GOD SELECTS HIS PEOPLE
Genesis 17:1-14
NEVER TO OLD TO BE USED BY GOD
V:1. \” When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, \”I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. \”
A. You don\’t get to old to be used by God.
1. At 99 years old, God had a message for Abraham.
2. This was a reminder of the message that God gave Abraham at 75 years of age.
B. The requirements to be blessed by God are:
1. Acknowledge that He is God all by himself.
2. Walk before God. Walk according to His commandments.
3. Live according to His righteousness.
GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES
V:2. \” I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your
numbers.\”
A. God made an agreement with Abraham that did not require his approval.
1. At the time of this covenant with Abraham, Sarah had not conceived a child.
2. Abraham had a son by Sarah\’s maiden.
3. Abraham had nieces and nephews, but no biological child between he and Sarah.
B. God promise a miracle conception between Sarah and Abraham.
1. God also promised generations of off springs .
2.Even though it was 25 years since God first made the promise of a child,
Abraham still trusted God. Gen 12:4
3. God does not work on our time.
4. God works on His divine time.
V:3-4. \”Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
\”As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. \”
A. The covenant God made with Abraham is the prophecy of the nation of Israel.
1. The covenant that God made with Abraham is also the prophecy of the Church.
2. The prophecy that God made with Abraham is the prophecy of
salvation by faith in the Word.
3. Abraham was considered righteous because he believed God.
B. Abraham shows us how to approach God: face down.
1. When we go to God, we must first humble ourselves.
2. Abraham had a long history with God.
a. From his first call, Abraham followed God\’s directions.
b. He trusted God to lead him from his family into another place.
c. He knew the voice of God and did not hesitate to respond to
Him willingly.
3. In order to respond to God like Abraham, we need to know
His voice.
4. When the voice we hear lines up with God\’s Word. we will know it
is Him.
GOD WILL ELEVATED THE FAITHFUL
V:5-6. \” No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. \”
A. The name change from Abram to Abraham is the indication of God\’s
elevation of Abraham.
1. The name Abram means exalted father.
2. The name Abraham means father of a multitude.
B. Along with the elevation of Abraham came the promise of his personal
success and the success of his descendants.
1. In Genesis 12:7, God promised a son to Abraham.
2. At that time Abraham was 75 years old.
3. The first 25 years of Abraham\’s relationship with God may have been
his time of testing.
a. It may be that God was molding and shaping Abraham into the kind
leader he would need to be to start his family on the road of being
a nation.
C. Notice God is laying the ground work for Abrahams descendants to
produce the king of Kings; Jesus Christ.
1. In God\’s promise was King David, King Solomon, and King Jesus.
2. God called King David a man after His own Heart.
3. God made King Solomon the wisest man to ever live.
4. God elected King Jesus to be our salvation.
D. In God\’s covenant with Abraham is the promise of the Nation of
Israel and the Nation of Believers, the body of Christ.
1. God\’s covenant with Abraham is called the Abrahamic Covenant.
2. In God\’s covenant with Abraham is salvation by faith. Gal 3:6
THE FAMILY OF THE FAITHFUL WILL BE BLESSED
V:7. \”I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. \”
A. God says \”I Will\”, meaning that this covenant with Abraham is non conditional.
1. This covenant depends only on the divine will of God.
2. This Abrahamic covenant is an everlasting covenant.
3. God says, heaven and earth will pass away but my Word will never pass away.
Matt 24:25
B. This covenant was not just with Abraham but with all believers.
1. God establish Himself as our God forever.
2. God said I change not. Mal 3:6
3. God promised to be our God for all times.
4. The Hebrew word for God used here is Elohiym which means
the supreme God.
WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU IS FOR YOU
V:8. \” The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.\”
A. God\’s covenant with Abraham includes the promise land.
1. Abraham\’s grand son Jacob and his family will go into Egypt
for 400 years and develop into a nation of millions before
returning to this promise land.
2. What God has for you is for you.
a. This promised land was occupied by the Canaanites until, God
got ready for Israel to inhabit the land.
b. Some of the promises that God makes to us are reserved for a
later time.
c. Abraham and Sarah had a son, the start of the Nation of Israel,
but did not see his descendants inhabit the promise land.
d. It is a comfort to know that if you serve God faithfully, your
descendants will do well.
B. Our trust in God is a role model for our children and grandchildren.
1. As parents and grandparents, we set the standards for our
children to follow.
2. Our children need to see that we trust God in all circumstances.
GOD\’S COVENANT IS FOREVER, OUR BLESSING ARE CONDITIONAL
V:9. \” Then God said to Abraham, \”As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. \”
A. This is the conditional part of the Abrahamic covenant.
1. God promise is non conditional.
2. Our individual blessings are conditional, based on our obedience to
God\’s commands.
B. God adds circumcision of each male as a personal condition of
this covenant.
1. This circumcision represents the personal commitment to God\’s
commands.
2. Each believer must make a personal commitment to God.
AN OUTWARD SIGN OF A SPIRITUAL CHANGE
V:11-12. \” You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner — those who are not your offspring. \”
A. Israel was required to make this personal commitment to God.
1. Fathers set the standards for their children to follow.
2. We should dedicate our children to God from the time they are born.
3. Everything we do can affect those we love.
B. Every child born to us and those we take responsibility for should
follow God\’s commands.
1. God makes parents responsible for the welfare of their children.
2. Train up a child in the way they should go and when they get old
they will not depart. Prob 22:6
C. The circumcision of the males set the nation of Israel as apart
from nation who worshipped Idol god.
1. Circumcision was an outward sign of an inward change.
2. Our baptism is an outward sign of an inward change to God.
ALL THAT YOU ACQUIRE IS BLESSED BY GOD
V:13-15. \” Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.\”
A. Notice the last sentence in verse 14. It is God\’s covenant with
His chosen people.
1. Circumcision was included in the Abrahamic covenant as a sign
to all nations, that Israel was God\’s people.
2. God will not break His covenant, it is permanent.
3. Man can choose not to be under God\’s protection and provisions.
B. This requirement was for Abrahams descendants and any male
who they took in ownership .
1. Circumcision became part of the Law God gave Moses
400 years later.
2. Circumcision was required until Jesus death on the cross which
fulfilled all the requirements of the Law.
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Tollway North
Houston, Texas 77041
For more lessons follow me on facebook or visit my blogs
www.revmmitchell.com and goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
