The Covenant
Transcript
Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are going to be in Genesis chapter 15. So we've been walking through the book of Genesis, and we are in a section we're calling the Patriarchs, which is just we're looking at the life of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And so the beginning of Genesis chapters 1 through 11 is kind of this the history of humankind and kind of how we have spiraled out of control after we rebelled against God and spiraled into sin. And then God's promise that he's not going to let sin win. And it zooms in on this one man, this one family, and kind of the rest of Genesis is going to carry out of this family. And really the rest of the Bible is going to carry out out of this family, out of what God does with Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and just this family as it plays out in history. And is he going to be able to fulfill his promise to not let sin win, to not let us all be overcome by sin and rebellion and death?
Can he somehow redeem us? And that's where we are. We're in the story of Abraham in Genesis. God hasn't changed his name yet, so it's still Abram. We're in chapter 15. We looked at the first kind of three chapters of Abraham last week, 12, 13, and 14.
And so we're picking up today and we're going to see two massively important kind of events take place in the life of Abraham and really in the life of us as believers. And so let's pray and then we'll study this story together. God, we thank you for your word, for the instruction and for the hope that is found in it. And we pray that as we read this story of something you did with this one man long ago, that we might see you more clearly in it and your son more clearly through it. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we're going to start reading in chapter 15, verse 1.
After these things, and that just means the events we read about last week, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. So he comes to Abram in a vision.
He says, fear not. I am your shield. I'm your protector. I'm your defender. I'm what covers you. I'm what guards you.
And he says, your reward should be very great. And Abram responds. He says, but Abram said, oh, Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless. And the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, behold, you have given me no offspring.
And a member of my household will be my heir. Okay, so Abram's response is kind of interesting. God comes to him and says, I'm going to be your shield. Your reward will be very great. And Abram starts interacting with the promises that God's already given him, which is that he's going to make him into a great nation. That he's going to give him land.
He's going to give him a great nation. He's going to give him people. And so Abram's saying, like, if you keep giving me stuff, the thing I really want, the thing that really clinches this deal, makes this wonderful, is that you would give me an heir. And so in some ways he's questioning God's plan. And in some ways he's just trying to understand if I misunderstood what's going to happen here. Do you actually want to continue to bless me and have all this go to the current heir that I have, which is Eleazar of Damascus?
Like, I'm going to give it to a person who's just part of my household, but he's not. He's not. He doesn't come from me. He's not in my family line. Or are you going to do something different? It's kind of what he's asking.
He's questioning God on how is this going to work. And I think maybe some of us have been there before where we're looking at the situation we're in. We're looking at what God says he's going to do. We're looking at how the Bible says things play out, how he treats Christians. And we're going, I don't see it. I don't see how you're going to do that from here.
I don't see how that's going to work out well from here. So that's what Abraham's saying. 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. And he brought him outside and he said, look toward heaven and number the stars.
So this vision happened at night or really early morning prior to sunrise. If you are able to number them. Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. So he takes him outside. He tells him to look at the stars. And maybe you're used to looking at the stars in Columbia.
So you've ceased to try to look at the stars. But at this moment, Abraham walks out of his tent in an area where there is no light pollution. And he stares up. And he sees innumerable little pinpricks of light. Like the pictures you see on your computer desktop. Where it's just insane.
Where it almost looks like you're staring out beyond the world. And you can almost fall into it. That's what he sees. And he's staring at this. And God says, if you can number those, you'll have a good handle on the number of your offspring. And so as Abraham's staring up and as he's hearing the word of God, it says this.
Verse 6. And he believed the Lord. And he counted it to him as righteousness. So what that says is that Abraham believed the Lord. And God counted it to him as righteousness. Okay, so this is very interesting.
And very, very good news for us. What it says is that Abraham believed the Lord. Now that phrase there means that this, it settled. It became firm. That's the first time this word is used. And it means that it kind of, it settled in.
He locked it in. He believes him. Because we've seen Abraham trust the Lord before. We've seen him do things the Lord told him to go do. But this, in this moment, is where it really settles in his heart that he genuinely believes.
He comes to a firm, okay, I trust you. I don't know how you're going to work this out. I don't know when that's going to happen. I'm really, really old. And so is Sarai. But okay, I trust you.
It's this moment where that happens for him. That he locks this belief in. And for those of us who are genuinely believers in Christ, maybe you fully understand what it's saying. Because there might have been times prior when you were studying your Bible. When you were hanging out with a church or something. Where you kind of believed the Lord.
And then you would kind of back off. You would get a little bit tossed to and fro. You would vacillate. There was like this, no, I do believe. And then something would happen. And you're like, well, maybe not really fully.
I don't really know. And then at some point it became so clear to you. That actually in the face of mounting evidence. In the face of doubt. In the face of frustration. In the face of questions.
No, I believe. I trust you. Beyond I trust what you've done or what you will do. I trust you. And that's what Abram does here. And it says that the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.
Now, we need to know what righteousness is. Righteousness means being right. It means being good. It means being holy. It's actually, if you ask people. The majority of people believe that there is a God.
And if you ask them, what does he want from you? The general response is, he wants me to be a good person. That may be your answer. He wants me to be good. There's a big holy creator God. And he looks down at me and says, behave.
Do the things you're supposed to do. Don't do the things you're not supposed to do. Be good. Be righteous. That he wants me to be generous. He wants me to be kind.
He wants me to not hurt people. That's what the term righteousness means. But what did we just see? Is Abram righteous? He is because God credited him with righteousness when he believed him. So that Abram places his trust in God.
And he just says, I trust you. My faith is in you. I believe you. And God says, okay, that counts as righteousness. If you'll think back to school. Some of you are still in school.
So you don't have to think as hard as other people. Some of you got to think kind of hard. If you'll remember extra credit. So there were some people that you went to school with and they had intelligence. They didn't need extra credit. And there were other people who needed extra credit.
They needed something that made up for being able to just show up, take tests, do well. Maybe you didn't test well. Maybe you didn't study well. Maybe you, because you never studied, even though you might have been good at it, you never tested well. I don't know. But you needed extra credit.
You needed your teacher to say, I will trade hard work for intelligence. And there were annoying people in your class who were like, I don't need to do extra credit. And there was you who was like, I'm doing all the journal assignments. I'm doing all the things. I'm cutting clippings out of newspapers and gluing them to some sort of marker board. I'm doing whatever it is for me to get extra credit.
And what your teacher was saying was, I will trade. I will count. I will credit extra work, hard work for good grades. And so what God just said to Abram was, I will credit faith for good behavior. I will credit faith for righteousness. That you, if you trust me, that's the same.
I will credit it as if you have just perfectly behaved yourself. This is, Paul picks this up in Romans. We're just going to have this on the screen. That God applies this to his account, whose account. So if it says for, if Abraham was justified by works, now justified means made right, made righteous.
You're justified that your actions are justified. If you did something perfect and you said, no, I feel justified in this. It means that you did it the way it was supposed to be done. So if he was justified by works, then he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Okay, so what it says is, if Abraham was just a really good person, and if he was just righteous, then he could walk before God and say, look at my account. I have done so, so well. He would have something to boast about. He would say, everybody else on earth. This is the deal that God would have with Abram. And this is what we're tempted to think.
That God looked around on earth and he said, Abram's got it together. That's the guy I want. That Abram could actually look at God and say, everyone else on earth, trash. They're the worst. But I'm doing great.
Now, if you were here last week and you saw when Abram told his wife to pretend to be his sister so she can marry another guy, you probably aren't sold on his righteousness. Probably aren't convinced that he's the best. He has nothing to boast about before God. He can't walk before God and say, just take it on all my account. Just grade my little sheet and you'll know that I'm perfect. It doesn't say that.
It says, no, he didn't have anything to boast about before God because he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now, to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. If you have a job, when you get your paycheck, your boss says, thank you, not your welcome. It's your due. You worked for it. They don't act like that you somehow are indebted to them.
They're indebted to you. That's what it's saying. So that if God had a system where you behaved and you went to him and you said, look at my behavior and he would owe you, but he doesn't owe you. It's not your due. It's a gift. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies, makes right the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Now, all of our little hearts should have just started fluttering because what it says is that God justifies the ungodly. Y'all know who that is? Us. We're the ungodly. You can't stand here and say, no, in all my actions and in all my thoughts, I have been like God. I've been godly.
I've been holy. I've been pure. No, you haven't. This is us. We're the ungodly. I know y'all.
That's y'all. My wife's here. Ask her. She can co-sign. That's me. His faith is counted as righteousness.
And then he says this, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord does not count his sins. So not only does he credit us with righteousness, but he doesn't count our sin. He takes our sin away. How?
By faith. That we trust God and he gives us righteousness. Now, some of you are genuinely appropriately excited. And some of you are like, wait a second. That doesn't sound fair. And you're right.
It is not fair. But it's not fair in our favors who don't complain. It's not fair towards the ungodly. We don't get what we deserve. He doesn't hold our sin against us. If we trust Jesus, if we place our faith in God, we get righteousness on our account.
The only people who have a problem with this are the people who think they're good enough. The only people who have a problem with this. That's why Jesus and the religious leaders didn't get along. Because Jesus came along proclaiming this idea. This is what he worked for. This is the people he reached.
And everybody who thought they had it together was really annoyed with him. Because they had been working. And they felt like God owed them. I've been punching the clock. You owe me. But the people who know they're ungodly.
Who know their sin. And who know that they can't work enough to pay it back. Or to be good enough. Who just trust Jesus covers me. God, you are good. And you are gracious.
And you justify the ungodly. Those people are excited. Remember in class. And the teacher, you had homework. But she forgot to take it up.
And you were so happy because you didn't do it. Teacher didn't say anything about homework. And you were like. And then this little greasy hand shot up. In the back. Um.
This is how they talked. I didn't go to your school. But I know what they sounded like. You didn't take up homework. And you were like. I'm going to choke somebody today.
Now do you know who raises their hand and says that? The person who did their homework. Not a single person ever shot their hand up and said. You didn't take up homework. And I didn't do it. But I just felt like being honest.
He justifies the ungodly. Abram is righteous. Not because he was well behaved. Not because he put in work. Not because he was good. Not because we're going to read Genesis.
And be blown away by how magical Abram was. He's righteous. Because he believed God. When God spoke. He's righteous. Because when God made a promise.
He said I trust you. And he placed all his faith in him. And he pushed all his chips over to God. And he says I'm following you. I trust it's settled in his heart. And that's good news for anyone who knows that they're ungodly.
So let's keep going. Because this is going to get more interesting. Where God kind of continues along with Abram in this story. Verse 7. And he said to him. I am the Lord.
Who brought you out. From Ur of the Chaldeans. That's modern day Iraq. I'm the one who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. To give you this land to possess. But he said.
So this is Abram. Oh Lord. How am I to know that I shall possess it? I want y'all to be really encouraged. We just got told that Abram believes God. And he believes him so much.
Settled so much. That he has faith in him. But he still has questions. Sometimes people think. Like if you're going to be a Christian. It's just blind faith.
You can't question anything. You can't. It's like no. Like we get to wrestle with God. We get to talk to God. Did you read the Psalm we read a minute ago?
The part that Josh read. We don't read the discouraging parts out loud. We read the encouraging parts out loud down here. But did you hear what Josh said? Are you going to be angry forever? Is it going to be terrible forever?
Is everything going to fall apart forever? That's in the Bible. Like we get to wrestle with God. We get to ask him questions. And still trust. And still have faith.
And so that's what he says. Oh Lord. How am I to know. That I shall possess it? Verse 9. God said.
He said to him. Bring me a heifer. That's a female cow. Three years old. A female goat. Three years old.
A ram. Three years old. A turtle dove. And a young pigeon. And he brought him all these. Cut them in half.
And laid them each half. Laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when the birds of prey came down on the carcasses. Abram drove them away. Okay.
So that got weird. God was like. Go get some animals. And Abram just starts chopping them up. It's like. Hey.
I think he jumped the gun. He didn't tell you what to do with them man. But what happened here. Is that Abram knows what God is asking for. Even though we don't. But we're separated from Abram culturally.
So as soon as he said this. Abram knew what he was talking about. I'll give you an example of like cultural things that we're used to. That would seem weird to like. If you weren't familiar with our culture. And there were two people.
And one of them. They were haggling over. Like a car. They were talking about price. And they were going back and forth. On how much they were going to.
How much they were going to spend on it. How much they were going to buy. How much it was going to be selling. All of a sudden. One of them just said. He just.
Poked his hand out at the other one. The other one clasped his hand. And they jiggled it firmly. Makes perfect sense to us. That's a handshake y'all. But if we'd never seen one.
You'd be like. What just happened here? And then they said. Draw it up. Draw what up? We know.
Contract. Draw it. Like let's write it up. Let's put it up on some paper. It doesn't mean. Draw a picture of the car.
But we would know that. Because we're familiar with the concept. There's just certain things. That were social cues. That we're used to. I was playing football in college.
And one of our coaches. Was chewing out. One of the other linebackers. His name was Chris Hackney. He was chewing him out. About something.
They were arguing. Because there was a disagreement. Over how a play had been handled. And what had happened. And so. Chris was giving his point of view.
On how it went down. And the coach was giving his point of view. And in the middle of this. As they're kind of debating. Back and forth. The coach just sticks his hand up like this.
Which in the coach's mind. Symbolized. Shut your mouth. But in Hackney's mind. It symbolized. I just realized you're right.
Give me a high five. And this was awesome. Because they're arguing. Coach sticks his hand up. Hackney high fives it. And turns around.
And it didn't go well for him. But there's these cultural things. That we're used to. These cues. That we're used to seeing. These things that we understand.
That we know culturally. And here's what happens. When God tells him to get these animals. It's not that Abram lost his mind. Or that he was like. Oh you want me to get animals?
I'm mad at him. It's that Abram knew something was happening here. It's not that every time you tell Abram. He does this. It's like Uncle Abram. I want a pony for Christmas.
Will you get me one? I'll get you a pony. It's not like that. It's not. What he's doing. Is they're entering into.
A suzerain vassal covenant. Or a suzerain vassal treaty. That phrase actually. When earlier. Where it said. I am your shield.
One of the ways to accurately translate that. Is for him to say. I'm your suzerain. So this is how much of the ancient world. Was organized. There were suzerains.
And suzerains were the greater party. They were the kings. They were the stronger party. The more powerful party. And vassals were the weaker party. The humble party.
And they were often kings as well. But they were kings of smaller kingdoms. Or weaker kingdoms. And so here's what would happen. We actually read about this. Some of you were here last week.
In 14. When there was. Kings battling kings. It said that these used to serve that one. But they stopped.
That was actually a suzerain vassal covenant. That they broke. And that was why there was a big war. And it was a big mess. What happens is. A more powerful king.
A more powerful kingdom. A suzerain will have vassals. And that just means. That your kingdom. Submits to my kingdom. That I'm taking you in.
You are a part of my kingdom now. So you still get to reign. You still get to have your kingdom. Or whatever. But you're underneath me.
Your people are like my people. I will protect you. If somebody attacks you. As if you're my people. But you're going to obey me.
You're going to follow me. You're going to. If I muster your army. You're going to show up. You're going to do what I say. You're going to pay taxes.
There's just. That's the agreement. And the vassal would be saying. I obey you. I follow you. I'm going to submit to you.
Often in these treaties. When they were written up. And we have a handful of copies of these. That we know about. They would be called Lord. And servant.
Or master and servant. Or they would be called father and son. So you entered into these treaties. It's a very serious thing. That the suzerain is going to be the father. He's going to be the Lord.
The vassal is going to be the son. Or the servant. And the way they would do these treaties. They would call it cutting a covenant. They would take animals. They would cut them up.
It was different animals. Or a lot of animals. Whatever. They would cut them up. They would cut them in half. They would lay them.
On either side. So that there was this trail. Of blood. In between the animals. And then. There was two ways this would play out.
Way number one. The suzerain and the vassal. The suzerain. The suzerain. The suzerain and the vassal. Would walk through the trail of blood.
It was a mess. They would get stuff caked all around their shoes. Their feet. If they had sandals. They would get it if they had long robes. I'm assuming they dragged those in the blood as well.
And it would soak up. Because the only reason I assumed that. Is if you had a long robe. I think you would look funny. If you held it up like this. While you walked.
So I just. Just as I picture it. They dragged that through the blood as well. But it was to symbolize. So the suzerain and the vassal.
Would walk through. And what they were saying. Was the suzerain was saying. You now serve me. You now belong to me. And if I break this covenant.
Let me be like these animals. That you'll cut me up. That was one way that would happen. The vassal would be walking through saying the same thing. I serve you. I follow you.
And if I break this covenant. If I don't obey you. If I don't do what you say. You can cut me up like these animals. These animals aren't just animals. They're me.
Often. Often. And this makes sense. The suzerain didn't walk through the blood. Just the vassal. They'd cut up animals.
The suzerain would watch. The vassal was the one who would walk through by himself. And say. I commit myself to you. And if I fail to hold up my end of the bargain. You can cut me up.
Like these. Suzerains were allowed to have more than one vassal. Vassals were only allowed to have one suzerain. That's what they're doing. Abram knows that. So as soon as he says.
How will I know? He says. He's already told him. I'm your shield. He already told him. I'm your protector.
I'm the one overseeing you. He says. Go get these animals. And so Abram rolls up. Cuts them up. Knows exactly what he's waiting for.
We're going to do a suzerain vassal covenant. And you know that Abram. While he's cutting them up. He has to think. He has to be thinking. Can I do this?
Can I. Can I obey fully? Can I obey perfectly? Can I actually commit to. This kind of consequence. For not following God.
We're to assume. He decides. Yes. Like he doesn't try to back out of this. He says. No.
I can do this. We actually have. And it'll be on the screen. We have. A segment from a. One of these covenants in another place.
It says. This head. Is not the head of a spring lamb. It is the head of Matai Elu. It is the head of his sons. His magnates.
And the people of his land. If Matai Elu should sin against this treaty. So may. Just. As the head of the spring lamb. Be cut off.
The head of Matai Elu. Be cut off. And his sons. And his magnates. And it's a long document. And it keeps going.
It says. This shoulder. Is not the shoulder of. This is the. It says. We're going to cut you in half.
Like we cut this in half. We're going to cut your wife in half. Like we cut this in half. Like it is a very serious thing. I think. That if we still did covenants like this.
We wouldn't break them as often. If you were at Verizon. You worked out your deal. And he's like. Right. Let me head to the back.
He gets your iPhone. He walks out with a goat. He's like. All right. You sure about this? Family plan.
Two years. That would make those commercials. When they were cutting the bills in half. With like chainsaws and stuff. Those commercials would be more intense. Because they'd be like.
We will fight Verizon for you. You may break your covenant. We will assault them. This is how they did it. And this is the seriousness. With which Abram understands.
He's entering into. This covenant. He chases off the birds of prey. As they're trying to mess with him. He sits out there all day long. Because it was the night.
When he was first talking to God. He goes and gets this. This is a long process. Now verse 12. As the sun was going down. A deep sleep.
Fell on Abram. And behold. A dreadful. And great darkness. Fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram.
Know for certain. That your offspring. Will be sojourners in a land. That is not theirs. And will be servants there. And they will be afflicted.
For four hundred years. So he's prophesying. The Israelites being in Egypt. But I will bring judgment. On that nation. That they serve.
And afterward. They shall come out. With great possessions. As for you. You shall go to your fathers. In peace.
You shall be buried. In a good old age. And they shall come back here. In the fourth generation. For the iniquity of the Amorites. Is not yet complete.
When the sun had gone down. And it was dark. Behold. A smoking fire pot. And a flaming torch. Passed between these pieces.
So a torch. Passed through. Smoking fire pot. These represent divinity. They represent God. Passed.
Through these pieces. 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. The land of the Kenites. The Kenizzites. The Kadmonites.
The Hittites. The Perizzites. The Rephaim. The Amorites. The Canaanites. The Girgashites.
And the Jebusites. So God promises him. I'm going to give you this land. And all of these people. Are going to be conquered. And kicked out.
Now. We don't know much about these covenants. We're not used to these. But they just did something very, very weird. If you remember how these covenants work. One way.
The suzerain and the vassal walk through. That's option one. Option two. Just the vassal walks through. Okay. But in this one.
Just the torch. And the fire pot go through. Abram doesn't. God actually. Like knocks him down. Puts him to sleep.
And then. In this moment. He. Dreadful darkness. Goes around him. And then just the torch.
And the fire pot go through. And this should trigger for us. Something. Something strange just happened. It's like if you. You've been to a wedding before.
You go to a wedding. I get to perform weddings every once in a while. It's a lot of fun. I get to stand at the front. Um. With the groom.
We usually walk out. First. We stand there. And then. People walk down. And they play whatever kind of music.
You know. Canon and D. Or whatever. And then. Like the doors will close. Or.
If it's outside. Like. The girl will hide behind a tree. Or whatever. Then the music will stop.
They wait like three seconds. So everybody can go. And then. They start playing the other song. The wedding march. Or whatever.
Which. Bum. Bum. Bum. Bum. Bum.
Bum. Bum. Bum. That song. And then. She starts walking down.
Everybody has to stand up. If the mom stands up. Or whatever. And everybody's got to look at her. And she walks all the way down. Okay.
But if you were at a wedding. You came walking in. Right when you walked in. To get seated. The bride was standing up at the front. In her dress.
You might. Would be like. Am I late? If you don't know. So you just go sit down.
And. They start playing music. People start walking in. Then music stops. Gets real quiet for a second. And then here comes the groom.
Here comes the groom. Starts playing. You're not as familiar with it. Sounds like the song from Star Wars. And the doors open. And this guy comes walking in.
With his little suit on. You would be like. Okay. It's 2018. And they're making some kind of point. I don't know what the point is.
But they did this on purpose. You would be. You would realize. That this had been done. Different. Backwards.
Whatever. For a reason. And so if you know. Suzerain vassal covenant. You read this section. You go.
Wait a second. I actually was reading. In one of my commentaries. And it said. This setup. Most resembles.
A suzerain vassal covenant. But. It cannot be. Because in. A suzerain vassal covenant. There is no example.
Where just the suzerain. Walks down the aisle. And that messed me up. Because here's what God just did. When he. Is the master.
He's the Lord. He signs off as the servant. And when he's the father. He signs off as the son. He walks through here. And he signs both sides of the covenant.
And he. Takes the position. Of son. And servant. Which is unheard of. And you almost want to yell at the text.
Like you did this wrong God. You're not the son. You're not the servant. That's Abram. Abram's on the hook. For this.
Abram's the one who's got to obey. Abram's the one who's got to make this work. He's the one who's smaller than you. You're. You're the shield. You're the suzerain.
You're the king. You're the Lord. You're the father. And God is. But he signs off.
As son. And servant. And he makes a promise. That Jesus is going to make good on. Which is Abram. You're going to obey me.
You're going to follow me. You're going to do what I say. You're going to be faithful to me alone. And if you don't. I'll make myself like these animals. This isn't the blood.
Of a heifer. It's the blood of me. A son. And a servant. This isn't the blood. Of a goat.
It's my blood. When I'm a son. And I'm a servant. And then we see Jesus Christ come and fulfill this. That we fail. That we fall into sin.
That Abram's family doesn't live this out. But God comes as a son. And a servant. And he says. I didn't come to be served. But I came to serve.
And to give my life as a ransom for many. That the son of God would be nailed to a cross. That we might have redemption. And freedom. And that this covenant. That might be fulfilled.
That God would justify. Those who have faith. Through his own blood. That's how he gives us righteousness. He doesn't pull it out of the air. He takes it from his son.
And he gives it to us. Because he makes good on the promise. That Abram couldn't make good on. And that we couldn't make good on. I want to read. Paul picks this back up.
In Romans. He says. No unbelief. He's talking about Abram. No unbelief. Made him waver.
Concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith. As he gave glory to God. Fully convinced that God was able to do. What he had promised. This is why his faith.
Was counted to him. As righteousness. So the God promises. Abram. I'm going to make you right. I'm going to be.
Your faith. Your faith will count as righteousness. And then it says this. But the words. It was counted to him. Were not written for his sake alone.
But for ours also. It will be counted to us. Who believe in him. Who raised from the dead. Jesus our Lord. Who is delivered up for our trespasses.
And raised. For our justification. Justification means for our righteousness. That he was raised. That we might be made righteous. That this is the hope.
That we have in the gospel. That every single one of us. We're supposed to enter into a deal. With God. That said. I will behave.
I will be good. I will worship you alone as king. And if I don't. Then I don't deserve you. And I don't deserve love. And I've fallen so far from your glory.
And I haven't treated you. As holy as you are. Then you can destroy me. That every single one of us. By our birthright. I entered into that.
But that Jesus came. And swapped places with us. And he said. No I'll sign off. And if you trust in me. And my work.
It'll be my head. My blood. My body. Not yours. That we get to. By faith.
Approach God. And in trust. And in Christ. And that God raised him from the dead. That he died for us. And that he rose from the grave.
That we get to be made righteous. That God pays our penalty. That he signs both sides of the covenant. And that we do not come to God. To present our good work. Or to boast.
We come to God. To enjoy. And celebrate. And in faith. Love and worship Jesus. Who paid the price for us.
That that is our hope. In Christ. That's why we do what we do. That's why we gather on Sundays. Because we're here. Not to practice being good people.
But to proclaim that Jesus was good on our behalf. To celebrate what he's accomplished for us. That's why we gather in community groups. That we might be on mission together. That we see more people come to know Jesus. We aren't going around and saying.
Hey do you want to join the behavior club? We're going around to our friends. And saying. Hey I've noticed over time. And I just wanted to point out. That you're the worst.
But I have really good news. Jesus saves the ungodly. He redeems people like you. And like me. Because we can't be good enough on our own. But Jesus was for us.
We're going to take communion. We've started taking it more often as a church family. And it's because we need to remind ourselves constantly. That we need Jesus for us. When we take communion. What we're doing.
Is we're taking a piece of bread. That symbolizes Jesus's body. We're taking a cup. That symbolizes his blood. We're reenacting. A suzerain vassal covenant.
That was signed by Jesus for us. And that's not our blood. And that's not our body. Even though it deserved to be. Even though through our sin. We had earned it.
It's his blood. And it's his body. And that he paid the price for us. And so that we get to have a shield. We get to have a suzerain. We get to have God watch over us.
And care for us. And love us. And we get to have righteousness. Through faith. And through the work of Jesus. And so if you're a Christian.
In a second.