1 Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Message: The Covenant of Faith-Righteousness
Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.
What the Lord is Saying:
Thus far in this study of God's grace and saving mankind through the substitution of another, I have learned that God's original plan, offered through the Covenant of Eden, was that man would through works be accepted by God. But at the time this covenant was made there was not any knowledge of good and evil and so doing works—walking with God daily, listening to His commands, doing what He said—was everything. Once sin came into the picture everything changed. This covenant was now impossible and so it was a broken covenant and we could never go back there. Even as the original plan changed, the Word told us that God would continue to provide the answer. It wasn’t then that there was a shift to man being responsible for earning God’s acceptance. God originally provided and He would continue to provide.
Right now is a lesson of God providing. God declared a plan for man. He set up creation and man was put in charge of it (Genesis 1:28-31). He created them male and female. He defined their responsibilities. Thus he still defines life today. He orders creation. He orders my life.
God’s continued provision for man is spelled out after this first sin is committed. The Lord God speaks to the serpent and states how their will be enmity between Satan and woman. But it would be through the seed of the woman that God would provide restitution for mankind. Genesis 3:15 states that through the seed of woman, the birth, and specifically the birth of this seed Jesus he would bruise the head of the serpent. Our head represents our power and bruising the head means the power of Satan would be bruised or rather crushed. Thus, Jesus would overthrow everything Satan wanted to do. Thus, once again, God provides the answer man needs. Thus, He redeems mankind.
Throughout this early history of mankind, God was delivering to mankind promises that have been termed covenants. These covenants are to remind us of His promise to us, and then our responsibility. When sin came on the scene the Lord sent Adam out from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23). In the garden everything was very good (1:31). The tree of life is in the garden. Man does not have access to the tree of life and the Lord says that man must eat from the tree of life to live forever (1:22) because by eating from it he will die (2:17). God would provide the way for us to have eternal life as life is in His Son.
We are never made right with God through our own efforts or merit but we are redeemed by God's provision. But in the world - hard work pays off and this message often then is equated to the idea that God is also looking for good deeds in order to merit heaven. But, just as our love for our earthly children does not change based upon their behavior, so also God's love does not change. Following the flood God gave us promises to never flood the land again and gave us a rainbow as a sign. We are still responsible for this creation of ours and for this he gives us directions to follow. Again, like a child, those directions are meant to guide us and protect us.
As I turn to this lesson about the covenant of Abraham, I see once again that this covenant depends solely on God. The Lord says in Genesis 12 I will show you the land and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and I will bless those who bless you. Over and over in these verses is the simple promise from God that He will: I will...I will...I will...I will. God chose Abraham not based upon works of righteousness. He chose him.
Genesis 12 is a broad brush stroke of what God will do, but in subsequent texts he more clearly points out his promise to Abram in other verses:
- Genesis 13:15-16 - for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.
- Genesis 15:2 - Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you. Your reward shall be very great.
- Genesis 15:5 - Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.
- Genesis 15:13 - Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs.
The response of the person is faith. Paul confirmed this in Romans 4:5 - the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Evidently this is too simple and yes, this is somewhat contrary to the system we have in our world, namely 'hard work pays off.' Paul states in Romans 4:4 - Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. Thus, work for a wage is correct. One works for a wage and receives what is due. Faith is the mechanism for the ungodly to receive righteousness. Working is not the means for righteousness.
I was speaking to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he quoted this verse from the Book of Mormon - 2 Nephi 25:23 - "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." It says we labor, we labor to persuade children and fellow brothers so that they may believe, after all that we can do. This bridges these two concepts of faith righteousness and working to receive what is due. The problem is the means of being saved is not through working. God, in the garden gave access to the tree of life, not on the condition of man doing anything, but out of his provision. He provides eternal life. To say that it is after all we can do undermines the Bible, undermines the New Testament and undermines Jesus. It confuses two different subjects: works and faith; earnings and righteousness.
After the parable of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10, verse 26 and 27 states - They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” I commented in my study of this that God makes things happen. Man can't get to God for it is impossible Jesus states. Salvation is only possible with God. Again, never was a relationship with God based upon earning. Jesus also said that we can only come to the Father through Himself (John 14:6).
Thus, this is another example of God's grace or God providing.
Promise: The means to salvation is not through man's works as this is impossible, but only with God as the provider.
Prayer: God, you are provider. You are creator and you are a God of order. You created me and you provide life and my mission. I am directed by you. Lord, forgive me of my short-sighted thinking often. You promise that you will be there always for me and yet the moment a problem becomes too big for me, I wonder. Lord, even in my time at work lately I have wrestled with doing things I don't like doing. I have time but I don't manage that time wisely. There are questions that rise up. There are challenges and Lord I don't think I run to You for the answers, but instead try to muster up in me the strength to keep going.
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