WEBVTT 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.519 It's written in Genesis 17. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:37.039 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:46.719 Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:55.359 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. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:14.319 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and 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 after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:24.959 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, and the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:34.079 And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:40.239 This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.120 Every male among you shall be circumcised. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:50.159 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.000 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:02:01.519 Every male throughout your generation, whether born in your house or bought with your money from a foreigner who is not of your offspring. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:08.960 Both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money shall be surely circumcised. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:13.280 So shall my covenant be in your flesh, an everlasting covenant. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:20.400 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his fores foreskin shall be cut off from his people. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.879 He has broken my covenant. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:31.599 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:37.120 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give her, I will give you a son by her. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.159 I will bless her, and she shall become nations. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:42.800 Kings of peoples shall come from her. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:50.000 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.759 Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:59.120 And Abraham said to God, Oh, that Ismail might live before you. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:05.439 God said, No, but Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.120 I will establish my covenant with him, as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.599 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:18.719 Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:23.759 He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:30.159 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.560 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:47.520 Then Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all those born in his house, or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:56.879 Abraham was ninety years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, and Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:01.599 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:08.800 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.240 And so read God's word. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.319 Welcome to you if you joined us while we were singing. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:12.960 My name's Mark. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.680 I'm one of the leaders here at City Church. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.199 Welcome to you if you're new or visiting. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.040 What a Sunday to visit on. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.360 As we talk a lot about circumcision. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.800 So we uh this is what we do, uh, not circumcision. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:44.240 Uh what we do in church is uh we we pick books of the Bible and we go through them. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:55.439 And sometimes you hit passages where you're like, Oh, if if it was down to me, I never would have picked that passage uh because it's weird and complicated, and what does it mean? 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:06.079 Uh but we believe that actually God sets the agenda in a sense uh of what we should be thinking about on any given Sunday as we as we go through. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:12.079 And uh and so here we are talking about foreskins and circumcision and things like that. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:17.120 But before we get into all that, and I'm this is such a complicated and huge passage. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:25.600 I'm not even really gonna uh touch a lot of the stuff about uh about Isaac, because that's gonna come in more more next week. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:35.199 Uh, we're gonna kind of skirt over the surface a little bit and try and get a handle on some of the big themes that are going on because Genesis actually is all about big things. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:47.519 Uh Genesis is is the book of beginnings, yes, but it's also uh the book of the kind of the foundational things that you need to know about God and about humanity. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:51.920 They are uh the things that are forever true. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:59.360 That's what we've been saying as we've been running through the Abraham narrative is that Abraham is he's a very human, human being. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:23.920 Uh and we all struggle with the whether it's the fear of man that he uh that he was dealing with or the the doubting God's goodness that we've seen before, that actually these things are always true for all of humanity, and equally the uh the God who is pursuing and guiding Abraham remains uh always true and always the same as well. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:30.480 And this chapter is central to our understanding of what it means uh to believe in God and to relate to him. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:44.399 I mean, lots of people say things like, Well, I believe in God, and and the using God in that kind of generic term, they might say, Well, I'm a I'm a spiritual person, or I'm a person who has faith, or a person of faith. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:56.399 Uh, you might be, uh, if you're one of the only um uh Christians or uh God followers or Jesus followers in your family, you might be designated in your family as the as the token spiritual person. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:00.480 Oh, they'd say that of me, like Mark's the spiritual one. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.800 Um, and maybe that's you. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.360 But what does that what does all of that mean? 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.720 What do Christians mean when they say that they believe in God? 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:18.879 And so if you're actually here this morning and you are visiting and you're new, and maybe actually you wouldn't call yourself a believer in God or a follower of Jesus, and you're just working out, well, what does that mean? 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:30.399 Then actually, in the midst of all of this talk of circumcision and foreskins, it's a passage about what does it mean to believe in God and who is the God that we are believing in. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:45.360 And so we're going to look at four things really in that theme of what it means to believe in God, and who is the God that we are called as Christians in the Bible to put our faith and trust in. 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:51.920 So here's point number one: to believe in God is to believe in a God like no other. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:56.319 To believe in God is to believe in a God like no other. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:06.959 People uh again like to say um things, particularly to me, and maybe have said to you as well, they're like, oh, I don't believe in God. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:15.120 And sometimes, if I'm if I'm feeling particularly cheeky, I might turn around to them and say, Okay, tell me about the God that you don't believe in. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:24.720 And uh nine times out of ten, the description that they give for God, I'm able to turn around and say, Well, I don't believe in that sort of God either. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:29.519 Like if that's what you think God is, I don't believe in him. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.639 So who is the God that we are called to believe in? 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:40.320 The very first verse of Genesis seven, uh Genesis 17, and I encourage you to have it open in front of you. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:41.519 You can pull it up on your phone. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:47.200 If you don't have a Bible app, you can go to Biblegateway.com, uh, starts Genesis 17, you can follow it. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:49.759 Or if you're old school, you can look it up in one of these. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:59.840 But the very first verse says, When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord spoke, uh, the Lord appeared to him and said to him, I am God Almighty. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.200 Walk before me and be blameless. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:17.360 Now, some of you who uh I imagine who aren't from uh aren't from Ireland, who maybe are are from uh other cultures or who know their Bible will know what the term uh of God Almighty is. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.200 Anybody want to call out what's God Almighty? 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:20.000 Anybody know? 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:21.919 Any of any of the Nigerians know? 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:24.639 El Shaddai, right? 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:25.360 Amen. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:27.919 He is El Shaddai, God Almighty. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.039 Now, what does El Shaddai mean? 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.360 What does God Almighty mean? 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:52.879 Now, we immediately, I think, think in terms of power that to be Almighty is to be all powerful, and he is, and it's an important thing for Abraham that God is Almighty because it's been 25 years since he promised his son. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:57.279 And in later on in this chapter, he falls down and he laughs and goes, I'm about to be a hundred. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.039 Uh, are you really gonna bring a child from my loins? 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.000 Well, you've got to be God Almighty in order to bring that about. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:15.120 And so there is an element of God's power going on in this name, but there's much more happening here. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:20.960 The name El Shaddai is uh much richer than merely a description of God's power. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:32.720 What is almighty about him is that God is utterly, and this is important, God is utterly self-sufficient. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:38.320 He is perfectly self-sustaining within himself. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:47.519 He has everything, he lacks nothing, he owns everything and owes nobody nothing. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:53.360 We are needy, but he is limitless in abundance. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.440 He is God Almighty, the self-sufficient one. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:00.080 Why is that important? 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:13.759 Because if God is God Almighty, that is, that he lacks nothing, that he has everything that he needs, then he is able to truly be a God of grace. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:23.840 He doesn't have to be a God that needs to enter into a transaction with us as human beings, gaining something from us and giving it in return. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:40.000 If he's self-sufficient, if he's el Shaddai, if he is perfectly self-sustaining, he's able to be a God of grace and simply give generously out of his own love and kindness. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.759 Because he needs nothing from us, he never strikes a bargain with us. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.519 He is simply kind to us. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:51.919 He is El Shaddai. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:12:07.759 And look how many times in these verses that God says, I will, unilaterally, of his own bad, without any transaction, over and over and over again, God says, I will do this. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:09.840 Have a scan down with me. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:10.559 Let's see. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:15.679 Uh uh verse six, I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.279 Verse seven, I will establish my covenant with you. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:25.919 Uh verse eight, I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.559 Cast your eye down to verse uh 16. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:33.279 I will bless her, that is Sarah, Abram's wife. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.440 Or verse 20. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:45.120 Um, as for Ishmael, I have heard you, behold, I have blessed him and will make him great and fruit uh and fruitful. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.120 I will make him into a great nation. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.960 Verse 21, I will establish my covenant with Isaac. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:51.679 Do you see this? 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:57.919 The self-sufficient one doesn't need us to make him more powerful. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.320 He's able to act on his own. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:09.120 I will, I will, I will, I will, regardless of Abram's strength or clarity of faith. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.360 This is something that God has determined to do. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.600 And we've seen this already, haven't we? 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:57.840 In a sense, this is refresher for those of us who have been uh with us since Genesis chapter 12, when God first called Abram, and then in Genesis 15, with that weird situation where uh where God was was told, or uh God told Abraham to get the animals, and uh and Abram gets the animals and he cuts them in two, and then uh the symbol of God's presence, that is the the smoking uh fire pot and flaming torch pass between the pieces, that is God taking on that unilateral I will obligation to be faithful to the promises that he's made to Abram. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:01.120 And he's reinforcing that with this act. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:13.679 And here again, he is reminding with the giving of this name, God Almighty, El Shaddai, that he is the God who is able to be gracious because he needs nothing. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:29.600 This is so important for us, especially as we consider some of the later things that go on in this chapter about Abraham's obedience and the things that God is calling Abraham to do. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:40.960 That Abraham's obedience to God is a response to God's grace and not a way of earning God's favor. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:45.360 And you need to know that, particularly if you're working out what do Christians believe. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:15:00.960 We do not believe that you need to clean up your act morally, obey some laws, pull yourself up by your bootstraps before God will come and be your God and love you. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:16.480 No, the gospel of Jesus is God has come and he loves you where you are in all of the mess of your life, and then he begins to change you and calls you to respond and live differently. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.200 But you need to get that the right way around. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.279 It's not if you obey, I will love you. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:24.639 It's I love you. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.279 So walk before me in obedience to me. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:30.480 Do you see? 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.639 That's what Christians believe, and that's what's going on here in this passage. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:43.919 God has already committed himself to Abraham before he ever requires Abraham to circumcise himself at the age of 99, poor fella. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.039 Um this is this is our God. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:57.279 He doesn't bless us because he needs us, he doesn't save us because he lacks something within himself, something that we can bring to the table by our own goodness. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:04.080 No, he saves us and blesses us and makes us his own simply because he loves us. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.000 And how is he able to do that? 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:24.960 Because he's El Should I every other god, small g god, that you are tempted to serve and to follow, it will demand a transaction from you. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:32.960 If you make your life all about your career, you're making your career your small g god. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:35.919 And it will require a transaction. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:42.639 It will require that you sacrifice some of your time and some of the relationships that you have. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:46.399 There'll be a transaction involved. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:58.080 If you make your life all about money and the security that comes from having lots of money, you've made money, you're a small g god. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:01.120 And that god will demand a sacrifice. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:08.960 And again, that will be the sacrifice of time, of relationships, maybe even of your integrity, in order to gain it. 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.960 Every other god that you're tempted to follow will demand a transaction of ye. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:16.559 Al Shaddai is not like that. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.640 He needs nothing, he can bring nothing. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:26.079 He is simply gracious, admitting gracious, because he loves you. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:28.559 That's the God that Christians believe in. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:37.279 To believe in God is to believe in a God like no other. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:48.160 Second, to believe in God is to put our trust in listen, in an indestructible future. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:54.799 To believe in God is to put our trust in an indestructible future. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.039 Now let's unpack what this means. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:08.480 If you've been with us through Genesis 12 and Genesis 15, you might have been sitting here thinking to uh thinking about the reading and thinking to yourself, is God just God just repeat himself? 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:10.160 So it's like a broken record. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:12.559 Like, oh again, more land, you need land, offspring. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.799 Yeah, but he still hasn't made it happen. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.000 He's coming again and saying, Don't worry, Abraham, you're gonna have a son. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.359 It's like, yeah, you told me that 25 years ago. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.759 Don't worry, Abraham, I'm gonna give you land. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.799 Yeah, well, you've already spoken about that. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.039 Are you just you just forgetful? 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:32.079 You keep on repeating the same thing. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:39.200 And yes, in Genesis 17, those things are reaffirmed, but there's something way more going on here. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.400 God expands the promises in verse 7. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:19:01.119 Let me remind you, he says, I will, there's that unilateral, I will establish my covenant, that is binding promise, between me and you, and between your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:09.279 So he's saying, I'm not just making this promise with you, Abraham, I'm making it now with your descendants after you as well. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:14.240 And that that commitment is not going to run out. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:21.680 It has no time limit on it, it is everlasting, it is eternally true. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:23.440 Now that's strange. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.079 That's worth bearing to thinking about. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:34.720 And then in verse 8, he says that he will give the land of Canaan to Abraham and to his descendants eternally. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:36.000 Let me remind you. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:47.279 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 and eternal possession. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.519 And I will be their God. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:58.000 But, friends, there's a big problem with God saying that. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:14.000 And the big problem is this God has already told Abraham that he's going to die before his descendants enter into the land. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:23.839 It's two chapters before in chapter 15, where again God is reiterating his promises. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.519 And he says these words. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:35.519 He says, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners, that's in they'll stay temporarily, in a land that's not their own, and they will be servants there. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:43.680 They'll be afflicted for 400 years, and I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterwards they shall come out with great possessions. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:48.480 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:57.519 You shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation and take possession of the land. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:13.519 So, how is it that God can say, two chapters before, Abraham, you're actually not going to get the land, you're going to die, and not even Isaac, your son, or Jacob, your grandson, they're not going to possess the land either. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:20.480 It's going to be in about 400 years' time, after they've gone through slavery in Egypt, then they're going to possess it. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.160 How can God say that? 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:31.359 And then say here in Genesis 17, I'm giving this land to you as an everlasting possession. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:36.559 You will possess it, and so will your offspring after you. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:39.839 There's a problem here, isn't there? 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:54.400 If Abraham had been told that he will enjoy the land and that he will die before he ever possesses it, then here's the answer. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.759 We must conclude that God was called. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:05.279 Abraham to look with the eyes of faith beyond death. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:12.960 He was calling Abraham to look beyond death to a future hope that death cannot take away. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:20.480 Friends, this is a shadow of the resurrection of the dead that we see more clearly in the New Testament. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:30.079 Because how is it that Abraham can die and then possess the land of promise only if it comes after his death? 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.279 Only if God is able to raise the dead. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:44.559 If Abraham is going to die before he receives the land, but God is saying, Well, you're going to get it, we must conclude that this happens after Abraham's death. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:51.279 Now this sounds strange to our ears, doesn't it? 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:58.000 But actually, that's exactly where the New Testament goes with this. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:14.400 When the writer of the Hebrews is reflecting on the great heroes of the faith and is talking to us about Abraham, the writer of the Hebrews says that's exactly what Abraham was doing. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:25.680 That when God promised him a land, he wasn't looking around ancient Near Eastern Canaan, going, Oh, can't wait till I'm a king of this joint. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:40.640 No, the writer of the Hebrews is saying that Abraham looked to a better country, a heavenly one, a new heavens and a new earth, of which Canaan would be a part, and there he would possess it. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:44.720 He wasn't looking to the cities of Jerusalem and Zor and Sodom. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:50.319 He was looking, the writer of the Abraham says, to a city whose builder and architect is God. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.559 He was looking beyond death. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:57.119 He was looking to promises that would only be realized after he died. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:04.400 And here, God says that Canaan will be an everlasting possession for Abraham. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:10.480 This is not a geopolitical comment. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.119 It's a theological one. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:26.000 The only land that is everlasting, the only land that is eternal in the Bible, is the new heavens and the new earth that awaits all who believe in this God who is like no other. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:32.079 Where there is a renewed and perfected promised land as part of that. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:38.160 And there with resurrected body, Abraham will enjoy his inheritance. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.799 It is kept in store for him. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.400 Why does any of that matter? 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:49.279 Here's the point for you. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:58.559 Abraham understood that death could not thwart the promises of God. 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:10.960 Death cannot, will not disrupt God's commitment to you, even though you die. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.440 That's what Christianity is all about, in a sense. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.440 That God is eternally committed to all who trust in him. 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:28.799 And death, the thing that feels so final for us, cannot thwart the plans and promises of God. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:29.839 Do you see? 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:42.319 And in the midst of all of this talk of land and children, God makes this explicitly clear at the end of verse seven and at the end of verse 8. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:47.759 Because he doesn't just talk about land, he doesn't just talk about descendants. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:52.000 He says, And I will be God to you. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:54.480 Twice. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.960 I will be God to you and to your offspring after you. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:58.000 The end of verse seven. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:01.759 And I will be their God. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:07.440 Here God pledges his unwavering commitment to Abraham. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.240 But not just to him. 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:15.519 He pledges his unwavering commitment to Abraham's descendants. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:19.440 Who are Abraham's descendants? 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:28.640 We looked at this way back in the very first sermon that we did on this series when we looked at Galatians chapter 3 as a setup for the life of Abraham. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:42.079 Where Paul, there writing in the New Testament, says that the descendants of Abraham are not those who come from his flesh, but those who share his faith. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:51.680 The descendants of Abraham, the children of Abraham, are those who share in Abraham's faith. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:27:05.599 That means that if you hear this morning, though you are not of Jewish ethnicity or extraction, that if you are trusting in Jesus, you are a descendant of Abraham. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:15.440 And God here in this passage is eternally committing himself to you in a way that death cannot thwart. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:19.279 And that's pretty amazing, isn't it? 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:25.599 Now, just very parenthetic, I want you I want you just to see something that I'm doing, okay? 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:30.160 I'm coming out of the sermon and I'm showing you how I'm reading the Bible right now, okay? 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:36.640 And this is important for you because I don't want you to come here and just think that I'm some sort of wizard that brings all of this magic out of the text. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:39.920 I want you to show to show you that you can do this too. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:47.920 And here's what I'm doing: I'm using the New Testament as an interpretive lens for the Old Testament. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:48.319 Do you see? 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:52.559 That's why I say, and Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews, was looking back and saw this. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:56.799 Or Paul in Galatians 3 was looking back at Abraham and saw this. 00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:59.440 This is how Christians read the Bible. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.480 We, in a sense, we read the Bible backwards. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:16.559 We look at the New Testament because the New Testament is the is the high definition technicolor fulfillment of everything that is foreshadowed in the Old Testament. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:37.519 And so one of the helpful interpretive tools is we read the New Testament, get to know the New Testament really well, and then when the New Testament writers who are being carried along by the Spirit of God, as they look back and as they read the Old Testament, they're the ones that give us the uh the authoritative Christian interpretation of what's going on in the Old Testament. 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:38.000 Do you see? 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:43.039 Okay, so get to know your New Testament really well, and it will help you to interpret the Old Testament. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:50.720 So just a little uh methodological comment there of what it is that I'm doing. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:56.240 God is pledging himself to all of Abraham's descendants. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.160 All of Abraham's descendants are those who share in Abraham's faith. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:04.480 And there can be no more precious promise than this for a human being. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:10.160 God saying, I will be for you, I will be God to you. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:11.519 Imagine it. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:13.680 He's saying, I will be God to you. 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:24.400 That is, I will exist for you, I will direct and divert all of my self-sufficient godness to you. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:31.039 I will bless you. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:45.519 I'm inviting you into a relationship that no time can exhaust, that no circumstance can change, that no disaster can destroy, no catastrophe can crush, and no human grief can alter. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:30:05.680 To believe in God is to be in a relationship with one who is eternally committed to you, who, even though death may come, will bring you again to life, and whose promise of restoration and renewal cannot be undone. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:08.960 And how do we know as Christians? 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:16.079 We've already been given the down payment because the Lord Jesus got up and walked out of his grave. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:22.079 The New Testament says that's the first fruits, that's the indicator of more to come. 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:24.079 We stand in a better place than Abraham. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:35.119 Abraham was was really, he was peering through the uh through the darkness of human history and kind of perceiving these shadows we see much more clearly through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:40.480 To believe in God is to trust in an indestructible future. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:44.880 Thirdly, uh much more briefly, and then we'll talk about circumcision, and then we'll be done. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:49.440 Uh, very briefly, to believe in God is to be changed by him. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:52.400 To believe in God is to be changed by him. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:57.599 From this chapter on, he's no longer Abram, but Abraham. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:02.960 I don't need to switch back and forth or kind of pay attention to what the what it is. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:05.039 It's now Abraham from now on. 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:06.960 He's been changed. 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.119 He's had his name changed. 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:12.720 His name Abram meant exalted father. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:25.039 Speaking of his status within his community, within his tribe and former culture, but now he's Abraham, that is, the father of a multitude, or the father of multitudes. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:28.000 That's why God says, nations will come from you. 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:34.480 This new name speaks of a new identity which is gifted him by the gracious El Shaddai. 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:44.880 Abraham is no longer defined by his family or by his culture or by his status within the community, but defined rather by God. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:47.920 He's defined by the God of grace. 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:51.920 And who is he the descendants of? 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:56.000 He's the descendants of all who would share in Abraham's faith. 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.400 That's why he is the father of multitudes. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:02.240 That multitude we know is from every tribe and tongue and nation. 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:05.680 Irish and South African, congratulations last night. 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:12.480 Korean and Nigerian and Ugandan and Romanian and American and on and on and on and on and on it goes. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.440 That each of us receives a new identity. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:19.119 That God says, no, no, you are. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:25.440 You're no longer defined by the things you have done or the labels that you have taken to yourself. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:32.480 You're no longer defined by what people have said you are, you're no longer defined by your career or by your family. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:38.079 You're defined by who I say you are. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:41.599 You're a beloved child of the Father. 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:48.079 You're a son, a daughter, an heir, adopted into my family because of Jesus. 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:50.079 That's an indestructible identity. 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:57.839 Do you say every other label that you'll take to yourself, it'll fade and it'll tarnish and it'll change it all and not quite fit. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:05.200 But when God gives you a new identity, it's a game changer, isn't it? 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:06.799 It sticks forever. 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:14.000 It's unshakable, it's unmovable, and it completely redefines all of your values and priorities. 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:16.160 And it blesses you. 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:21.680 To be a believer in God is to receive a new identity. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:23.839 Told you that one was short. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:29.759 Fourthly and finally, though, there's one or two things to say here. 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:36.480 To believe in God is to respond to him in wholehearted obedience. 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:37.759 Remember where we've come from? 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:39.839 To believe in God is to believe in a God like no other. 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:42.799 He is El Shaddai, who requires nothing from us. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:48.960 It is to believe in a God who offers us an indestructible future that death cannot thwart or take away. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:57.119 To believe in God is to be changed by him, and now finally to believe in God is to respond to him in wholehearted obedience. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:59.279 Right back to the start of the chapter. 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:04.240 I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:11.280 God does not establish his relationship with Abraham on the basis of Abraham's obedience. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:21.840 But the response of true faith, the response of being in a relationship with God is to live a life that pleases him. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:28.079 You see, he's already come to Abraham in Genesis 12 and said, I'm going to be with you. 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:31.840 Didn't call him to do anything. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:38.639 It's only after the relationship has been established that he says, Walk before me and be blameless. 00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:42.559 What does this idea of blamelessness mean? 00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:49.840 It doesn't mean that Abraham should be sinless, though God is holy and that's ultimately what he requires, but he understands. 00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:44.000 To walk before me and be blameless is God to say, let me have it all, Abraham. 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:46.639 Don't shut off an area from me. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:51.920 Wholehearted obedience is what God is calling Abraham to do. 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:54.800 An all in commitment to God and to his promises. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:01.679 And to help Abraham remember God's promises, he gives him a sign. 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:05.119 Verse 10. 00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:12.320 This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:16.000 Every male among you shall be circumcised. 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:18.719 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:20.400 I mean, where else would you do it, but okay? 00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:25.519 Um, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:28.960 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. 00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:38.000 Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your mother, money, from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:43.679 Both he who is born in your house and who is bought with your money shall circum shall surely be circumcised. 00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:48.079 So shall my covenant be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 00:36:48.559 --> 00:36:51.920 Then we scan our eyes down, we read, verse 23. 00:36:52.719 --> 00:37:08.320 Then Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all those born in his house, and bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised them in the flesh of their foreskins that very day. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:10.079 What a day that was. 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:24.880 And God said to him, Abraham, just as God had said to him, Abram was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, and Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:27.920 Can I feel for Ishmael? 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:31.440 Why not a tattoo? 00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:36.320 Could I not just get a tat? 00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:39.599 God, and I can, you know, remind you, I am always with you. 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:40.800 Walk before me and be blameless. 00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:42.400 I'll do that on my forearm. 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:45.360 No, not forearm, foreskin. 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:47.280 Why? 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:50.639 Why circumcision? 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:56.639 Circumcision, we are told here. 00:37:57.679 --> 00:38:00.880 If you're visiting, I'm welcome. 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:04.960 Hands up, all of you. 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:05.519 No, no. 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:09.360 Um circumcision is a sign, right? 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:11.920 What do signs do? 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:16.000 Signs point to things, right? 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:21.760 What does the sign of circumcision point to? 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:24.079 That's the best way to approach this. 00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:25.760 Circumcision is a sign. 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:27.760 What does the sign point to? 00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:30.800 Three things, and then we're done. 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:38.960 First, it points to the unwavering commitment of God. 00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:47.119 Circumcision isn't, first and foremost, a sign of a person's faith. 00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:52.639 It is not a sign of faith. 00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:59.760 It wasn't even really primarily a sign of Abraham's faith. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:12.639 No, it is a sign, not of Abraham's faith, but of God's commitment to Abraham, of his pledge and his promise to bless. 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:17.840 That every time he goes to the bathroom, he goes, God is for me. 00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:19.119 God is with me. 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:20.159 I know it sounds weird. 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:21.039 I know it's funny, right? 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:24.719 And you're like, well, what a point to remember God's faithfulness. 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:26.880 Great, God's with me. 00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:28.239 But that's what it was. 00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:34.800 It's a reminder not of our faith, but of God's unwavering commitment to us. 00:39:35.280 --> 00:39:37.440 How do we know that? 00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:45.920 Yes, it was given to Abraham, but it was not given to Abraham only, it was given also to Abraham's descendants. 00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:50.079 Male children who were born in his house were circumcised when? 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:52.719 When they were eight days old. 00:39:53.199 --> 00:40:05.280 It was very common in the ancient Near East, and certainly still is in some countries, for boys to be circumcised when they are 13 years old, as a sign of their entry into manhood and sexual maturity. 00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:15.679 But here, God says very explicitly, every male that's born to your house must be circumcised when they are eight days old, when they are newly born. 00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:16.960 Why? 00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:31.360 Because the promises of God pursue us when we are weak and when we are ignorant of Him. 00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:35.920 That's when God comes to us. 00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:48.000 Why didn't Abraham turn around to God and say, hold on, can we not wait until the boys have been through like a Bible study course course? 00:40:48.159 --> 00:40:55.360 Could we not wait until the boys have have made a made a decision, a commitment to follow Jesus? 00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:08.159 I said, no, no, because it's not about the individual's faith, it's about God pledging himself and pursuing us in grace, coming to us in grace while we're still far off. 00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:18.719 While we're still weak and ignorant and have no strength within us and have no thought of God, but we were on his mind and he was pursuing us. 00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:22.719 That's why the signs for child for children, that's why the signs for a baby. 00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:25.679 Because God pursues us when we're weak. 00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:28.639 And that was true of Abraham back in Genesis 12. 00:41:29.119 --> 00:41:32.000 Abraham in Genesis 12 wasn't given a thought for God. 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:37.440 He was a moon-worshipping pagan over an Ur of the Chaldeans. 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:45.039 He was out in Iraq, bowing down to the moon, completely spiritually ignorant, weak in his faith. 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:46.480 And what happened? 00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:51.119 God came to him, pledged himself, made promises to him. 00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:55.360 It's a sign not of a person's faith, but of the grace of God. 00:41:55.679 --> 00:41:56.480 Do you see? 00:41:57.679 --> 00:42:00.079