense to us,

at times when our faith seems really stretched,

and we find ourselves confused,

struggling to hold on to the promises of God,

we need this.

We need Christ, the sure and steady anchor.

So we find ourselves diving again into Abraham's struggle of faith.

In Genesis 17, he's still living, as we said last week,

in that gap between the promise of God

and the reality in which he finds himself in.

It's 44 years that have passed.

Since in Genesis 12,

he was called from worshipping idols to follow the living God,

and he was given all those amazing promises.

44 years.

It's 13 years that have passed since Genesis 16.

Genesis 16 is when Abraham and Sarah decide to take matters

into their own hands

to try and establish a family through Hagar and Ishmael,

hoping that the covenant promises of God will come in that way.

Now we find Abraham is 99 years old.

Sarah is 90.

Still, there is no child of promise.

We see in chapter 17 and verse 18

an indicator that Abraham's faith needs revived

because we find him here settling for less than God's amazing promise.

So God had said that it would be through a child of Abraham and Sarah

that the promise would come.

But Abraham said to God,

if only Ishmael, the child of Hagar, his servant,

if only Ishmael might live under your blessing.

He needs his faith revived

so he can believe in that greater promise that he was given.

So again, let's think together,

how does God strengthen his faith in that moment?

How does God strengthen our faith?

How can we persevere and even grow in faith

when life is hard,

when challenges are frequent,

when we find ourselves very aware of our weakness and limitation?

Well, the answer, as we've seen all along,

is that we need to hear and be reminded of God's character

and to receive and lay hold on God's covenant promise.

So that's where we're going to focus our time.

Genesis 17 is one of those chapters

where we could say loads and spend loads of time in it,

but I just want to think about God's character

and God's covenant promise as we see it,

especially in the first 14 verses.

But let's begin with God's character

where we are reminded,

and Abraham is reminded,

that God is the God who is on the throne.

Chapter 17, verse 1.

When Abraham was 99 years old,

the Lord appeared to him and said,

I am God Almighty.

I am El Shaddai, the Almighty God.

Nothing is impossible with me, Abraham.

God comes and says to him.

When we think about Abraham's experience of life to date,

this is something that he has come to know and see in a profound way.

He has already experienced the powerful call of God,

bringing him from spiritual death to spiritual life.

He has been protected by God in a powerful way

through a period of unbelief.

When him and Sarah went down to Egypt

and Abraham tried to deceive the king of Egypt,

pretending Abraham and Sarah were just brother and sister,

God protected the family,

even as Abraham wavered in his faith.

And then Abraham has seen the power of God

in enabling him to rescue his nephew Lot,

though he was just a small household

compared to those who had raided Sodom and Gomorrah

and taken Lot captive.

So already, Abraham has evidence

that nothing is impossible to his God.

And ultimately, Isaac is going to be proof of that.

So that's what Abraham had.

Now we come back to our own day

and we think, what view do we have of God's character?

What proof do we have that God is almighty,

that nothing is impossible with him?

Well, we have the whole testimony of the Bible.

And we have the great stories of the Old Testament,

stories of God's faithfulness,

stories of God's amazing deliverance,

stories of God's miraculous intervention

on behalf of his own people.

And even more particularly,

that we live this side of the coming of Jesus.

What do we see when we look in the Gospels?

We discover Jesus,

the one who is Lord over the wind and the waves,

and he still is today.

We discover Jesus, Lord over sickness and death,

Lord over angels and demons,

Lord over life and death,

and we see it in his own resurrection.

And those realities are still true of Jesus today.

They're still true of our God today.

So we have the whole story of the Bible

to give us confidence that God is almighty,

that God is on the throne,

that nothing is impossible with our God.

But we also have the story of the church,

church throughout the pages of church history.

But we also have our own stories.

We have the experience of others,

where we can share stories of us praying

in a sense of need and God answering.

We have our own stories of God providing

in surprising ways to strengthen and to keep

and to encourage his people.

This is one of those essential building blocks of faith.

This is where we find stability in our Christian lives,

the absolute rule of the almighty God as our king.

It's something that we need to build into

our understanding of the Christian faith

in times when things are going relatively okay.

It's a good time to build this truth

that God is sovereign, that he rules over all.

And then it's also a truth that we need to cling to

in the bad times, in the hard times.

I think there might be someone at the door.

Oh, somebody's gone.

Fine, fine, fine.

So we've got God's character,

and we've got the fact that he is God on the throne.

We've also got God's covenant promise.

God's covenant promise.

I will be your God.

Look at verse two.

I will confirm my covenant.

I will make sure I will establish my covenant

between me and you,

and will greatly increase your number.

So he says, that thing that I promised,

I'm going to make it firm and sure.

And he goes on.

The Lord goes on to explain and to demonstrate to Abraham

how he's going to do that,

promising him a fulfillment that far exceeds Abraham's expectations.

You know, Abraham says,

oh, the Ishmael might live under your blessing,

and God is going to show how he will vastly exceed that.

So he says to him in verse five,

for example, no longer will you be called Abram.

Your name will be Abraham,

for I have made you a father of many nations.

That's what the name Abraham means,

father of many.

That kings will come from him.

Nations will come from him.

And he renames Abraham in the prospect of that fulfillment.

And we perhaps remember in the play,

Romeo and Juliet,

the question, what's in a name?

Well, in the Bible, a lot.

In the Bible, God is here renaming Abraham

as a statement of his intention

to keep his covenant promise.

In verse seven,

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant

between me and you and your descendants after you.

One of the things that we see about covenants

is that God often chooses to work through families,

that blessing that passes down through the generations.

And because that's true,

God is promising that he will give Abraham a family

through Isaac.

Verse eight,

the whole land of Canaan,

where you are now an alien,

I will give as an everlasting possession

to you and your descendants after you.

The land of promise,

God's place will belong to them.

So just as he promised way back 44 years ago

to make him a great nation,

to give him the land,

to cause him to be a blessing,

to receive God's blessing,

the same is still being promised by God now.

And of course,

when we get to the true climax,

to the heart of God's covenant,

we find it here as well in verse seven and verse eight,

where he promises to be your God

and the God of your descendants.

And in verse eight,

I will be their God.

This is the Emmanuel principle,

the heart of the covenant,

God with his people.

This is the goal of salvation.

This is the promise of salvation,

God and his people together

because of God's grace,

because of God's initiative,

because of God's covenant

and his faithfulness to maintain the covenant.

Connected to that

and to strengthen Abraham's faith.

Again,

a covenant sign is given.

Verse 10 is striking language.

This is my covenant with you,

the covenant you are to keep.

Every male among you shall be circumcised.

So God makes the closest possible connection

between his covenant promise of grace

and the covenant sign.

How so?

Because the covenant promise,

when we think about how the promises work themselves out

in Abraham's experience,

they're all wrapped up in God keeping his promise

to give them a child of promise,

to give them a family.

And so circumcision then,

at one level,

is a permanent reminder

that God has made that promise

to build a family through Abraham and Sarah.

This is intended to strengthen his faith.

In Genesis 15,

Abraham was told,

look up at the stars and believe.

Now in Genesis 17,

to strengthen his faith,

he's told,

look at your own body

and remember and believe

the promise that I have made to you.

So here Abraham is being invited

to revive his faith,

to trust and rely on God's character,

to trust that God will keep his word,

to trust in the friendship of God

and the faithfulness of God.

Sometimes faith is caricatured

as a leap in the dark.

Maybe some of us will have seen

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Well, as Indiana Jones finds himself

looking for the treasure,

ultimately the medicine

that will heal his father,

there is the idea of a walk of faith.

He finds himself at a cliff edge

and in the vast distance,

there's a cliff on the other side

and then there's that huge drop in between.

And so the walk of faith

for Indiana Jones

is to step out into the abyss.

And only when he makes that step

does this invisible path become visible.

Now is that faith

as we find it in the Bible?

No, it's not.

It's not a leap in the dark.

Faith is trusting in God

as we find himself revealed

in his own word.

Faith is trusting in God

as he is revealed in the gospel

of his son Jesus.

So we're trusting in God's character,

God's word,

God's promise,

God's son.

It's not a leap in the dark.

And we have the Bible

to show us God's faithfulness

to his promise.

Abraham was finding,

even after 44 years,

that he was having to wait

and hope in future promises.

And so he was being called

to trust once again

in the promise-making God.

And that's so true

for ourselves as well.

We enjoy faith

and we enjoy salvation

in the present,

but ultimately,

our faith is future-oriented.

It's eternity-focused.

And Hebrews 11, verse 1,

Hebrews 11:1

reminds us,

faith is being sure

of what we hope for,

certain of what we cannot see.

faith is us exercising

every day trust

in the God of the promises

to keep going

on our journey of faith.

So we see God has given

to Abraham a reminder

of his character.

God has confirmed once again

his covenant promise.

And then we see

a little of Abraham's

covenant responsibility.

So there was the,

as for me,

from God,

I will do this,

I will do this,

I will do this.

And now,

as for you,

in verse 9,

God said to Abraham,

as for you,

you must keep

my covenant.

So we've said

all the way along

as we've been thinking

about the covenants,

they're established

by grace.

It's a one-sided initiative.

God is the king.

He is the all-powerful one.

He sets the terms

of the covenant relationship.

And yet we've also recognized

that two parties are present.

And we've seen

that God's people

have responsibility

within this covenant relationship.

So what does

Abraham's responsibility

look like?

You know,

God is going to deliver

a son and family

and nations

and kings and blessing.

What is Abraham to do?

He is to keep

my covenant.

Lots of detail

on God's part

for Abraham

is to keep

the covenant.

Boils down to

be committed,

Abraham.

Trust me,

Abraham.

Live like my covenant

promise is true,

Abraham.

How does God

talk to him

in verse 1?

He says,

I am God Almighty.

Walk before me

and be blameless.

Walk before me,

Abraham.

Live in awareness

that I am present

with you,

that I am for you.

Continue to trust me

and be blameless.

Not be perfect.

It was never

the expectation,

thankfully,

for our point of view,

because nobody

can live up

to God's perfect standard.

To be blameless

means to be

wholehearted.

not to be

double-minded,

not to be

hypocritical,

to be truly devoted

to God,

to live by faith

and trust.

The Christian life,

too,

is a call

to live

by faith.

It's a call

to live

as those

who believe

that God's promise

to us

is true.

So we thought

about this

morning.

We thought

about the death

of Jesus

establishing

the new covenant

for the people

of God.

And we are

to live

daily

trusting

in that promise

that Jesus

truly has

forgiven us.

Jesus truly

is the means

by which

we can be

reconciled to God

and enjoy

relationship

with God.

And so we

are to live

like God's

promised us

is true.

To trust

him

as children

trusting our

father in heaven.

To live

for him,

recognizing

his promised

reward is

greater than

anything else

that this world

can offer.

To live

with loyalty

to our

king.

To exercise

hope

in him.

Believing

that he

will keep

his covenant

promise.

That he

will keep

us safe

in his

strong

and loving

arms.

The story

of Abraham

reminds us

that even

when we

live within

the covenant

faith is

hard sometimes.

Faith is

tested

often.

But the

story of

Abraham is

also a

wonderful

encouragement

to us.

God the

Almighty

has committed

to be

the God

of his

people.

God has

committed

to keep

his

promises.

And as we

see in the

coming of

Isaac,

he didn't

fail Abraham.

And he

will never

fail his

own.

So we

can

completely

trust

in him.

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