GENESIS 15 “The Faith of Abram”
Preached at Cross of Christ Fellowship on 2.1.26.
Intro: We are encouraged to put our faith and trust: Banks; News Station; Health Products; Politicians; Religious Leaders
-Sometimes we find that our faith is well-placed…Other times we sadly realized we were mistaken.
-It is easy for some to get disillusioned with institutions, and say I’m done trusting God or other people…
–Today, the consider the remarkable faith of Abram AND the remarkable God He trusted
***QUESTIONS WE FACE: Will we trust God? Is God trustworthy?
CONTEXT: God has called Abram out of his homeland (Ur of Chaldeans) and promised to make him a great nation
-Abram is a mix of faith and also disobedience.
-Last week we saw Abram rescue his nephew Lot and receive a blessing from Melchizedek, the priest king.
-Abram refuses to take of the spoils, but trusted in God to provide.
-Now some time has passed and we see God renew his promise to Abram and ratify it with a covenant
1. Will we trust God? 2. Is God trustworthy?
- WILL WE TRUST GOD? (1-6)
Secular, science-minded friends: ‘I don’t faith, I am a person of science,’ ‘I only believe what science proves…’
-Problem: we ALL have faith in certain things, persons, and propositions: memory, ‘I love you,’ historical fact, validity of senses.
-Today, we see the faith of Abram: Abram trusted GOD.
-God speaks again to Abram in a vision (1)
-God reassures Abram (“fear not”) and assures him of his protection (“shield”) and great blessing (“reward very great”)
-Abram struggles to understand God’s great blessing in light of his situation (2-3)
-Abram asks “what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
–REMEMBER: Sarai, his wife, is barren, and they have not been able to get pregnant (decades of trying)
-Abram’s situation—childless—leads him to wonder how God might possibly grant him the promise
-God clarifies his promise and invites Abram to trust him (4-5)
-God clarifies with specificity: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir’ (4)
-God gives Abram a visual to help him grasp how numerous his offspring will be (5)
–Count the stars, if you are able to number them…so shall your offspring be!
-Sounds too amazing to be true—but that is the nature of God’s promises to us
-Biblical PROMISES: Forgiveness of sin; adoption in God’s family; eternal life; new heavens & earth
-Abram responds in faith (6)
-“he believed the LORD”
-Abram trusted God promise, though he did not know how it would come to pass!
-God responds: “counted it to him as righteousness” (6b)
-God is pleased with Abram’s faith, and it is credited to him as righteousness.
NT CONNECTION: Genesis 15:6 is quoted 4 times in the NT!
-Paul in Romans.
–Rom 3:21-26: GOSPEL=justification by faith
–Rom 3:27-31: NO PLACE for boasting, because we are justified by faith!
–Rom 4:1-5 This truth is rooted in the OT and was experienced by Abram
***APPLCATION: It is GOOD TO TRUST IN THE LORD!
-It is good to trust in the LORD for salvation (conversion)
-If you are not a Christian, we invite you this morning to put your trust in Christ (Rom 10:9-10)
-Believe on Jesus as your own personal savior.
-It is good to trust in the LORD for your growth in godliness (sanctification)
-We don’t change ourselves, but God changes us by His Spirit and overtime.
-‘He has begun a good work and will carry it on to the Day of Christ’ (Phil 1:6)
-It is good to trust in the LORD in times of crisis and perplexity
-We don’t know how things will work out, but we know God is good and sovereign.
-It is good to trust in the LORD with the future and the unknown
-God knows the future.
-It is good to trust in the LORD always!
*WE DON’T LOOK UP AT THE STARS, BUT AT THE CROSS.
TRANSITION: Some people on opposite end: ‘It doesn’t what you believe, as long as you have faith.’
Problem with this: Our faith is only good as the object that we place it in: chair; bank; people
-NEXT QUESTION: Is God trustworthy?
- IS GOD TRUSTWORTHY? (7-21)
This section encourages us to see the trustworthy character of God.
-God Restates the Land Promise (7)
-Already stated 3 times, now God states it again.
–We, like Abram, often need to hear God’s promises repeated!
-Abram asks God, ‘How will I know that I shall possess it?’ (8)
-Abram comes with this question, wondering how he will know he will possess the Land
-God Responds with a Strange Request (9-11)
-Abram brings 3 animals which he cuts in half, along with 2 birds
–WHY? This sounds so strange, and it strange to us.
–Answer: This was part of an ancient oath pattern. Jere 34:18-19
-2 parties would come together, cut animals, and pass through
-It was to say, ‘If I break my vow, may what happened to these animals happen to me.’
-God Speaks Again to Abram, Clarifying the FUTURE of His Offspring (12-16)
-Abram is a asleep, and ‘dreadful and great darkness fell upon him’ (12)
-God is that OTHER, which we ought to fear and revere and worship.
-Abram’s decedents’ future (13-14)
–They will be “sojourners in a land that is not theirs and be servants there and afflicted 400 years” (EGYPT)
-God will judge that nation and bring them out with great possessions. (see Exodus)
-Abram’s personal future foretold (15)
-“Go to your fathers in peace…buried in good old age” (175!)
-Abram’s family will come back to the Land after that time (16)
-“They shall come back here in fourth generation [400 years]”
-God’s timing of the promise is much longer than anticipated!
-“The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”—they will get so wicked that God will then judge them.
-God’s patience with the Amorites at the moment, but knows their end.
–God Makes a Covenant with Abram (17-21)
-Smoking pot and Flaming Torch passed between the animal pieces (17)
-These fiery things represented God.
–NOTE: It is a solo oath, not combined with Abram. God is taking on full responsibility.
-God is offering additional assurance: ‘What I say will come to pass, or may this happen to me!’
**God is addressing Abram uncertainty: You can trust me! I am making a covenant with you!
-God Makes a Covenant with Abram (18-21)
-“Covenant” is an promised agreement
-God is going to give Abram’s offspring the LAND (18-21)
BIG IDEA: Abram can trust God to bring about his promise.
-God’s trustworthiness was demonstrated in His promise to Abram
-Abram did have a child, die in old age, Israel did go to Egypt, God did deliver them, God did give them the Land
-We as the reader see: GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY!!
-As Christians, we have the NEW COVENANT in the Gospel!
-God promised to make a new covenant with His people, through a promised Messiah:
–Son of Abram whom all the nations would be blessed through; Son of David who would be forever king.
–A Priest after the order of Melchizedek, cleansing his people from sin
–Bringing spiritual life and forgiveness of sin;
–Pouring out the Holy Spirit on His People
-At the CROSS, we see the fulfillment of the NEW COVENANT!
-God really is trustworthy, and the death and resurrection of Jesus shows this to be true!
*CLOSE: It is good to trust in the LORD and the trustworthiness of God is GOOD!
