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Genesis 12-35 God Is The Covenant Maker And Keeper

Genesis 12-35 God Is The Covenant Maker And Keeper


BIG TRUTH: GOD IS THE COVENANT MAKER AND KEEPER

GENESIS 12-35


Genesis 12:1-4
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.” [4] So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 17:4-7
[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.

Genesis 26:2-4
And the LORD appeared to him (Isaac) and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. [3] Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. [4] I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,

Genesis 28:13-15
…“I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. [14] Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. [15] Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

”Covenant is a relationship between parties characterized by faithfulness and loyalty in love” – Peter Gentry & Stephen Wellum

Covenant Promised (Genesis 12:1-4)
Command: “Go from your country and kindred… to a land.”
Blessing: “I will bless you.”
Promise: Great nation, a great name, a blessing to the nations.
Response: “So Abram went.”

Covenant Made (Genesis 15:1-18)
Blessing: “Fear not, I am your shield.”
Promise: A son, offspring like stars, a land.
Response: “He believed the Lord… counted it as righteousness.”
Command: “Bring me a heifer, goat, ram, dove, and pigeon.”

Genesis 15:12-18
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. [13] 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. [14] But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. [15] As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
[17] When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. [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,

Covenant Affirmed (Genesis 17:1-10,19, 22)
Blessing: “I will multiply you… will be exceedingly fruitful.”
Promise: A family of nations, a royal family, a covenant family, Isaac.
Command: Circumcision.
Response: “That very day Abraham, Ishmael, and all the men were circumcised.”

Covenant Kept (Genesis 22:1-18)
Command: “Take your only son whom you love… and offer him.”
Response: “So Abraham… took his son Isaac.”
Blessing: “I will surely bless you.”
Promise: “I will surely multiply your offspring.”

Big Ideas:

  • God’s covenant is a commitment of Himself to unworthy people for His glory.
  • God’s covenant is a relationship entirely dependent upon Himself, not people’s response to Him.
  • Compromise is the enemy of covenant.
  • God’s covenant is a call to devotion for His redeemed people.
  • Submission is the defining response of God’s covenant people.

Romans 4:17-22
…in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. [18] In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” [19] He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. [20] No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, [21] fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. [22] That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, [18] of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” [19] He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Big Idea:

  • Covenant requires atonement.

Galatians 3:13-14
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.


Talk About It

  • Where are you tempted to compromise in your pursuit of Jesus right now?
  • What is a next step of submission (obedience and trust) you need to take as a Jesus follower?

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