Cost of Covenant

Good morning.

Today's reading is from Genesis chapter 15, verses 7 to 21.

Genesis 15:7–21

It says, And he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.

But he said, O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?

He said to him, Bring me a heifer, three years old, a female goat, three years old, a ram, three years old, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.

And he brought them, and he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other.

But he did not cut the birds in half.

And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.

But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your offspring I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kinesites, the Cadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gergeshites, and the Jebusites.

This is the word of the Lord.

Please be seated.

Oh when I walked up here, I realized that I forgot my communion cup.

Krista, would you mind grabbing me one?

Whoa.

Krista's so good.

Let's give Krista a hand.

That was wonderful.

That's right.

Uh thanks so much for joining us this morning.

My name is James Rathman.

I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver.

We are continuing our series through uh Genesis and moving through the last three quarters of what we started last week, which was Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

Uh a couple of announcements before we pray and get started.

Uh, first of all, membership is uh uh the primary way of being connected at RCD.

And the way to start that process is just to email info at redemptiondenver.com and you can inquire about membership.

Also, coming up on March 14th uh from 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

So that's right after the service here, starting at 11 a.m., uh there's a volunteer training for redemption kids volunteers.

So if you volunteer in Redemption Kids or if you'd like to volunteer in Redemption Kids, this is a great way to get started in that process.

A couple hour training, you're gonna learn all kinds of things.

Uh so yeah, go ahead and mark your calendars.

All right, let's pray and we'll get into our text for today.

Holy Father, there are such wonderful things in this strange text.

Lord, we pray that you would give us eyes to see them.

Lord, we pray that you would help by your spirit help our hearts stretch across the cultures that you've worked in into our modern day, that we might understand the importance of the covenant that you made with Abram for our own lives, our own assurance of salvation, Lord.

We pray that we might see your glory and be able to more confidently put our faith in you because of the word that you have for us today.

Lord, we lift this up in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You know, as Christians, we've got a lot of great promises from the Lord that we're given.

Uh, one of them is Romans 8, 28.

Do any of you know that one?

What's it say, Matthew?

Yeah, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

That's an amazing promise.

All things in your life work together for good, to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

But, you know, those promises become difficult when we consider the particulars of our lives, especially the darkness in the darkest areas of our lives.

How does the abuse that I've endured amount to good?

How does the abuse that I've perpetuated amount to good?

How does this difficult season of marriage or this longing for marriage, or uh how does this loss of a job, or how does how do all these these this difficult season that just doesn't seem to let up in any way?

You're telling me that God is doing this on purpose and that it's just supposed to result in good one day?

Look, how do I know?

How do I know that these dark areas of our lives, these sins that we seem like we can't get out from under, how do we know that these will result in good?

That's the question that Abram is wrestling with today.

Abram was given a lot of promises from God, but two in a lot of instances of promises, but he was really promised two main things.

He has promised that uh he would have offspring and that they would outnumber the dust of the earth and the stars and the heavens.

And Abram was promised land, the land of Canaan.

Well, it's been decades since he's received that promise, and there's no sun, and there's no land.

So last week we saw Abram kind of wrestling back and forth with God regarding the promise of his offspring.

And Abram comes to a place of faith in God, and God says, That faith is righteousness.

And this week we see them wrestling back and forth regarding the promise of the land.

As Abram looks out and sees, look, God, you've promised me this land.

How do I know that I'm going to receive it?

How can I know that I can trust in the promise of God?

Have any of you ever wondered that?

Yes, I know if I put my faith in Jesus that I can be saved.

How can I know that I'll be saved?

How can I know that God will actually use this darkness in my life for good?

How can I know?

That's the question that Abram asked today.

We're gonna look right at that.

How can he know?

And we'll see that God answers the question in the darkness.

That's where God answers this question of how Abram can know.

All right, you ready to get started?

Genesis 15, verses 7 through 8.

Genesis 15:7–8

Let's look at the question.

And he said to him, That's God, I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.

But he said, Oh Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?

See, I told you.

That's his question.

How am I to know that I shall possess it?

God brings him back into the beginning of Abram's origin story with God, right to his initial moment of rescue from God, or that first time that God offered Abram a promise.

And he says, Remember, you were living within Ur of the Chaldeans.

You were living in your father's home, and I came to you and I said, Go out from this place, from your father's house, to a land that I will tell you.

And he promised him that he will give him the land, he will give him the offspring.

But still, there's nothing there.

And Abram might consider, you know, as God says, Hey, it's me, the Lord, the one who brought you out in that initial stage.

And he might think, Yeah, I remember that was a long time ago.

There's been a lot of life that's happened since then, and still no offspring, and still no land.

I'm a homeless sojourner without an heir in the world.

So, yeah, it's been great that I followed faithfully where you said that you would take me.

And Abram might be able to, you know, recount the story, what happened when uh he first started to face some trials in the land, when it first started to seem like the land wasn't going to work out.

Well, he fled to Egypt.

So you can imagine in Abram's mind thinking, maybe I would have had the land if I didn't flee so quickly.

Maybe if I had been faithful initially, I might already have it now.

But God saw that faithlessness, and so now I'm just being punished with this terrible waiting.

But then he might remember, but I've I was faithful recently.

Uh the king of Sodom came and made me an offer, and I denied his offer, and I stayed in the land.

Uh, I didn't flee from the land when it couldn't support both Lot and I.

And in fact, I chose to remain in this place that seemed like a worse offering than what was offered to Lot, but I remained.

So I've been faithless and I've been faithful.

When Abram looks back on his story, it's kind of a mixed bag.

So he's wondering: look, how can I know that I'm going to receive the land?

Am I supposed to trust in my own ability to figure out how to get it?

Because if I look back on the story of since you originally called me, that's kind of a shaky thing to trust in.

You know, whatever situation you're in, if you consider the darkness that's in your life right now, I promise you that uh you when you can reflect back on that story and you can find both areas in it where you are a victim of something terrible as well as a perpetuator of something terrible, right?

And as you consider it, you you might be able to look back and think, well, it's so obvious that God either abandoned me here and doesn't really care about me, or that I deserve whatever sort of punishment he's placing me in because of my past faithfulness.

And so, what was the great promise that I'm supposed to trust in of the Lord?

That we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purposes.

Well, I didn't love God.

So it's obvious.

That promise isn't really meaningful for me.

Right?

Does anybody else think like that about putting their faith in the promises of God?

That when you try and actually do it and you're gonna step, you know, off onto put your full weight on the promise, and you're like, look, there's all sorts of reasons why this isn't actually steady ground for me.

Does that make sense?

Well, Abram is in just that spot.

Lord, how am I to know that this promise is steady ground for me?

With all the inconsistency that I've shown, how can I still begin to trust or still continue to trust in the promise of God?

That's what God answers today.

Now, we might look at that question in the way that we looked at a question last week from Abram and say, okay, just like a verse ago, God said, I see your faith, Abram, and I count it to you as righteousness.

And then here we are, like two verses later, and Abram saying, Yeah, great promise, God.

How do I know, though?

See, doesn't that seem like a lack of faith?

We talked about this a bit last week.

Uh now there's a reason that this isn't a lack of faith.

And the reason is he takes this doubt directly to God.

And in his looking out at his life and seeing this promise hasn't materialized yet, what he's demonstrating is a thought that says, God, you're the only one who can make this materialize.

This is the same pattern of I believe, help my unbelief.

John Calvin commented on this passage, and he says this he says, the wicked, because their minds are entangled with various conflicting thoughts, do not in any way receive the promises.

But the pious, two you want to be, who feel the impediments in their flesh, endeavor to remove them, lest they should obstruct the way to God's word, and they seek a remedy for those evils of which they are conscious.

Okay, that's the way John Calvin says it.

Maybe we can do a little better.

He's saying, look, there is a piety that looks exactly like Abram looks in this passage right now, where he's experiencing in himself this inability to offer a real trust or to participate in a real trust in God's promises.

And because he's experiencing that inability, he doesn't flee from God, he presses right into God.

And in that, in that moment, we see what is the character of God, he meets him precisely in the darkness that Abram shows to him.

God is eager and willing to rush into those doubts and fears that we bring to him.

In fact, throughout Abram's life, we see that the more confident he becomes in God's word and in the promises of God, the more quickly and clearly Abram is able to articulate back to God his own doubts and fears.

Abram experiences in himself this deep anxiety, but because of his faith in God, that anxiety doesn't drive him away from God, but it drives him directly to him.

So he says freely, like a child would run up to the to their father and say, When is this gonna happen?

Can I know that this is going to happen?

And fearlessly asks of God that for assurance.

He fearlessly comes to God and says, Lord, you've promised me this land.

I don't see it, you've promised me this goodness, I can't see it reflected in my life.

I I I'm having trouble just believing you.

Can you help me?

How will I know?

Well, this is God's answer.

In Genesis 15, 9 through 10, he said to him, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.

And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

Ah, that's a nice answer.

I wish God would tell me that.

Yeah, okay, so what is happening here, right?

Uh this is the hardly hardly an answer to the question of assurance.

Well, it actually is, but we can we need to update what's happening a bit.

God uh to Abram, he would have known exactly what was being requested of him.

Because this is the normal way of establishing a binding contract between two parties.

And what happens when we make a contract?

We just sign our names, but when we sign our names, that means we've really put skin in the game.

And that there's promises in the contract, but if those promises aren't fulfilled, we've both got real skin in the game so that we're incentivized to continue participating in the promise of the contract.

Now, the way that they did promises and uh had contracts in those days is they would take animals like that and they would cut them in half and they would make an aisle like this.

And in between the animals, they both parties would walk down the aisle of the animals that were cut in half.

And by walking down the aisle, that was saying we are both bound to this contract.

So they would set the stage with the animals cut in half, they would state the terms of the contract, and then they would walk down the aisle.

And so we say when we sign our names, like here's a contract, and we'll try and do by signing our names, we both assure that we'll try and wriggle out of this in some way.

But they signed a contract, and we have insight into this from Jeremiah, who references this same type of form of treaty.

In Jeremiah 34, 18, he says, And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts.

So what are they saying by passing between its parts?

If I break the terms of this covenant, then make me like the animals that you see here cut in half.

Now we just sign our names.

So what is God saying to Abram when he lays this out?

Abram says, How will I know?

God says, I've got the papers already written up.

Look, if you need to show that I'm really, I this isn't just empty words, but I'm actually putting skin in the game, then look, I've got the papers here.

And they put me on the hook in a way that the just the same way that they're gonna put you on the hook.

So I've got these drawn up.

This is how you will know.

So the parts of the animals are laid out, they're cut in half, and then God relays to Abram the terms of the contract that he's laying out, the terms of the covenant that he's making with Abram, so that Abram will know the promises of God are sure, and that even he can trust in them.

And what we see when God lays out the terms of the contract are it's it's far more challenging than Abram ever would have expected.

And we see two instances of the way that God saves, which is salvation through judgment.

So we're gonna learn about two of those things.

One, this is gonna be a very difficult thing.

Uh the the way that the promises of God will be fulfilled are uh much more unexpected than Abram probably expected.

And the uh and then we'll see that the ordinary way that God saves is salvation through judgment.

I want us to have that just hammered into our minds.

So here's the scene Genesis 15, 12, as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram.

And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

God brings Abram into the darkness.

Darkness falls upon Abram.

If God were to bring you into the darkness of your life right now, what would he be bringing you into?

What would he be talking about with you?

Or what story would he be explaining to you?

If God were to bring you, make the setting of his covenant with you, the darkness, what would it be?

Have you got it?

All right, now tell it to a friend.

I'm just kidding, you don't have to share it.

Um it's probably not a bad idea later, but just not right now.

So this is the setting.

Now, here's the first promise that's given to Abram.

The terms.

Genesis 15, 13 to 14.

Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years, but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Okay, so Abram, what's the promise?

I'm gonna get the land and I'm gonna get offspring.

And God says, you can be certain of that promise.

Now, how's it going to be fulfilled?

400 years from now, after your offspring are slaves.

That's not what I expected.

See, it Abram's uh the promise for Abram is just getting exploded right now as it comes out in its particulars.

And what Abram's being exposed to is a timeline that is so far outside of his particular life, so deep into the mind of God, stretched so far out into history that he never could have seen it unless God himself revealed it to him.

And we, of course, know that this is precisely what happens, that Abram's offspring become slaves in the land of Egypt for 400 years, and that God comes and he finds them and he rescues them out by judging the Egyptians through ten plagues.

He offers judgment against the Egyptians for their oppression, and by that judgment, the Israelites are rescued and freed, and they flee with great possessions.

Salvation by judgment.

Do you see it?

See the pattern?

Not yet.

We've only said one thing.

There's about to be another, another example.

So the promise is just getting just getting exploded, and we see that it ends with this judgment and rescue.

And in Genesis 15, 15 to 16, it says, As for you, God talking to Abram, you shall go to your fathers in peace, and you shall be buried in a good old age.

See, what a sweet promise.

God says, I haven't forgotten your life.

Communion.

It's okay, you can get them on Amazon.

You're given a season of peace in Abram's life.

It's a sweet promise to a faithful servant.

Then he says, and they shall come back here.

That's to the land of Canaan, the promised land, in the fourth generation.

It's another way of saying 400 years.

For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

Why does he say that phrase?

Why 400 years?

Because the iniquity of the Amorites, people who are currently dwelling in the land of Canaan, is not yet complete.

What we're being shown there is a verse that casts light on the whole conquest of Canaan under Joshua, where we see that these are the wars to gain the promised land were not just wars of manifest destiny or imperialism so that we might gain some new land.

These are wars of God's justice against the people who were dwelling wickedly in that land.

And so as their iniquity is stored up, God uses the Israelites to perform his justice against the wicked people who are in the land.

And as God performs that justice, he is giving to his people the promised land.

Do you see it?

Salvation through judgment.

This is God's promise to Abram, that his people will be saved.

And that salvation is always accompanied with judgment.

That there is judgment against wickedness.

There is real justice in the world.

That the oppressed will have someone who comes and advocates on their behalf, and the oppressor will not go without recompense.

This is demonstrated in the very terms set by God.

So God makes this promise explicit.

The terms are set.

This dynamic of the way that God works is being demonstrated in his promises.

Now that the terms are set, what's the next step?

We've got the animals, we set the terms, and then we pass down the aisle.

We ratify the covenant.

So here's what happens next.

And this is really the answer to Abram's question: How can I know?

Genesis 15, 17.

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

Okay.

Sun goes down, it's dark, and between the pieces, Abram sees a smoking pot, smoke, dark, and a flaming torch, bright, pass between the two pieces, pass down the aisle.

This is what's called a theophany.

This is where God images himself in the Old Testament.

Just like how God appears to Moses in the burning bush, or how God guides the Israelites with the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.

And here God reveals himself to Abram as the smoke that passes through the darkness of judgment and the light of salvation that breaks through in the same way.

This is God showing himself to Abram as he passes through the aisle of the animal carcasses.

And what does it mean when you pass through the animal carcasses, when you're ratifying one of these covenants?

It means you are saying, if I violate the terms of this covenant, then I will be made such as these animals are.

And if you do not fulfill your side of the covenant, then I will die.

How can Abram know that even he can't be the one who goes in to screw them up?

How can Abram know that these things certainly will come to pass?

Because God takes on himself the total curse of the covenant, so that if it is broken by either parties, God will be the one who pays.

Such is the steadfastness of his love towards us.

And where do we see this most completely?

In the ultimate picture of salvation through judgment, which takes place on the cross of Christ, the fulfillment of the promised offspring of Abram, who comes through these promises in the land that was promised to Abram in Jerusalem.

Jesus is put on the cross, and you and I are put on trial, saying, Did you remain faithful to God?

Did you uphold his covenant promises?

Did you honor him with your life?

And all of us must say no.

And Jesus says, Let the curse that belongs to them by this covenant fall upon me.

And therefore, he has secured for all of us the blessings of his covenant promises.

So how do we know?

How do we know that the promises of God are legitimately ours, completely ours?

God calls us, take your eyes off yourself.

Look to Christ on the cross.

Look to the salvation that was brought through the judgment of Christ.

And then when you look at Christ, you see the steadfastness of God's love towards us.

And we see that he's already done the most incredible, hardest thing to fulfill this covenant, which is that he bore the curse for us who didn't deserve it, but just because of his love towards us.

And so what does it mean when we say that we have faith in Jesus, that we have faith in the promises of God?

It means we look to God to fulfill all of what we need to be able to come to him.

It means that we say, God, we come to you not because of anything that we bring in our hands, but completely because of what you promised and of what you accomplished in Christ on the cross.

So that our faith has been taken out of ourselves.

No longer do we trust in ourselves or our efforts or our works to gain to gain any standing before the Lord, but we are called to look at the judgment of Christ and know that God is satisfied and able to receive us, so that by faith alone he might look at us and see our faith in Christ alone and say, You are as righteous as my son, who went to the cross, knowing that he would be cursed for his obedience.

That's how righteously I will treat you now.

So what promises does God extend to people who are that righteous?

He says absurd things.

He says things like, I will work all things together for your good.

Do you see the confidence you can have in a promise like that?

Not because of you, because Jesus accomplished it.

Because we were saved through judgment.

When Israel passed through the Red Sea, the Egyptians were coming right behind them.

And Israel walked through, it's another aisle that they're walking down.

It's a bit of a thing.

And the water, the water is, you know, stacked up on both sides, and so and they're walking down the Red Sea, experiencing their salvation.

And then by the very same means of the water, it washes away the Egyptians behind them.

Now, were there bad, faithless, wicked, evil Israelites that walked through that water?

Yep.

Were there good, noble, family-loving Egyptians that were washed away?

Yep.

What was the difference?

One group had the promises of God.

For one, God accomplished their salvation.

Because he chose them.

This is the whole difference.

This is the whole gospel.

Why we look to Christ for our salvation.

He's our solid rock.

I'll end with this little bit, which may be a mistake because it's Lord of the Rings.

Look, as you all remember, nobody but Gimli wanted to go through the mines of Moria.

Is anybody still with me?

Only Gimli wanted to go through the minds of Moria.

Everybody else was like, ugh, this is a terrible idea.

But Gandalf knew: look, guys, this is the only way.

This is the only way that we can go.

We have to go through the darkness.

It's the only way we can get to the other side.

And Aragorn trusts Gandalf, and so he's trying to get the group together.

And he says this to the rest of the fellowship.

He says, Don't be afraid.

I have been with him, been with Gandalf on many a journey, if never one so dark.

He will not go astray if there's any path to find.

He has led us in here against our fears, but he will lead us out again at whatever cost to himself.

It's a bit of foreshadowing there because, you know, the whole you shall not pass situation.

He's led us in here against our fears.

What type of confidence can we have to follow Jesus even into the darkness of our own lives?

What type of confidence can we have of that?

We know that he will lead us out no matter the cost to himself.

No matter the cost to himself.

Jesus offers a rescue to you, a salvation to you, no matter the cost to himself.

We know that completely because he already paid the cost.

We know it was satisfied because he was resurrected.

We know that the Spirit is available because he ascended and he sent it to his church.

And we know that just by hearing this word this morning and believing it, that you are brought into him.

For those of you who are Christians, I encourage you, press into the darkness of your life with Christ.

It is a severe mercy that we see from him.

Where we don't get to walk around the darkest places of our lives.

Instead, we must see his light broad there.

If you are not a Christian, look at this message.

Such a great salvation.

You need only come to him.

So let's take a question and then we'll take communion and pray.

No questions today.

Okay, great.

Yeah, great question.

So it doesn't this doesn't this mean like predestination?

Isn't that what I'm talking about?

It it is, and it does.

The way that God describes his predestination to us, it's actually just right after that promise in Romans 8.

In fact, it's even in it, uh, that promise of Romans 8.

We know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purposes.

Now that's given.

Paul writes particularly to give those promises to Christians about saying it, look, you are in because I called you.

You love me because I first loved you.

God gives those promises as a foundational assurance to Christians to know that ultimately if I'm in Christ, it's because of Him, which means there's nothing I can do to take myself out of Christ.

Now, the question that that pushes us into is well, what does that mean for God's sovereign election?

What does that mean for God choosing some people over other people?

Am I with your question?

Yeah.

And the way that scripture answers that question, look, Paul in Romans 9, he writes himself into this perfect place to where Paul gives himself the perfect opportunity to say, the reason is because of human's free choice.

And God doesn't want to violate human free choice.

And that ultimately is the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians, those who choose God and those who don't choose God.

But that's not what Paul says.

He gives himself the perfect opportunity to make that argument.

And do you know what he says?

You're not going to like this.

He says, does the clay have a right to talk back to the potter who makes it?

It's not as satisfying as the free will answer.

Here's the heart of the matter.

The story of the Bible is all about God and his glory.

One hundred percent about God and his glory.

An implication of that.

One of the glorious ways, in fact, the most glorious way that God has demonstrated his glory to us is in his graciousness to us, in our salvation, that he accomplishes.

But we aren't the center of the story.

The center of the story is God and his glory.

Why are we saved?

So that he might be glorified.

Where is his, how does God determine to demonstrate his glory in the ways that he chooses?

He is the potter.

It is his salvation.

Which means, and this is why it's so uncomfortable, a completely free grace means that we stand on nothing before God.

That's humiliating.

That's the truth of the matter.

His grace is so completely free that when we stand before him, it is only on his promises.

Now, how can we know that we're in those promises?

How can we know that we're chosen, that we're the elect, that these promises are ours?

That in Romans 8.28, when it describes the called, that he's talking about us, the only way that you can have faith in Jesus is if he called you.

If you place your faith in Jesus, you're called.

Congratulations.

There's only one way of knowing, and it's very ordinary.

God uses these very ordinary means of drawing us into his body.

And that's of hearing his gospel, recognizing the beauty of his goodness in it, seeing how there's only one way I can stand righteous before God, and it's Jesus, and placing our faith in that promise.

If you do that, I can with 100% certainty look you in the eyes and say, congratulations.

Did you know that you did that because you're predestined from eternity past?

Yeah, it's a big God we're talking about.

It's a severe grace we're talking about.

He didn't have to bind up his glory with our joy.

But in Christ he did.

So let's praise him for that.