2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
This morning, I am led to begin a new section of this present series of messages on covenant theology, “Transcending Generations.” The nature of God’s teaching on covenants is that they are to be permanent, unless He chooses to replace them with improved ones. This has only happened once, when He replaced the old covenant with the Covenant of Grace. That means that an agreement made between a person and God is meant to apply to all that person’s descendants too. A good place to see how this applies is in attempting to answer the question: Why has God chosen circumcision as a sign of the old covenant? In GN 17: 1-27, we can find the basics of circumcision as it relates to the Abrahamic covenant.
God decides to change Abraham’s name by inserting the first letter of His own name into Abram, thus making it “Abraham” in verse 5. “Your name will no longer be Abram, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations.” Inherent in this decision is enormous love on God’s part and a kind of sharing of Himself with Abraham. God knew that He had called Abraham to a commission of great importance in the long-range view of things, even through Abraham had no idea of just how important it was. GN 17: 7-8, “I will keep My promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God.” Considering God’s ultimate goal of establishing a people who worshipped Him alone and whom He wished to prepare for salvation, it stands to reason that He would need to establish a place for this remarkable nation of people [Abraham’s descendants through his son, Isaac-not yet born at that time] to live. God also knew that Abraham and his descendants would have to have some way of keeping the covenant made and remembering it forever. GN 17: 9-12, “God said to Abraham, ‘You also must agree to keep the covenant with Me, both you and your descendants in future generations. You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slave bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and Me. Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that there is a covenant between you and Me”.
God emphasized two points here: This covenant with Abraham is eternal, and it extended to all of Abraham’s descendants. The act of circumcising males at the age of 8 days was to place a permanent reminder on them of the importance of this covenant. God was so adamant about this that He went on to say in (14) that uncircumcised males would not be considered His people. GN 17: 15-16, demonstrates God’s ability to determine the course of human events, His power to bring about supernatural occurrences, and His single-mindedness of purpose with His plan. “God said to Abraham, ‘You must no longer call your wife Sarai. From now on her name is Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become a mother of nations.” Once again, God gave her the first letter of His own name. This is something like a father or mother making his/her child a “junior” in our culture or giving a child the name of an honored, respected relative. GN 17: 19, “But God said, ‘No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him, Isaac. I will keep My covenant with him and his descendants forever.” In view of Sarah’s and Abraham’s advanced ages, this Godly pronouncement was surely a test of their faith. That’s why Sarah laughed when she first became aware of what would happen the following year (21). GN 17: 23-26, “On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves he had bought. Abraham was 99-years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was 13. They were both circumcised on the same day...”
Upon reading this, a modern-day person might ask: why is this important to me? The answer is found in God’s instructions to Abraham. The principles of our covenant with God are the same. It is eternal, and extends to our descendants. While not all faithful men are circumcised today, each of us, male or female, needs to be reminded of the importance of keeping our covenant agreements with God. That is because our very spiritual survival depends on that. I am aware that there is a controversy going on today about circumcising male babies. One side argues that it prevents infections and is a good health measure. The other side argues that it is cruel to do this to babies who don’t get a vote in the matter and must endure some pain. I admit to being on the side of the first group and must leave it up to others to make this decision for themselves, hopefully with guidance from God Whom they seek. The reminder and the need to keep our covenant promises with each other and with God is of paramount importance to all of us.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have never wanted anything more for Your children than You want them to be saved for a life of eternal joy and fellowship with You. And yet, Your efforts to save us have been a “salvage operation,” due to interference from the temptations and challenges to faith provided by the adversary. You understood the imperfection of the human spirit and mankind’s ability to easily forget their commitments to You. While sin gets in the way of salvation and sanctification, Your power can bring us to overcome it. Because You gave us free agency, it is necessary for us to make the choices to trust and obey You that aren’t always easy for us. You stand by in compassion and patience as we attempt to make the changes in our lives that we must. Without You, O Lord, we are helpless and weak. When we have faith in You, You give us strength and endurance in the spiritual warfare we must wage. We stand before You today in humility to acknowledge the crucial and eternal nature of our covenant agreements with You and to dedicate ourselves to living up to those agreements. You are the center of our lives, and our spiritual life depends on it. We offer You praise and thanks for sacrificing Your Son on the cross, giving us the Holy Spirit, and granting us the self-discipline to look to the Scriptures for discernment in making our lifestyle choices. You deserve nothing less than what we offer You today: our worship, adoration, loyalty, trust, obedience, diligence, glory, honor, praise, and heartfelt thanksgiving. You are truly the Lord of our lives and our loving Abba. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will continue on the subject of circumcision and delve into the reason why Abraham was commanded to offer Isaac on the altar. Both of these subjects deal with the issue of passing covenant commitments to one’s descendants and have important lessons for us today. In our lives, through our lives, and around our lives we can find our loving Abba. No human, even one’s own earthly parents, have so much impact on our lives. It came as a shock to me personally when I first realized that my first loyalty should be to God, rather than my husband or family. Amazingly, the love that God has for us allows us to put Him first and have our loved ones better cared for than they would be if this was not done. God’s love has huge impact on making our lives better and making us better people. We should meditate on that today as it applies to our personal lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn