God's Covenant With Abraham
Genesis 12, 15, 17
Message #3
We are in our third message in the series “God’s Plan: Genesis to Revelation,” and today, we see God’s plan of redemption really get started. Today we are going to survey three of the most important chapters in the Book of Genesis. This text, this phase, this part of God’s plan is so huge it’s hard for me to convey the impact and importance of it.
God had created Adam and Eve in perfect paradise and harmony, but he had also created them… with a free will. And then, the serpent came along, and the Fall and sin had entered both Mankind and God’s Creation. And sin had consequences, the biggest being separated from God, which was the consequence for Adam and Eve (as it is for us). Separation for Adam and Eve, and the same separation from God for us today. And that sin which began in the Garden quickly permeated the earth. By Genesis Chapter 6, sin had covered the earth. We read this in Genesis 6 verse 5.
Genesis 6:5 (NLT)
5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, . . . everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
Sin brings consequences, and the consequences for sin came in the shape of a flood upon the earth. But God found Noah righteous, and he and his family were saved from God’s judgment. And through Noah, God could continue his plan for Mankind.
And so, after the flood, in Genesis 8:21, God made a redemption promise to himself. Noah had just finished offering a sacrifice to the Lord, which is a picture of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Genesis 8:21 (NLT)
21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.
God is saying from this point on, there’s going to be a different way to deal with the sin of Mankind, even though they deserve judgment. Since just returned after the flood. But from this point on, God would begin a Plan of Redemption… a plan that allows another to pay the full price necessary to free Mankind from the justly due consequences of their sin. God must bring judgment upon sin. But God was going to make a way to redeem us to himself.
Redemption literally means “the buying back of something that has been lost, by the payment of a sufficient ransom.”
Used most often in the slave trade where a slave was “bought back” out of slavery and then set free from that bondage. God was beginning a plan to pay that sufficient ransom to buy you and I back from the consequences of our sin. And God knew before the foundation of the world the only one worthy to pay the price necessary to redeem Mankind was Jesus Christ. God said he would never again destroy all of Mankind, and the only way he would not have to do that is to enact a plan to pay the full penalty for that sin – himself, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That is ultimately God’s plan of redemption, and today we see that plan really get started.
In our last message, we left Mankind (again) in the grip of sin at the Tower of Babel, where God dispersed them by confusing their languages. And at that point, God’s plan of redemption kicks into high gear, and he starts with just one man. It’s a seemingly unlikely man named Abraham from a pagan city called Ur. And the first thing God does with him is to tell him to leave his city, his land, and head out to a land that God would show him. And along with that first command from God, we also see God’s first unilateral promises to Abraham. When we first meet Abraham, his name is Abram. God will later change it to Abraham.
Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Notice how many times God says, I will. This is the beginning of God’s unilateral covenant with Abraham. God is promising to do this himself through Abraham. And then, in verse 3, God says, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” How is it that “In Abraham” all the families of the earth will be blessed?
Because through Abraham, God is going to bring his plan of redemption to all the earth, and that plan of redemption is ultimately fulfilled in God paying the price for our sin, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ… so that he can redeem us (buy us back) from the consequences of our sin. In Abraham is the beginning of God’s plan to put right what went wrong in the Garden and to return man to perfect harmony with God and with God’s creation.
FRANCIS CHAN says here:
[thru Abraham] God launched a plan of redemption that was global: to create a people for Himself who would embody and spread His salvation to every group of people on the planet.
God’s plan of redemption for Mankind starts with his covenant with Abraham. The remainder of the Book of Genesis, thirty-nine chapters (from Chapters 12-50), is about God laying the foundation for his plan of redemption through one man and his offspring.
The “Primary Players” - in the Remainder of Genesis are:
Abraham
Isaac, Abraham’s son
Jacob, Abraham’s grandson
Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson
This is incredibly good reading from Genesis 12 to Genesis 50. Grab an easy-to-read Bible (NLT), read through these chapters. You will see this is such a cool story. God continues to use these people, faults and all, to build his plan and to bring about his purpose. This is incredible! If God can use Abraham, he can even use me! You see that stuff, you read it, and you think, wait a minute. It says Jacob was a conniver and a schemer. And yet God transformed him and changed his name to “Governed By God,” the name we call “Israel.” Wow. If God can transform a schemer and conniver like Jacob, maybe he can do that for me. That’s what you get when you read these chapters. So, read them.
If you’d like the Reader’s Digest version, try The Story, which is key selections from the NIV Bible with summaries to connect it together (Genesis 12-50 done in two Chapters, 2-3).
But our point today is God begins his plan of redemption in his covenant with Abraham and his offspring. He was already 75 years old when God called him, and his wife was already 65 and had never been able to conceive a child. But when God brought Abraham into the Promised Land. He said in Genesis 12:7, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And then after years of continuing to be childless. There came a pivotal moment for Abraham…To either believe God by faith, OR reject God’s promise.
Genesis 15:1-6 (ESV)
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram (Abraham) in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Abraham’s chief servant)
3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member (servant) of my household will be my heir.”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Now, right here, this is the pivotal moment for Abraham. Abraham’s either going to believe God in spite of circumstances, or he’s going to reject God by not believing him. Isn’t it interesting that God started his plan of redemption by giving a promise to an individual man… and then giving that man a choice to either believe or reject his promise (same as with us)? God knew beforehand, but we find out in the next verse what Abraham did in this pivotal moment.
Genesis 15:6 (ESV)
6 And he (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he (God) counted it to him as righteousness.
Abraham’s faith in God’s promise was credited to him as righteousness. Wait a minute – that was 4,000 years ago. God was just starting his plan of redemption, and Abraham himself was credited with God’s righteousness by putting his faith in God’s plan – alone. And today, as far as how righteousness is credited to us, nothing has changed. Today we are credited with righteousness when we put our full faith in God’s plan – alone.
Though Abraham couldn’t grasp it all, his faith in God’s plan was looking forward to the ransom Jesus Christ would pay on the Cross to redeem us to God. And our faith in God’s plan is looking back to the ransom Jesus Christ paid on the Cross to redeem us to God. And what I really want you to see here in Genesis 15, verse 6, is that God’s way of counting someone as righteous has always been by faith alone!! (Sola Fide)
Why is this so important to us today? Write this down and take the time to read Romans Chapter 4. Romans directly connects Abraham’s being made righteous by faith to our being righteous by faith.
Romans 4:22–24 (NLT) (write down in Genesis 15)
22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.
23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded
24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
God’s way of counting us as righteous has never changed from Abraham to today. God counted Abraham as righteous by his faith alone, and today God will count you as righteous by you putting your faith in God alone. True salvation has always been by faith alone. However, that faith is confirmed by our actions. Abraham put his faith in God, and though he made mistakes, Abraham confirmed his faith in God by his actions.
So, back in Genesis Chapter 15, here’s what God was doing. God is building a People, a government, and a Land. He is calling out a people to himself. He is going to form a government of himself, and he’s going to provide a Land for the people. The Promised Land is a huge part of God’s covenant with Abraham.
In the next verses, we read,
Genesis 15:7-8 (ESV)
7 And [God] said to [Abraham], “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8 But [Abraham] said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
And what follows is a very important covenant ceremony. During the time of Abraham, when two people wanted to make the strongest possible covenant, they would cut animals in half, and then they would each “walk through” the cut-in-half animals. And what they were saying is, if I break this covenant in any way, may I become like these cut in half animals.
In the verses that follow, God actually performs this covenant ceremony with Abraham, which is incredible in itself. But what’s even more incredible is God put Abraham to sleep so he would have nothing to do with the covenant. Abraham prepares the covenant ceremony, then God knocks him out and speaks to him. And write in your margin, right next to Genesis 15, verse 13, the word Egypt. Because God first tells Abraham that his descendants will be slaves in Egypt for four hundred years and then return to the Promised Land, which is very cool because we will see that happen in the next message.
Then, verse 17, God performs this covenant ceremony alone, making this a one-sided (unilateral) covenant. And God is saying; first – you have nothing to do with this Abraham, I’m making this covenant on my own, no matter what. And (unbelievably) God is saying, If I break any part of this covenant with you, may I be cut in half like these animals.
Then we read in verse 18,
Genesis 15:18 (ESV)
18 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 river Euphrates,
This is radical – times ten! Not only is God making a unilateral covenant to bring this to pass, but he’s guaranteeing it on his own life. I think that’s a pretty sure bet.
Why is God making this unilateral covenant so guaranteed? Because this is the beginning of the plan through which God is going to redeem all those who will put their faith in him. This is the foundation for God’s plan of redemption, and God is guaranteeing it – without Abraham’s involvement which is a really good thing.
Because if you’ll study the life of Abraham, you’ll find out he was just like us. He believed in God. He put his faith in God. But he made his full share of mistakes and misjudgments (just like us). And it is an incredible study to see God systematically bringing his plan to pass in the midst of Abraham’s poor choices. We did this study last year on Wednesday nights (seventeen weeks of study), and we saw how God’s sovereignty and man’s free will work together.
The entire plan of redemption from here to Revelation is God fulfilling the covenant he made with Abraham. In Genesis Chapter 17. When Abraham is ninety-nine years old, God again comes to Abraham to re-confirm his covenant.
Genesis 17:4–8 (ESV)
4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
Still, at this third time around of God’s promises, Abraham still hadn’t had a child with Sarah. Now, back in Chapter 16, Abraham and Sarah tried to “help God out,” and Abraham had a child with Sarah’s maid. But this son would become known as the “Son of the Flesh” because it was a moment of little faith for Abraham. But God would continue to promise Abraham and Sarah a son, and they were to name him Isaac.
Finally, Genesis 21, verse 5, we read,
Genesis 21:5 (ESV)
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And after many interesting chapters, Isaac would have a son named Jacob, and God would build the Nation of Israel out of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and through them, God would bless all the nations in Jesus Christ. Through God’s covenant with Abraham came the people of Israel, and through Israel came the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
Throughout the Bible, and still today in Israel, God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (patriarchs). Dave Shirley in his book “The Drama of Redemption,” points out an interesting fact… all three of the patriarch’s wives were all initially unable to have children. They were all initially barren.
Abraham’s wife Sarah was Barren for 15 years after God’s Promise to give them offspring too numerous to count
Isaac’s wife Rebekah was Barren, until Isaac prayed in faith that the Lord would give her children
Jacob’s wife Rachel was Barren, until the Lord also answered Jacob’s prayer, that She would have children
WHY would God use three women who were barren to birth the Nation of Israel and bring forth his plan of redemption? For the exact same reason that God works within your weaknesses and your shortcomings.
1 Corinthians 1:29 & 31 (ESV)
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God . . .
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
What God has done both in the Nation of Israel and in his plan of redemption, God alone has done!!
Through Abraham and the Nation of Israel, God is going to make a way to redeem Mankind from the consequences of sin, and he started it all by promising offspring too numerous to count to three women who could not even have children. That’s our God. That’s how he works.
As Paul says again in 2 Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
God’s plan of redemption is treasure in this jar of clay, and when we “take advantage” of God’s plan of redemption, and we receive by faith God’s offer to redeem us. We must know for certain that this surpassing power to save us is all from God and none from us.
We have reviewed three key chapters in Genesis today, 12, 15, and 17, and I would encourage you to read them carefully on your own. And in these chapters really begins the Scarlet Thread of Redemption. And as we continue to follow God’s Plan of Redemption from Genesis to Revelation, I promise you’ll see this same scarlet thread running through every stop we make. And if you have already put your faith in Jesus Christ…, I pray you would be in awe of God’s 4,000-year plan of redemption that has saved you from the consequences of your sin. And if you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ, receive God’s plan of redemption, by faith, today.
God had created Adam and Eve in perfect paradise and harmony, but he had also created them… with a free will. And then, the serpent came along, and the Fall and sin had entered both Mankind and God’s Creation. And sin had consequences, the biggest being separated from God, which was the consequence for Adam and Eve (as it is for us). Separation for Adam and Eve, and the same separation from God for us today. And that sin which began in the Garden quickly permeated the earth. By Genesis Chapter 6, sin had covered the earth. We read this in Genesis 6 verse 5.
Genesis 6:5 (NLT)
5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, . . . everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
Sin brings consequences, and the consequences for sin came in the shape of a flood upon the earth. But God found Noah righteous, and he and his family were saved from God’s judgment. And through Noah, God could continue his plan for Mankind.
And so, after the flood, in Genesis 8:21, God made a redemption promise to himself. Noah had just finished offering a sacrifice to the Lord, which is a picture of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Genesis 8:21 (NLT)
21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.
God is saying from this point on, there’s going to be a different way to deal with the sin of Mankind, even though they deserve judgment. Since just returned after the flood. But from this point on, God would begin a Plan of Redemption… a plan that allows another to pay the full price necessary to free Mankind from the justly due consequences of their sin. God must bring judgment upon sin. But God was going to make a way to redeem us to himself.
Redemption literally means “the buying back of something that has been lost, by the payment of a sufficient ransom.”
Used most often in the slave trade where a slave was “bought back” out of slavery and then set free from that bondage. God was beginning a plan to pay that sufficient ransom to buy you and I back from the consequences of our sin. And God knew before the foundation of the world the only one worthy to pay the price necessary to redeem Mankind was Jesus Christ. God said he would never again destroy all of Mankind, and the only way he would not have to do that is to enact a plan to pay the full penalty for that sin – himself, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That is ultimately God’s plan of redemption, and today we see that plan really get started.
In our last message, we left Mankind (again) in the grip of sin at the Tower of Babel, where God dispersed them by confusing their languages. And at that point, God’s plan of redemption kicks into high gear, and he starts with just one man. It’s a seemingly unlikely man named Abraham from a pagan city called Ur. And the first thing God does with him is to tell him to leave his city, his land, and head out to a land that God would show him. And along with that first command from God, we also see God’s first unilateral promises to Abraham. When we first meet Abraham, his name is Abram. God will later change it to Abraham.
Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Notice how many times God says, I will. This is the beginning of God’s unilateral covenant with Abraham. God is promising to do this himself through Abraham. And then, in verse 3, God says, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” How is it that “In Abraham” all the families of the earth will be blessed?
Because through Abraham, God is going to bring his plan of redemption to all the earth, and that plan of redemption is ultimately fulfilled in God paying the price for our sin, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ… so that he can redeem us (buy us back) from the consequences of our sin. In Abraham is the beginning of God’s plan to put right what went wrong in the Garden and to return man to perfect harmony with God and with God’s creation.
FRANCIS CHAN says here:
[thru Abraham] God launched a plan of redemption that was global: to create a people for Himself who would embody and spread His salvation to every group of people on the planet.
God’s plan of redemption for Mankind starts with his covenant with Abraham. The remainder of the Book of Genesis, thirty-nine chapters (from Chapters 12-50), is about God laying the foundation for his plan of redemption through one man and his offspring.
The “Primary Players” - in the Remainder of Genesis are:
Abraham
Isaac, Abraham’s son
Jacob, Abraham’s grandson
Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson
This is incredibly good reading from Genesis 12 to Genesis 50. Grab an easy-to-read Bible (NLT), read through these chapters. You will see this is such a cool story. God continues to use these people, faults and all, to build his plan and to bring about his purpose. This is incredible! If God can use Abraham, he can even use me! You see that stuff, you read it, and you think, wait a minute. It says Jacob was a conniver and a schemer. And yet God transformed him and changed his name to “Governed By God,” the name we call “Israel.” Wow. If God can transform a schemer and conniver like Jacob, maybe he can do that for me. That’s what you get when you read these chapters. So, read them.
If you’d like the Reader’s Digest version, try The Story, which is key selections from the NIV Bible with summaries to connect it together (Genesis 12-50 done in two Chapters, 2-3).
But our point today is God begins his plan of redemption in his covenant with Abraham and his offspring. He was already 75 years old when God called him, and his wife was already 65 and had never been able to conceive a child. But when God brought Abraham into the Promised Land. He said in Genesis 12:7, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And then after years of continuing to be childless. There came a pivotal moment for Abraham…To either believe God by faith, OR reject God’s promise.
Genesis 15:1-6 (ESV)
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram (Abraham) in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Abraham’s chief servant)
3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member (servant) of my household will be my heir.”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Now, right here, this is the pivotal moment for Abraham. Abraham’s either going to believe God in spite of circumstances, or he’s going to reject God by not believing him. Isn’t it interesting that God started his plan of redemption by giving a promise to an individual man… and then giving that man a choice to either believe or reject his promise (same as with us)? God knew beforehand, but we find out in the next verse what Abraham did in this pivotal moment.
Genesis 15:6 (ESV)
6 And he (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he (God) counted it to him as righteousness.
Abraham’s faith in God’s promise was credited to him as righteousness. Wait a minute – that was 4,000 years ago. God was just starting his plan of redemption, and Abraham himself was credited with God’s righteousness by putting his faith in God’s plan – alone. And today, as far as how righteousness is credited to us, nothing has changed. Today we are credited with righteousness when we put our full faith in God’s plan – alone.
Though Abraham couldn’t grasp it all, his faith in God’s plan was looking forward to the ransom Jesus Christ would pay on the Cross to redeem us to God. And our faith in God’s plan is looking back to the ransom Jesus Christ paid on the Cross to redeem us to God. And what I really want you to see here in Genesis 15, verse 6, is that God’s way of counting someone as righteous has always been by faith alone!! (Sola Fide)
Why is this so important to us today? Write this down and take the time to read Romans Chapter 4. Romans directly connects Abraham’s being made righteous by faith to our being righteous by faith.
Romans 4:22–24 (NLT) (write down in Genesis 15)
22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.
23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded
24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
God’s way of counting us as righteous has never changed from Abraham to today. God counted Abraham as righteous by his faith alone, and today God will count you as righteous by you putting your faith in God alone. True salvation has always been by faith alone. However, that faith is confirmed by our actions. Abraham put his faith in God, and though he made mistakes, Abraham confirmed his faith in God by his actions.
So, back in Genesis Chapter 15, here’s what God was doing. God is building a People, a government, and a Land. He is calling out a people to himself. He is going to form a government of himself, and he’s going to provide a Land for the people. The Promised Land is a huge part of God’s covenant with Abraham.
In the next verses, we read,
Genesis 15:7-8 (ESV)
7 And [God] said to [Abraham], “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8 But [Abraham] said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
And what follows is a very important covenant ceremony. During the time of Abraham, when two people wanted to make the strongest possible covenant, they would cut animals in half, and then they would each “walk through” the cut-in-half animals. And what they were saying is, if I break this covenant in any way, may I become like these cut in half animals.
In the verses that follow, God actually performs this covenant ceremony with Abraham, which is incredible in itself. But what’s even more incredible is God put Abraham to sleep so he would have nothing to do with the covenant. Abraham prepares the covenant ceremony, then God knocks him out and speaks to him. And write in your margin, right next to Genesis 15, verse 13, the word Egypt. Because God first tells Abraham that his descendants will be slaves in Egypt for four hundred years and then return to the Promised Land, which is very cool because we will see that happen in the next message.
Then, verse 17, God performs this covenant ceremony alone, making this a one-sided (unilateral) covenant. And God is saying; first – you have nothing to do with this Abraham, I’m making this covenant on my own, no matter what. And (unbelievably) God is saying, If I break any part of this covenant with you, may I be cut in half like these animals.
Then we read in verse 18,
Genesis 15:18 (ESV)
18 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 river Euphrates,
This is radical – times ten! Not only is God making a unilateral covenant to bring this to pass, but he’s guaranteeing it on his own life. I think that’s a pretty sure bet.
Why is God making this unilateral covenant so guaranteed? Because this is the beginning of the plan through which God is going to redeem all those who will put their faith in him. This is the foundation for God’s plan of redemption, and God is guaranteeing it – without Abraham’s involvement which is a really good thing.
Because if you’ll study the life of Abraham, you’ll find out he was just like us. He believed in God. He put his faith in God. But he made his full share of mistakes and misjudgments (just like us). And it is an incredible study to see God systematically bringing his plan to pass in the midst of Abraham’s poor choices. We did this study last year on Wednesday nights (seventeen weeks of study), and we saw how God’s sovereignty and man’s free will work together.
The entire plan of redemption from here to Revelation is God fulfilling the covenant he made with Abraham. In Genesis Chapter 17. When Abraham is ninety-nine years old, God again comes to Abraham to re-confirm his covenant.
Genesis 17:4–8 (ESV)
4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
Still, at this third time around of God’s promises, Abraham still hadn’t had a child with Sarah. Now, back in Chapter 16, Abraham and Sarah tried to “help God out,” and Abraham had a child with Sarah’s maid. But this son would become known as the “Son of the Flesh” because it was a moment of little faith for Abraham. But God would continue to promise Abraham and Sarah a son, and they were to name him Isaac.
Finally, Genesis 21, verse 5, we read,
Genesis 21:5 (ESV)
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And after many interesting chapters, Isaac would have a son named Jacob, and God would build the Nation of Israel out of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and through them, God would bless all the nations in Jesus Christ. Through God’s covenant with Abraham came the people of Israel, and through Israel came the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
Throughout the Bible, and still today in Israel, God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (patriarchs). Dave Shirley in his book “The Drama of Redemption,” points out an interesting fact… all three of the patriarch’s wives were all initially unable to have children. They were all initially barren.
Abraham’s wife Sarah was Barren for 15 years after God’s Promise to give them offspring too numerous to count
Isaac’s wife Rebekah was Barren, until Isaac prayed in faith that the Lord would give her children
Jacob’s wife Rachel was Barren, until the Lord also answered Jacob’s prayer, that She would have children
WHY would God use three women who were barren to birth the Nation of Israel and bring forth his plan of redemption? For the exact same reason that God works within your weaknesses and your shortcomings.
1 Corinthians 1:29 & 31 (ESV)
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God . . .
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
What God has done both in the Nation of Israel and in his plan of redemption, God alone has done!!
Through Abraham and the Nation of Israel, God is going to make a way to redeem Mankind from the consequences of sin, and he started it all by promising offspring too numerous to count to three women who could not even have children. That’s our God. That’s how he works.
As Paul says again in 2 Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
God’s plan of redemption is treasure in this jar of clay, and when we “take advantage” of God’s plan of redemption, and we receive by faith God’s offer to redeem us. We must know for certain that this surpassing power to save us is all from God and none from us.
We have reviewed three key chapters in Genesis today, 12, 15, and 17, and I would encourage you to read them carefully on your own. And in these chapters really begins the Scarlet Thread of Redemption. And as we continue to follow God’s Plan of Redemption from Genesis to Revelation, I promise you’ll see this same scarlet thread running through every stop we make. And if you have already put your faith in Jesus Christ…, I pray you would be in awe of God’s 4,000-year plan of redemption that has saved you from the consequences of your sin. And if you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ, receive God’s plan of redemption, by faith, today.