Through Faith – part 2 (Genesis 15:7-21)
Through Faith – part 2
Genesis 15:7-21
March 30, 2014
As you know we are studying through the book of Genesis.
We have called it “The Gospel According to Moses”
And most recently we have been seeing that gospel
Form into shape centered around the life of Abram.
Abram was a pagan idol worshiper who loved the world.
And yet Abram was also a recipient of God’s amazing grace.
• God visited Abram
• God called Abram
• God promised Abram the land of Canaan
• God protected that blessing for Abram
• And God pruned away lesser blessings from him
We call that grace.
And we know that “By grace are you saved…”
And Abram was certainly a man of grace.
But grace is only the first part of the gospel, there is a second.
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”
We are saved “by grace…through faith”
And so having witnessed the grace in Abram’s life
It is now time to start seeing the faith.
God requires faith.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
As we said last week:
“Faith is the only currency God accepts”
And if you will recall it is faith that God has been producing in Abram.
• God taught Abram to trust His promises
• God taught Abram to trust His protection
• God taught Abram to trust His plan
God has been growing Abram’s faith.
And last week this call for faith began to come to a head.
We looked at the first 6 verses of Genesis 15.
Let me revisit those briefly.
#1 PERSEVERANCE REWARDED
Genesis 15:1-5
You will remember that God told Abram “Do not fear”
What cause did Abram have to fear?
Well, if you will remember in chapter 14 Abram just made the life changing decision to stop seeking the benefits of the world and to start seeking the blessing of God.
Formerly Abram was a man of the world
Who was used to obtaining all that he could.
But in chapter 14 he was met with a decision.
The King of Salem offered him a BLESSING.
The King of Sodom offered him a BRIBE.
And for the first time in his life Abram turned down the world
That he might know the things of God.
And for everyone in here who has ever done anything similar
YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS A SCARY REALITY.
But God told Abram not to fear,
For He would “shield” and “reward” him for his decision.
However, Abram did have one major obstacle in his mind
That he was having trouble justifying.
Abram could not have kids.
And if you’ll remember God had even removed Lot from the equation.
So now, it didn’t matter what God would give him
Abram would not be able to leave it to anyone.
(2) “Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, since I am childless..?”
It wasn’t that Abram doubted that God COULD or even that God WOULD.
He just didn’t understand why God SHOULD.
Ecclesiastes 2:21 “When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.”
That is where Abram was.
“God, would you give me all of this just so I can leave it to my servant?”
But if you will remember we said that
Abram was listening to the promise of God while looking in the mirror.
And if you do that, you won’t believe them either.
God told him to stop looking in the mirror
And start looking out the window.
“Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them…so shall your descendants be.”
God told Abram that he would have a son
And through that son he would have numerous descendants.
It is obvious that God was rewarding Abram’s decision
To choose Him over the things of the world.
It was Perseverance Rewarded.
And then came the pinnacle verse.
#2 PARDON RECKONED
Genesis 15:6-7
And we only made it half way through this point last week.
But after God made the promise to Abram, Moses records:
“Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Abram didn’t just believe the Lord, he “believed in the Lord”
Abram chose to place his faith God.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Let’s say you come to me and say,
I’m thinking about quitting my job and starting my own business.
Then I say, “I believe you”
(I don’t think you’re lying, I think you’ll do it)
But suppose I say, “I believe IN you”
(that’s a whole different thing)
Abram “believed in the Lord”
Not only did he not think God was lying,
Abram fully believed God was able, and would accomplish it.
The faith Abram had here was not intellectual or academic
This was genuine trust in God from Abram’s part.
And as we noted, this is not strange, or peculiar, or backward.
Abram had no reason not to believe in the Lord.
• Had God ever steered him wrong?
• Had God ever reneged on a promise?
• Had God ever not done what He said?
• Had God ever deceived him?
NO.
The faith Abram gave to God was the most natural and logical thing
That could have happened.
It wasn’t weird or quirky or bizarre, it was extremely fitting.
Abram had no reason not to believe in the Lord.
And if the story had ended there,
It would have all the warmth and pageantry of a nice novel.
But it is the next statement that literally blows our minds
“and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
WHAT!?
Now we are on a whole new playing field.
If you think a son and descendants are valuable,
That all pales in comparison to what God gave him here.
God gave Abram “righteousness”
WHY IS THAT SO IMPORTANT?
Because you can’t see God or go to heaven without it.
To have eternal life you must be righteous.
• You must be “holy as I am holy”
• You must be “perfect as Your heavenly Father is perfect”
God does not tolerate sin.
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Salvation then, is above all else a quest for righteousness.
It is the most valuable commodity you could ever possess.
Proverbs 11:4 “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death.”
AND GOD JUST GAVE IT TO ABRAM.
And we saw how.
GOD TRADED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR ABRAM’S FAITH.
• God doesn’t accept works…
• God doesn’t accept tradition…
• God doesn’t accept sincerity…
• God doesn’t accept morality…
• God doesn’t accept bribes or promises or intentions…
God only accepts faith.
And we learn from Abram that if you will give God faith
He will give you righteousness.
And this payment is all possible because of
The transaction that Christ made on Abram’s behalf.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Abram’s sin was imputed to Christ
His righteousness was imputed to Abram
And the same is true for those of us who have trusted in Christ.
SO ARE YOU BEGINNING TO SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH?
You can’t obtain righteousness without it.
So Abram believed God and Abram received righteousness.
Abram was just saved.
He went from being Abram the pagan,
To Abram, the child of the living God.
And after God justified Abram He then said this to him:
(7) “And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
This is God recounting what He has done in Abram’s life,
And it is nothing short of monumental.
It helps us remember who gets the credit for salvation.
Abram here believed, but we still don’t give credit to Abram for salvation.
THIS WHOLE THING IS WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING.
DO YOU KNOW WHY ABRAM BELIEVED?
• Because that is the way God wanted it.
• That is the way God ordained it.
God says, I “brought you out of Ur”
You didn’t come out – I brought you out
You didn’t leave of your own accord – I performed it for you
For those in here who are saved, the same can be said for you.
• You didn’t leave the world…
• You didn’t leave sin…
• It wasn’t your idea…
God did that in your life.
He is the reason you are no longer in your old life.
And get this:
I “brought YOU out”
• What about all the others who lived in Ur?
• What about all the others who still remain worshiping gods that cannot
save?
God did a special thing for Abram, and Abram could have nothing but gratitude for that tremendous act of favor toward him.
And God brought Abram out for a purpose.
“to give you this land to possess it.”
I brought you out to bring you in.
I removed you that I might bless you.
I mean to give you this land, and I mean for you to keep it.
It is yours and it is yours to possess.
WHAT A PLAN GOD HAD FOR ABRAM!
God determined to save and bless Abram.
God gets all the credit for that.
And is that not the plan He had for each of us?
Ephesians 2:4-9 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
He called us out of a life of sin; out of the world.
That He might give us a better country;
A heavenly one, and that we might possess it.
What God is doing in Abram’s life and what God is doing in your life
IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST.
Trusting God was the best thing Abram ever did
And it is the best thing you’ve ever done.
God delivered Him – God blessed Him – And God gave Him righteousness
Perseverance Rewarded Pardon Reckoned
#3 PROOF RENDERED
Genesis 15:8-16
And here is a part that we can all identify greatly with.
We fully understand Abram’s question here.
In addition to granting him the necessary righteousness for salvation
God had also promised Abram a country a son and a nation.
But notice Abram’s question.
“He said, “O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”
Some might be tempted to critique Abram here
For what now looks like a lack of belief.
First he believes God and now he wants a sign?
That isn’t it at all.
Abram isn’t in search of a sign, Abram is in search of security.
And might I remind you that:
The search for security is neither unnatural nor unnecessary.
We need security.
And the beauty is that God wants you to have it.
Notice what God does here for Abram.
(9-10) “So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.”
Now these scene may seem a little strange to you, but it obviously wasn’t to Abram. (And I promise it wasn’t to the children of Israel)
He understood what was occurring here.
God was about to make a covenant, a guarantee, a promise.
Abram understood that God was about to take an oath.
And the sacrifice of these animals
Is a picture of the blood that will ratify the promise.
Hebrews 9:16-18 “For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.”
The “first covenant” spoken of there was not this one,
It was the covenant of the Law given through Moses.
But the picture is the same.
When you read the word “covenant”
You can better understand it if you call it a “will”.
When someone makes an offer of inheritance
You don’t collect that inheritance until the one offering it dies.
Death is required to put it into effect.
And here we have the symbolic death
Which will put into effect the covenant God is making with Abram.
And so Abram readies the scene.
(11) “The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.”
This indicates that it did not happen instantly.
There was some time that lapsed.
God is making a covenant, but He is not jumping through hoops.
Just as a side note, God is more than happy to answer your prayers and to give assurance and security, but He does not always do it at your beck and call, nor as quickly as you might always like.
Abram was getting some assurance,
But he was having to be diligent about it.
(12-16) “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
And there is the statement Abram was waiting for.
“Know for certain…”
There is no reason to doubt Abram for God has said it.
But pay special attention to what else God said.
For God mentions some things
That must have come as a bit of a surprise to Abram.
• Your descendants will be slaves and oppressed 400 years
• You will die before all that happens
WHY MENTION THAT?
Because God wants Abram to know that the presence of hardship
Does not equal the forfeiture of the promise.
Neither difficulty (slavery)
Nor delay (400 years)
Are indicators that God has forgotten or that He has changed His mind.
Sometimes that is the way we feel about it.
We hear the promises of God, we read the promises of God,
And yet let a little hardship come or let the promises delay
And we instantly go to asking if God changed His mind.
Casting Crowns has a song:
“Lord I was sure by now, that You would have reached down, and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say amen, and it’s still raining”
Maybe you’ve been there.
You certainly aren’t alone.
Remember John the Baptist?
Matthew 11:2-6 “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
John is in prison and was not seeing the fulfillment of what he expected.
Hence the, “Are You the Expected One..?”
John had an expectation of Jesus being the Messiah.
Why wouldn’t he? God promised that the One he saw the dove lighting on was in fact the savior of the world.
But John was suffering, and it was continuing
And he wondered if somehow the promise was wrong.
We are all prone to such thinking.
That is why Jesus told His disciples the night before He was crucified:
John 16:1-4 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
Jesus told the disciples of their coming hardship ahead of time.
WHY?
Why would Jesus tell John not to stumble?
Why would Jesus mention the coming hardship?
Why would God tell Abram about this coming difficulty?
BECAUSE GOD DOESN’T WANT ABRAM’S FAITH TO STOP
FAITH MATTERS TO GOD
(13) “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.”
There will be DIFFICULTY, but it will end in deliverance
(14) “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.”
There will be a DELAY, but it will end in prosperity
(15-16) “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
That also explains to all of Moses’ congregation
Why the slavery in Egypt had to last so long.
You know through all those days of brick making and pyramid building, when they were crying out to God, “How Long?”
I bet they never figured it was because God
Was not yet willing to judge the Amorites.
Understand that when your hardship lasts longer than expected, God has a reason, it may not be a thing in the world you would have ever guessed.
BUT GOD IS GIVING ABRAM SECURITY
BECAUSE HE WANTS ABRAM’S FAITH TO ENDURE.
And God wants you to know for certain as well!
1 John 5:11-13 “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
In fact, that is much of the reason to why God gave you the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
God gives you security
God promises you are His
Because even in difficult times, God wants your faith to endure.
So when enduring slavery, trust God
When enduring hardship, trust God
Don’t quit giving Him faith – it is valuable!
Perseverance was Rewarded Pardon was Reckoned Proof was Rendered
#4 PROMISE RATIFIED
Genesis 15:17-21
Here God gives the guarantee that Abram was wanting.
(17) “It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.”
Many have wondered why the symbols of an oven and a torch?
The “smoking oven” pictures the dark slavery.
Deuteronomy 4:20 “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.”
Isaiah 48:10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
The “flaming torch” pictures the light of God’s deliverance in the midst of the darkness.
Zechariah 12:6 “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.”
By those pieces passing through the middle of the sacrifice
God was reinforcing that the hardship of Egypt
Does not indicate a void of the promise.
And God passed through the pieces
In order to ratify or “sign” that covenant.
(18-21) “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”
Not will give, but “have given”
• God made the promise…
• God drew up the paperwork…
• God signed the agreement…
• IT IS DONE – AND GOD IS LIABLE
AGAIN WHY?
Because God wants Abram’s faith to continue.
AND OF COURSE ABRAM’S FAITH DID
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
DON’T UNDERVALUE THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH.
• WHY DID GOD SAVE ABRAM? – By Grace
• HOW DID GOD SAVE ABRAM? – Through Faith
Faith is the response that God wants to His grace.
He simply wants you to believe in Him and to keep believing in Him
And it is so important that you cannot be saved without it.
Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
THE QUESTION THIS MORNING IS – DO YOU?
• Have you recognized God’s grace in your life?
• Have you heard God’s promise for your future?
• Are you willing to believe in Him to secure it?
Don’t let difficulty upset your faith,
God knew about that before He made the promise.
Just continue believing in Him.
Abram did and God was not ashamed to be called his God.
God gives grace – and He wants faith in return.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
