October 1, 2006
“Covenanting with God Almighty”
Genesis 17
When we covenant with God we are submitting ourselves to Him. A covenant implies more than a mere agreement; a covenant involves relationship, allegiance, loyalty, commitment and even obligation to Christ Himself and to His goals and kingdom objectives – Matthew 6:33.
When we join a church, claim ourselves Christian or baptize our children, do we fully understand what we are doing? Do we grasp when we do these things we are binding ourselves to God?
In Genesis 17, we see God covenanting with Abram, who becomes Abraham. Covenanting with God makes him a new person even at 99 or 100 years old.
When we covenant with God, what happens?
I. We align ourselves with the unconventional power of the Almighty – Genesis 17:1
1. Why does God introduce Himself to 99 year old Abram as ALMIGHTY? -
2. Not because He had recently destroyed the world with a flood, though he is Almighty to destroy – Isaiah 13:6; Joel 1:15
3. He does this, rather, because He changes Abram’s name (high father) to Abraham (father of many) and because He is able to make Abraham 100 and Sarah 90 parents! Genesis 17:5; Genesis 17:17-21
4. God often displays His power in seeming weakness, even in Christ on the cross, His ARM and Christians who are strongest when they are weak – Isaiah 53; 1 Corinthians 1:18; :26-29; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 12:7-10
II. We put ourselves and our children in line for participation in all the precious promises of God, ultimately fulfilled in Christ –
1. Here the promises of God are enumerated to Abraham –
A. To multiply him exceedingly, even making nations from him – Genesis 17:2-6
B. This covenant extends to Abraham’s descendents – Genesis 17:7
C. He gives them (Abraham’s descendents) the land, even as an everlasting possession – Genesis 12:8
2. As we travel through Scripture, we see how God fulfills these promises in Christ:
A. Christ is a Son of Abraham – Matthew 1:1
B. Compare Genesis 12:3 to John 3:36 Christ is the Mediator of Covenant blessings!
C. Romans 4 applies these promises to Abraham to our salvation in Christ
D. All the promises – 2 Corinthians 1:20
III. We identify ourselves as God’s people by His ordained covenant signs which point to Christ’s work on our behalf –
1. Here the sign is circumcision, a bloody sign, performed on the male’s reproductive organ, symbolizing that Abraham’s Seed, Christ, would be the Savior of our world, by bleeding and dying on the cross – Genesis 17:9-14
2. In our day, because we remember what Christ has done, rather than look forward to His doing it, baptism has replaced circumcision as the new sign of the covenant, connecting us to the same promises of God - Acts 2:36-42
IV. We commit ourselves to God’s purposes and goals, ultimately we are joining a winning team
1. God calls Abraham to walk before Him and be blameless – Genesis 17:1b
2. Christ also calls us to a high degree of commitment -Luke 14:25-33
