We went back to Genesis 15 to start the lesson. Before we dig in, we need to get some context:
- In Genesis 12, Abram was promised descendants at 75 years of age.
- Isaac doesn't come until Abraham is 99 years old
- Ishmael has not been born yet, either.
Abram comes to God and says "You've given me no heir, so I guess Eliezer is my heir." (15:1-3) God responds with "No!" and reiterates His promise to Abram. (15:1-5) And then we read verse 6: "Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." Then God cut covenant with Abram.
This word BELIEVE: it means an unqualified (without condition!) committal of oneself to another. It is not a statement of just knowing in your mind; it goes back to our root words we studied last week. Belief and faith were a firm conviction that resulted in complete surrender. God goes all in for us and we go all in for Him- it's a complete surrender of our wills. The concept of believing is the same here in the OT as it is in the NT. Turn to Galatians 3:6-9.
For some more context, the Galatians were saying that you had to be Jew first to be saved (essentially, they were adding to the requirements of being saved) and Paul was refuting that. He says "Abraham was righteous because HE BELIEVED and we are called to do the same. (3:6-7) It goes on to say that the Gospel was preached to Abraham. Wait, the GOSPEL was preached in the OLD TESTAMENT? YES! Abraham was looking forward to the promise of a Messiah. We look back at the finished work- but we all do the same thing: we all believe! And not just the kind of believe that means we know or agree with. No, it has to be the "complete surrendering" type of belief.
Going back to Genesis 15, we see in verse 13 that God passes through the pieces and binds him to himself to keep the covenant. And because of that, we can KNOW FOR CERTAIN that God will keep His covenant promises to us. What a peaceful place to be...
So, how do we walk through the pieces?
We looked at John 1:29 where Jesus is called the Lamb of God. We also looked at 1 Corinthians 5:7 where Jesus is called the Passover Lamb. When Christ was crucified, His body was broken, His flesh was torn. Because of this, we can walk through Christ (see John 14:6) into a state of righteousness. And, when Christ was crucified, the veil was torn; this thick veil that guarded the Holy of Holies, that only the High Priest was allowed to enter into after he had gotten things right before God, that if the High Priest hadn't atoned for all of his sins would die walking into the Holy of Holies and be pulled out by the rope tied around him and that now is revealed for us- the presence of God made accessible to us. See also Hebrews 10:19-20.
Anne left us with a section from the PUP study: "When do we symbolically walk through the pieces into covenant? When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, committing ourselves totally to Him. There He hangs; Jesus, the Passover Lamb, in the veil of His flesh- God's covenant sacrifice! The way to God! Do you see Him? Do you believe? Are you ready to enter into covenant? O Beloved, do you realize it is a solemn, binding agreement; one that is to be honored? Are you willing to die to your independent way of life? Are you willing to put on Jesus' robe, to become like Him? Will you give Him your strength-live for Him? Will you stand against His enemies? Are you willing to lose your life for His sake and the gospel? That is what covenant is all about. That and more as we shall see."
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