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00:00:00 [Music] [Applause] [Music] genesis chapter 17 when abram was 99 years old the lord appeared to him and said i am god almighty walk before me faithfully and be blameless then i will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers abram 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
00:00:51 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 now reside as a foreigner i will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you and i will be there god then god said to abraham as for you you must keep my covenant you and your descendants after you
00:01:28 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 have 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
00:02:06 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 are no longer to call her sarai 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 the son be born to a man a hundred
00:02:46 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've heard you i will surely bless him i will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers he will be the father of 12 rulers and i will make him into a great nation but my covenant i will establish with
00:03:29 isaac whom sarah will bear to you by this time next year when he had finished speaking with abraham a god went up from him on that very day abraham took his son ishmael and all those born in his household are 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 very day and every male in abraham's household including those born in his household
00:04:10 or bought from a foreigner was circumcised with him this is the word of god today in our text we see that god is a covenant god he wants us to live in a right relationship with him with him being our god and us being his people it's amazing that the creator of heavens and earth the lord over the entire universe wants us to live in covenant with him he has made that possible in our text today we see that the covenant which god made with abram is an everlasting covenant that means it continues today and it will continue
00:04:55 on into eternity long after this world as we know it has come to an end and the good news is that we can participate in this everlasting covenant we can live in covenant with god today from our text and from other related texts we want to look at the god of the covenant who he is we also want to look at the contents of the covenant with its blessings its demands and responsibilities and also the sign of the covenant circumcision and we will look at this not only from the text in genesis 17 but also from other old testament and
00:05:39 new testament texts then we will see that the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant is in jesus and finally we'll examine what our response today should be but before we look at today's text let's briefly review to understand the covenant in chapter 17 of genesis we need to remember what has already happened so far in abram's life abram first appears in chapter 11 of genesis in a genealogy but then in chapter 12 we come to a very important passage the call of abram god calls abram to leave his country
00:06:18 leave his family go to the land where god will show him and then god makes several promises to abram and i'll highlight some of them first of all we see that god promised abram that he would make him a great nation abram would be the father of not just any ordinary nation but rather of the nation through whom god would bring salvation to all peoples who believe through abram's descendants god would give the law the prophets the scriptures and most importantly through them he would give he would send the promised messiah who
00:06:59 would bring salvation continuing in the passage we see that god tells abram that he will bless him yes blessing comes when we respond to god's call and then we see that god also says that since he is blessing abram abram is to be a blessing god's blessings are not for us to selfishly lavish only on ourselves rather we are blessed to be a blessing we receive god's blessings so that we can bless others and then very importantly we see god say in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed because the promised messiah jesus would
00:07:47 come to earth physically through the descendants of abram all peoples of the earth will be blessed through him so the call of abram in chapter 12 is an extremely important event near the beginning of the story of god's plan for salvation and as we read further in chapter 12 we see that abram not only listened to god but he obeyed him and then when we go to chapter 15 of genesis we find another very important passage concerning the covenant and the response of faith several years have passed since chapter 12 in chapter
00:08:25 15 but less than 10. back in chapter 12 abram was 75 and he had no children even though god said he would have many descendants so in chapter 15 abram is probably in his early 80s but still with no children so in a conversation with god abram is talking to god and says god i still don't have an heir who will be my heir i don't have any children and god takes him outside and shows him the stars and he said look at the stars that's how many descendants you're going to have and we see abram's response in genesis
00:09:04 15 verse 6 abram believed the lord and the lord counted to counted it him as righteousness this very important verse which is frequently quoted in the new testament shows the importance of faith because here we see that abram responded in faith to god and then god counted him righteous that's the response god wants from each one of us faith and when we like abram respond to god in faith then god will justify us he counts us as righteous then in the last part of chapter 15 we see there's a covenant ceremony where
00:09:49 god formally enters into a covenant with abraham sacrifices are made lined up in two rows and the presence of god passes between the rows of the sacrifices showing that god is serious he is committing himself to do what he has said he will do so before we get to chapter 17 which is our text today god is already formally entered into a covenant with abram promising him that he would have many descendants that he would be the father of a great nation that he would be blessed and that through his descendants
00:10:31 all peoples of the earth would be blessed then last week we looked at genesis chapter 16 and we saw where abram perhaps out of frustration maybe with wavering faith maybe thinking that he had to try to help god out abram had a son but the son was not through his wife sarah chapter 16 ends saying that abram was 86 years old when hagar bore ishmael to him and the very next verse says when abram was 99 years old the lord appeared to him now remember in the original manuscripts there were no chapter or verse divisions
00:11:18 in the texts so there is really no break between these two verses he goes from being 86 up to 13 years have passed imagine that a 99 year old man is parenting a teenager and some of you thought you had it a little rough as parents during these 13 years we don't know what has happened but evidently nothing extremely significant in god's plan during that time it appears that abram had no new significant encounters with god then god appears to abram to confirm the covenant he has already made with him
00:12:02 adding even more blessings but also placing some demands and giving a sign that confirms the covenant as we let god speak to us through the text today and as we consider living in covenant with god let's first be reminded of who the god of the covenant is the first thing we notice is that god takes the initiative he is the one who extends his grace even after abrams and sarai's lack of faith 13 years earlier god takes the initiative and confirms the covenant in verse 1 we see that the lord appeared to abram
00:12:46 just like earlier when god called abram in chapter 12 and when god entered into a covenant with abraham in chapter 15 god reaches out to abram with his mercy his grace taking the initiative and the same is true for us god reaches out to us in love offering us the opportunity of living in covenant with him today god speaks to each of us are you ready to listen in verse 1 we also see a new name for god this is the first time god reveals himself with the name el shaddai god says i am god almighty god almighty is the translation of the
00:13:34 hebrew el shaddai shaddai meaning all-powerful or almighty early jewish writers recognized in the name shaddai the meaning of sufficient god is the all-sufficient one the all-competent god the god who knows what he is doing and how to do it it's like god is telling 99 year old abram abram you have had some questions about whether you can have a child at your age and questions about having a child through your wife at her age you thought you might need to help me when you had that son through hagar
00:14:15 now learn something new about me i am el shaddai learn how capable i am to do everything that i desire to do whenever i desire to do it today we need to discover or rediscover the truth the reality of el shaddai the god who is sufficient for whatever we are going through right now we have worries and fears about so many situations in our world covet 19 the fear of growing sick with all that could bring economic downturns difficulties job loss racial prejudice and unrest lack of social justice political problems all of these are in
00:15:10 the news plus we all have personal problems that are not in the news some of you might be going through some relationship problems maybe with a spouse or children colleagues neighbors some of you have real genuine health concerns other than covid19 and many are facing work-related stresses we also feel pressure sometimes to act in an unethical manner so we need to rediscover and experience god as the one who is all-sufficient god is almighty god he will keep his promises even giving a son to a man who will be a hundred years old
00:15:58 with a 90 year old wife in our text we also see that god is the rightful authority the master the ruler the lord over all he has the right to make demands god can rightfully tell abram walk before me and be blameless and he can say as for you abram you shall keep my covenant we also see god's authority as lord over us when we see that god changed abram's name and also sarai's names god told abram no longer will you be called abram but your name shall be abraham and as for sarai your wife you shall not
00:16:42 call her name sarai but sarah shall be her name this act shows that god is in charge because only someone with the right and the authority can change somebody else's name now what is the significance in a change of names you might ask well a new name often shows that there has been a change in character and inward change god is working in the heart or a change of names could mean a change of destiny a renewed purpose a clear mission for abraham that would be to realize more how he is going to be a part of
00:17:24 god's plan of salvation to bring blessing to a multitude of nations abram recognized god's rightful authority over his life as is evidenced when the scripture says that he fell down on his face before the lord god has the rightful authority over our lives do you recognize that not just in theory but in everyday life in our text we also see the god of the covenant is personal god spoke individually personally intimately with abram god told abram the covenant is between me and you between me and your descendants
00:18:16 and we see god says to abram i will be with you i will be their god referring to abram's descendants so we see that the god of the covenant takes the initiative extending his grace to each of us he is almighty all-sufficient the rightful authority over all this is the god who wants to be your god and my god he wants us to live close to him in a personal relationship with him now let's look at the contents of the covenant the covenant that god made with abram first of all we'll look at the blessings
00:18:59 in the covenant now we'll remember that god had earlier made some promises to abram and he had already entered into covenant with him but now we're going to see that the covenant is expanded into much greater dimensions with even more blessings so we want to look at the greater dimensions and the additional blessings in the covenant the first thing that we'll see is that god will make abram the father of a multitude of nations in chapter 12 god had said to abram that he would be the father of a great nation singular
00:19:36 but now god talks about a multitude of nations god says behold my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations and in case abram missed that god then said no longer will you be called abram but your name shall be abraham because i have made you the father of a multitude of nations now it's interesting abraham still had no child of the promise no child from his wife sarai but god says i have made you past tense there's no visible evidence of this yet but god considered it done
00:20:22 because when god promises something it is a certainty that it will come to pass even when we do not see any evidence another blessing god adds to the covenant is that kings will descend from abram in verse 6 god says i will make you exceedingly fruitful and i will make you into nations and kings shall come from you in the old testament we do see many kings who descended from abraham but most notable was king david a man described as being after god's own heart and god promised king david that a descendant of his
00:21:05 would come who would reign on the throne forever this of course was pointing to jesus jesus the king of kings before whom all will bow the knee was in his physical body a descendant of both abraham and david the third blessing we see added to the covenant is that it will be an everlasting covenant it will have no end the word everlasting occurs four times in this chapter in verse seven god says i will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations
00:21:48 for an everlasting covenant a fourth new thing we see about the covenant is that god says sarah will be the one who bears the son of the promise now in the earlier narratives god had promised abram that he would have many descendants but god had not specifically said the son would come through sarah although you would think that would be a logical assumption but now god is more specific and he says sarah will bear the son of promise abraham and sarah had already given up on having children after all not only was abram 99
00:22:30 sarah was 89 they had tried to have children for decades now in their old age they assumed there was no hope left but at this point they came to know god as el shaddai almighty god the god who can do anything the god who will keep his promise because with him all things are possible in verse 16 god says i will bless her i will bless sarah and moreover i will give you a son by her i will bless her and she shall become nations kings of people shall come from her and god repeats in verse 19 sarah will
00:23:20 bear you a son and you shall call his name isaac then god gets even more specific and gives a timetable in verse 21 he says isaac will be born to sarah at this time next year the son god promised abraham would finally be born 25 years after the first time god made this promise have you ever thought you had to wait a long time on god to see him move to receive an answer to prayer imagine waiting 25 years but when god makes a promise he will keep his promise now sometimes we might think we have been promised something by god
00:24:07 when in reality it's only our imagination at work but a promise from god will be kept god will act but it will be according to his timetable in the manner he deems best we have seen some new dimensions and additional blessings of the covenant given to abram now let's look at the demands of the covenant god has taken the initiative revealing himself he has spoken offering this covenant relation and now he expects an appropriate response we see that when we go back to verse 1 the lord appeared to abram and said to
00:24:49 him i am god almighty walk before me and be blameless god required those who were in covenant with him to live in such a way as to please him so he tells abram walk before me walk is a reminder that life is an ongoing pilgrimage there is no once for all formula for instant holiness because life's circumstances and demands continue to change to walk before god means to walk by faith also a reminder that faith is not a one-time experience nor a one-time prayer live every moment in conscious awareness of
00:25:37 god's presence with you don't try to hide anything from god knowing that you can and do live continuously in god's presence will bring comfort assurance encouragement you can receive strength for living knowing that you are in the presence of el shaddai almighty god and then god also said be blameless blameless is the same word used to describe sacrifices in the old testament that are brought to god implying we are to offer our lives as living sacrifices the old king james version translated the word blameless as perfect
00:26:25 and yes there are definite moral and ethical implications of walking blamelessly before god but the idea of sinless perfection is not what is meant because no one will be able to live a totally sinless life rather the idea is that of being completely dedicated to god wholly devoted to him blameless means a singleness of mind in serving him living for him wholeheartedly desiring to please the lord abram is also told by god as for you abram you shall keep my covenant to keep the covenant simply means to do
00:27:13 what god says obey the lord and the specific command that follows is that abraham and all the males in his household are to be circumcised god told abram every male throughout your generations whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money shall be circumcised and we see abraham obeyed god verse 23 tells us that all the males both those born in his household and those bought with his money
00:27:56 every male was circumcised that very day and verse 26 reiterates that very day abraham and his son ishmael were circumcised now we don't know how many males were in abraham's household at that time but back in chapter 14 we saw that at that time there were 318 grown men being described as having been born in abraham's household 318 men and that does not count the boys but all of the males in abraham's household were circumcised that very day they must have had quite a busy afternoon if close to 318 men were circumcised
00:28:47 or abraham obeyed god even though i'm sure it was painful sometimes obedience can be painful for a while but those who obey god who keep the covenant will be blessed and there are serious consequences for those who do not obey for those who break the covenant in verse 14 we see any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised shall be cut off from his people he has broken my covenant when a person breaks god's covenant there are consequences when a person chooses to live apart from god outside of god's covenant the person
00:29:35 will not be the recipient of the blessings associated with the covenant we have considered the demands of the covenant walk before me be blameless keep god's covenant and that brings us to the sign of the covenant made god made with abram which we've already mentioned in talking about obedience that is the sign of circumcision all males but only males were to be circumcised this was a mark in the flesh which was to symbolize that they belonged to god that they were dedicated to god the physical act of circumcision the
00:30:19 cutting of the flesh was very important and all the physical descendants of abram were expected to be circumcised but circumcision was never intended to be an end in itself rather it was to be a token of the wholehearted devotion to god that is to characterize god's people a religious ritual or symbol is meaningless unless it is accompanied by a life that is surrendered to god a person can perform religious rights and ceremonies but even while doing that their heart can still be far from god in both the old testament
00:31:04 and the new testament the word circumcision is also used metaphorically or symbolically in connection with other body parts showing that god expects more than just a physical sign or an outward of expression of religion for example look at leviticus chapter 26 verse 40 and following god says if they shall confess their iniquity if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled then will i remember my covenant let's also look at deuteronomy chapter 10. god's instruction is to circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart be no longer
00:31:48 stubborn in other words god is saying repent your heart needs to change now some people might ask what about today are followers of christ today expected to be physically circumcised several years ago we were leading a training session in india for pastors and church planters and evangelists and some of the participants were relatively new christians they were already leaders even though they were relatively new christians because they had been out sharing their faith leading people to faith in christ
00:32:24 and starting new groups and house churches but many of them had limited bible knowledge especially of the old testament and all of the participants had grown up in a hindu background and had not been circumcised so they asked what about us do we need to be circumcised so i explained to them physical circumcision was very important for the physical descendants of abram in the old testament times but in the new testament those who are not physically descended from abraham but who come to faith in christ they are
00:33:01 accepted by god because of what christ has done for them as he died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and rose from the dead triumphing over death and all forces of evil physical circumcision is not what is important now rather circumcision is a matter of the heart when a person responds in faith to the lord jesus allowing him to take control of his or her life then it's as if they become circumcised in christ because god is circumcising their heart consider these verses from romans chapter 2.
00:33:45 for no one is a jew meaning no one is a physical descendant of abraham isaac and jacob no one is a jew who is merely one outwardly nor a circumcision outward and physical but a true jew is one who is one inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit when one comes to faith in christ acknowledging him as the rightful authority in his life then god's spirit circumcises the believer's heart look at galatians chapter 5 for through the spirit by faith we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope
00:34:28 of righteousness for in christ jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working through love also from galatians chapter 6 for neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but rather a new creation when we come to christ in repentance and faith he makes us a new creation and that's what is important and that brings me to the next point the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant is in jesus now this may not be clear in genesis chapter 17 but when we look at the new testament it
00:35:16 becomes very evident very clear that jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant for example look at these verses verses from galatians chapter 3. verse 14 in christ jesus the blessing of abraham might come to the gentiles verse 16 now the promises were made to abraham and to his offspring it does not say and to offsprings referring to many but referring to one and to your offspring who is christ and verse 29 if you are christ's then you are abraham's offspring heirs according to the promise these new testament verses show very
00:36:05 clearly that the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant is in jesus of course jesus is not explicitly mentioned in genesis chapter 17 but that's because god's dealings with abram are at the very beginning of the story of god's plan of salvation which culminates in jesus with the covenant he established with all who trust him acknowledging him as their lord but even though jesus is not explicitly mentioned in chapter 17 of genesis there are several hints in the texts that imply that jesus is the one who will be the
00:36:44 fulfillment of the covenant the first two hints in genesis 17 that i'll mention are that god are that god said his covenant would be an everlasting covenant and that kings would come from abraham and sarah look back at genesis chapter 17 god says i will make you into nations and kings shall come from you and i will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring for an everlasting covenant we've already seen that the greatest king in the old testament to descend from abraham was king david god promised
00:37:29 that his throne would be everlasting and that one of david's descendants would reign on his throne forever yet no king descended from abraham isaac and jacob has reigned on a throne physically here on earth for over 2 500 years how can that be does god not keep his promises he said david's throne would never end a few years ago my wife and i were meeting regularly with a group of hindus studying the bible with them by using chronological bible stories and when we told a story about king david we of course
00:38:09 mentioned god's promise to him that one of his descendants would reign forever so one of the hindu young men somewhat puzzled responded that cannot be an ordinary man because no ordinary human being can rule forever no human being can see that there will be no end to his kingdom i told him he was exactly right because the coming one would not be just an ordinary man and it was great for us to see that god was preparing this young man's heart to hear about the coming of the king of kings jesus the anointed messiah
00:38:53 another hint we see in our text today that the text is pointing to christ is that abraham is to be the father of a multitude of nations not just one nation not even a dozen or so but a multitude so many they can hardly be counted genesis 17 4 god says my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations your name shall be abraham for i have made you the father of a multitude of nations now let's look at what multitude of nations means according to the new testament book of
00:39:34 romans romans 4 16. that is why it depends on faith that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of abraham who is the father of us all as it is written i have made you the father of many nations so we see that all gentiles all non-jewish people from all their various ethnic groups tribes and nations who in faith accept jesus as their lord and savior they become part of abraham's family of faith
00:40:20 this truly does make abraham the father of a multitude of nations related to this promise is a promise that god made abram back in genesis chapter 12 when he said in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed now look at what the new testament book of galatians says about that verse galatians 3 verse 8 and the scripture foreseeing that god would justify the gentiles by faith preached the gospel to abraham saying in you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed so then those who are of faith are of
00:41:04 blessed along with abraham the man of faith all peoples are blessed along with abraham when they respond in faith to jesus that's why jesus after his crucifixion and resurrection told his disciples go make disciples of all nations make disciples of all peoples and that's why we see this scene before the throne of god in heaven in revelation chapter 7. after this i looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before
00:41:50 the lamb and crying out with a loud voice salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne and to the lamb yes a great multitude from every nation before the throne of god praising the king of glory throughout eternity yes the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant is in jesus this brings us then to the question how should we respond to god today first of all we need to acknowledge god for who he is recognize that god does take the initiative he comes to us he speaks to us he offers us his grace
00:42:40 remember that god is god almighty rediscover that he is all-sufficient there is no situation you face that is too big or too hard for god and acknowledge god as the rightful authority in your life fall on your face before the lord as abram did in humility submission and worship and by faith live in a personal relationship with god what response does god want us to make to him i think it would include what god told abraham when god told him be blameless and walk before me live day by day in fellowship with god
00:43:30 and remember blameless refers to wholehearted devotion you see we are constantly trying to serve two masters to please self and also to please christ and we seem quite content to serve christ if we can at the same time serve ourself but god is saying your dual allegiance is not to be tolerated because no one can serve two masters so god says be wholehearted be holy on my side be mine how does god want us to respond to him he wants us to respond by keeping the covenant but by that i don't mean in the same way
00:44:20 abraham did with circumcision of the flesh rather keeping the covenant by having a circumcised heart in deuteronomy chapter 30 we see god says return to the lord your god obey his voice then the lord your god will have mercy on you and the lord your god will circumcise your heart so that you will love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul a circumcised heart a heart is the symbol of the soul the mind the emotions the will the entire personality every believer in jesus is to bear on
00:45:10 his heart the sign of christ's lordship the believer's heart is totally christ's to use as he wills our entire being is to be dedicated and available ready at the command of christ to be used for his purposes the total personality is to be at his disposal this is a circumcised life christ asserting his practical lordship in our lives when you became a christian you recognized the right of christ to be the lord of your life no you probably did not understand all that that would involve but you knew that god saving you
00:45:59 included his right to guide you his right to control you and then you began to listen to the holy spirit and you began listening to god's word as you were told start doing this or stop doing that when that happens that shows that christ is asserting his lordship in your life and when you respond in obedient faith you are then living a circumcised life you are living in covenant with god that will be a life of fruitfulness and blessing a life that is well pleasing to god and it is enabled by the god who lives
00:46:46 within the god in whom we trust el shaddai the one who is all-sufficient let us pray almighty god god of abraham isaac and jacob god the father of our lord jesus christ we come before you today praising you for who you are thanking you that you desire to live in a close relationship with each one of us thank you that through what jesus has done for us on the cross we can be reconciled to you father god we confess our sin we confess that sometimes we go about religious rituals and activities but our heart is far from you
00:47:38 we acknowledge that just as ancient israel perverted the truth of circumcision in the flesh so we too sometimes pervert the truth of the circumcised heart we give the impression that we are totally yours at times and we act like we really love you and we are wanting to serve you and that all we have is yours and yet there are times when we know that that is not really true forgive us when our hearts do stray away from you call us back to you and i pray if someone is listening today who has never
00:48:17 accepted you as lord allowing you to change their heart we pray that today they will call on the name of the lord jesus repenting of their sins and turning in faith to christ receiving him as their lord and savior through your almighty power grant us that we might walk daily before you wholeheartedly committed to your will and ways in our lives in jesus name we pray amen
