May I turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 15? Genesis chapter 15, we'll consider this covenant ceremony with Abraham. Dr. Jim Renahan, our Reformed Baptist professor at the Institute for Reformed Baptist Studies, in an introduction to a book on covenant theology, made this statement.
He says, we believe that the structure of scripture is properly defined by what has been designated as covenant theology. To grasp this fact is to grasp the central architecture of the entire Bible. I think that's a great statement concerning the importance of covenant theology in terms of the central architecture of the entire Bible. But as well, there is a lot of comfort. and a lot of encouragement, and a lot of grace, and a lot of kindness, and a lot of mercy conveyed in this covenantal arrangement that we sustain with our God.
And I believe here in Genesis chapter 15, a portion of that is demonstrated in this ceremony with Abraham. So I'll just pick up reading in chapter 1 and read to the end of the chapter, and then we'll look at this section in more detail. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.
But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus? Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.
Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. And
Faith Accounted as Righteousness
he believed in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. Then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? So he said to him, bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
Then he brought all these to him and cut them in two down the middle and placed each piece opposite the other. But he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
Deep Sleep, Horror, and Stipulations
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then he said to Abram, know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge.
Afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. Now, as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation, they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that, behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, to your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Father, thank you for this, your word, and thank you for the great encouragement this passage affords to us. And we pray now that you would guide us and direct us in our study. We pray your spirit would indeed teach us and that we would make much of Christ as we see this passage of Holy Writ. We thank you, Lord God, that you sent him as the surety of a better covenant to save his people from their sins.
And we pray in his most blessed name, amen.
Introduction: Covenant Theology Defined
Well, as I said, covenant theology is concerned with three primary covenants. The covenant of redemption, which is that pre-temporal agreement between the persons of the Father, between the persons of the Trinity, rather. The Father promises to save, the Son promises, or the Father gives the elect to the Son, the Son promises to save, and the Spirit applies that. The covenant of works was made in the Garden of Eden with Adam.
He broke it, and he plunged his race into sin. and then the covenant of grace is ultimately made with the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the Westminster Larger Catechism asks the question, with whom was the covenant of grace made? It says, the covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him all the elect as his seed. So the covenant of grace ultimately comes to full fruition at the time of Jesus, at the inauguration of the covenant, or specifically at his death.
But what we find in these historical covenants is what our confession says, that the promise is given, or the promise is revealed, in farther steps. In other words, there is a promise made in Genesis 3.15 that God would send a Redeemer. God would send a deliverer. And then as the Bible unfolds, there are historical covenants made, and this is farther steps.
This is more revelation, more understanding, more things going into our appreciation of this covenant arrangement wherein God saves His people from their sins. And Genesis 15, and specifically this ceremony that seems a bit odd or a bit peculiar to us, is filled with instruction for us concerning God and His grace and His mercy. So let's just jump in beginning in verse 1.
The Setting of the Covenant Ceremony
Notice the setting of this covenant ceremony. The setting is found in verses 1 to 6. We've already seen, if we've read our Bible up to this point, Genesis 12 is the call of Abraham. Genesis 13 is more promise given to Abraham.
Genesis 14, Abraham brings victory and delivers Lot from captivity. And then Abraham meets, or Abram meets this man Melchizedek. And that's where we're at in verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. Do not be afraid. He is calming His servant. He's encouraging His servant.
All that we find in the remainder of this chapter fills or fleshes out that blessed statement of God. Do not be afraid. The things that I have promised to you, I am more than capable of undertaking. I am more than capable of causing fulfillment in these promises.
Do not be afraid. He says that I am your shield. your exceedingly great reward." Hopefully that last statement there reminds us of Be Thou My Vision. It says, Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise. Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart. High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art. Certainly if Abraham would have had that hymn, he probably would have sang it with great joy and glee at the reality that God the Lord Almighty had said, I am your reward.
Abraham's Question and God's Promise
Notice then the complaint of Abraham. And when I say complaint, I don't mean whining or grumbling or murmuring, but God has promised Abraham great things. God has promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. God has promised Abraham seed, and seed aplenty.
And so Abraham, reflecting on that promise, says in verse 2, Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless? And the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir.
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. So what is God saying? He's saying, Relax. Realize, I'm in charge here.
I am going to carry out this particular plan. Abram says, Eliezer, my servant, would be a good heir. You can use him. God says, no, I don't want Eliezer, your servant.
Later on in Genesis 17, Abram's going to say, why don't you use Ishmael, the one born of Hagar? God says, no, I'm not going to use him. There is going to be a seed that comes from you and Sarah. There is going to be a child born.
There is going to be a son of promise. Therein we see some equality or at least some typology with reference to Jacob and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what God is doing is telling Abraham that we are on my time schedule. We are on my timetable.
You cannot force it. You cannot make it happen, Abram. Abram reflecting on the promise that the Lord God had given to him. Once Eliezer, later will want Ishmael.
Whatever the case may be, Abraham is struggling with this arrangement that from him and Sarah is going to come a great multitude that no man can number. Again, if we understand the historical situation, we understand their circumstances, their ages, all those things, we might see why Abrams starting to get a little bit anxious in terms of this promise and in terms of fulfillment. Then notice, not only does the Lord promise in verse 4, but He illustrates in verse 5. Verse 4, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.
Now note the illustration, that He brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. So he not only affirms the promise, there's going to be a great seed, but he illustrates the promise by saying, Abram, look at those stars. I mean, what do you think this is doing to Abram?
He can taste it. He understands. He realizes what's at stake. He understands the nature of the promise here.
Now he's looking at these stars and God is saying, your seed is going to be more numerous than that. Remember back in chapter 13, the illustration was the sand on the seashore. So Abraham understands the nature of the promise. It's like the fruit is hanging there ripe and Abraham wants to pick it.
He wants to get this program going. He wants to get this into action. He wants to hasten the day. He wants to see a realization with reference to this promise.
Now notice what we find in verse 6. He believed in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. Again, a programmatic statement for the entirety of Holy Scripture. Justification is by God's grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
This is the passage oftentimes quoted in the New Testament to ground or highlight or illustrate or amplify that great teaching of justification by faith. So God encourages, God instructs, God illustrates, and then Abram believes God and it is accounted unto him for righteousness.
The Covenant Ceremony with Abraham
Now let's move to this covenant ceremony with Abraham. Verses 7 to 17.
The Preamble: God Identifies Himself
Verse 7, then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. This is the preamble. This is typical of covenants in this particular age or in this particular time frame. You'll see it later in the Sinai Covenant.
Before the giving of the Ten Commandments, what does God do? He gives a preamble. He gives an introduction. He identifies Himself and He traces their history up to that point.
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. That is very instructive and very important before we jump into the Ten Commandments. That sets the stage or the context as one of grace. God has redeemed Israel.
God has brought them out. Well, the same thing is true here. Notice in verse 7. It is a preamble.
It is an introduction. It is God identifying Himself and identifying His activity in the life of His servant Abram. Then He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of her, of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.
Abram's Request for Certainty
Now notice this question in verse 8. This is very important. This is where we're going, is to this ceremony. Because if you're paying attention, you've already seen something really neat in Galatians 3.13.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. This covenant ceremony that is indicated here in Genesis 15 sets forth curses associated with the covenant. We'll get to that in just a moment, but did Owen do something funny? I noticed there's a whole bastion of laughter back there.
I won't pay attention to that side. Oh, and we're studying the Abrahamic Covenant, son, or grandson. We need to give focus to these things. You just kind of see it emanate, like if you threw water into a pool, it would just sort of circle about.
But notice, Abram asks a question. He's believed in the Lord. The Lord has accounted it to him for righteousness. God then gives this preamble, and then Moses says, or Abram says in verse 8, and he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?
Interesting, isn't it? He believes God. He understands the promise. He's prophet Eliezer.
He will later proffer up Ishmael. There is within Abraham's bosom a desire for certainty. And it's very intriguing that God doesn't rebuke him. God doesn't say, how dare you question me, the living and true God?
What do you mean? Is it my word and my promise enough for you? Now, His word and His promise is enough for us. Again, jumping back into Genesis 15, when there wasn't a whole lot of word available to Abram, we can appreciate his question.
He says, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? Far from rebuking Abram for asking the question, God answers the question. That's what the purpose of this ceremony is to answer the question of verse 8. Then God says, according to verse 9, Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon." At this point, I don't think Abraham's scratching his head saying, what's he talking about?
I think Abraham understood what he was talking about. How shall I know I shall inherit it? Here's what you need to do, Abraham. Go fetch these particular animals.
So what does Abram do once he fetches these particular animals? Verse 10, that he brought all these to him and cut them in two down the middle and placed each piece opposite the other but he did not cut the birds in two and when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
The Cutting of the Animals
So what Abram does is he takes these animals and just as the text says, he cuts them in half. He puts that portion over here and this portion over there. In fact, oftentimes, biblical covenants are said to be cut. You cut a covenant.
The reference is to this particular ceremony. What God is doing in answer to Abram's question is setting forth covenant theology. So this is the scene. Animals, half the animals, half the animals.
I don't know if this is heads, this is tails, this is heads, or this is tails. But you see the scene, right? Abram knew what he was doing. Abram understood.
God's answering. God is covenanting. God is promising. God is swearing.
And as the epistle to the Hebrews tells us, He swears by Himself in this particular situation. Now notice in verse 12. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then he said to Abram, Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years." Don't run right past that.
Four hundred years. Wait a minute, Lord, I don't want to wait four hundred years. Lord, I want my heir right now. Lord, I want fruition or realization or fulfillment right now.
Brethren, we need to embrace the reality that we're on God's timetable. We are part of His decree. He is not part of our decree. He is not the one to whom we give orders and he jumps and he performs.
He's not the performer for man. Rather, he is the sovereign God of the heavens and earth who has purpose, who has decree to work a salvation out for his people. He just incidentally says to them, or to Abram, they will afflict them 400 years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you shall be buried at a good old age, but in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." So you see what he's doing. Got the animals in pieces, he's giving the stipulations, he's giving the promise to Abram, and now verse 17 is where everything comes to play.
God Alone Passes Between the Pieces
And it came to pass, when the sun went down, and it was dark, that, behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. This is representative of God. This burning torch, this burning torch and this smoking oven is representative of God. First thing we need to appreciate is that God alone walks between those pieces.
I just find that if you haven't got anything up to this point, I feel like I've been kinda not all shooting straight here. I feel like, you know, there's times where preachers get rambly thoughts in their head, and it feels like that's what's coming out. Get this, though. The animals are separated.
In a covenant arrangement, in a covenant ceremony, the parties covenanting walk between the pieces. So if me and Mr. Hall made a covenant together, we would both pass between those animals. That's not the case here.
There is one party passing through those animals. It's God the Lord. It is a unilateral covenant. It is divine initiative.
It is divinely secured. And if you understand and appreciate what the significance of this passing between the animals is, it really is amazing. And in light of Galatians 3.13, it's absolutely wonderful. We'll get there in just a moment.
The presence of God, verse 17, the unilateral inauguration of the covenant. It says that smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. The significance of the ceremony, I believe Robertson describes it quite well, Opalmer Robertson. Why would persons pass between these animals?
Robertson says, by dividing animals and passing between the pieces, participants in a covenant pledged themselves to life and death. In sum, in essence, the substance, the core of it is simply this. When we march between those animals, what we are saying is, if I fail to carry out my obligations, may what happened to these animals happen to me. That's the significance of the ceremony.
He says, these actions established an oath of self-malediction. We all know what a benediction is at the end of a service. A benediction is a good word pronounced. A malediction is a bad word, not a cuss word or a curse word, but the calling down of a curse upon one's own head.
This ceremony, walking between these pieces, was an oath of self-malediction. If I fail to carry out my covenantal obligations, may what happened to these animals happen to me. He said if they should break the commitment involved in the covenant, they were asking that their own bodies be torn in pieces just as the animals had been divided ceremonially. In the case of the Abrahamic covenant, God, the creator, binds himself to man the creature by a solemn blood oath.
The Almighty chooses to commit himself to the fulfillment of promises spoken to Abraham. By this divine covenant, or commitment, Abraham's doubts are to be expelled. God has solemnly promised and has sealed that promise with a self-maledictory oath. The realization of the divine word is assured." So back to the scene, back to the situation.
Abraham says how shall I know I am going to inherit how shall I know I will have this seed God says fetch the animals cut the animals prepare the animals and then God alone passes between the animals What is the indicator? What is the significance? It is that the covenant itself rests upon the Lord God most high for fulfillment For you see it could not be another way if it isn't solely and alone of God there is no man able to fulfill the obligation. There is no man able to fulfill the obedience to the law perfectly.
And so God makes this promise as he passes through these animals that if, or that he will put his own life on the line, as it were, to secure fulfillment. And that's exactly what we find in Hebrews chapter 6. Of course, life on the line is language that is difficult to apply to God to be sure. But in Hebrews 6.13 it says, When God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.
And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability, that's the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us." So you see what God is saying to Abraham in this particular ceremony is simply this. I stake my life on the fulfillment of this arrangement.
It is unilaterally imposed, it is unilaterally carried out, it is unilaterally conducted for the glory of God and for the salvation of the elect. Going back to Genesis chapter 15, the significance of verse 17 I hope provides great comfort to you. I hope it provides great encouragement to you. It is the answer to a specific question posed by God's man, Abram.
Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? The Lord sets forth this ceremony to indicate and to demonstrate the reality of His Word, the rock-solidness of His Word, and the fact that it will most certainly come to pass. And what He does is takes upon Himself the curse of the covenant. He takes upon Himself this maledictory oath to perform what He has promised.
And then the chapter ends with the boundaries of the land given to Abram. Remember, it was not only seed, but there was a land promise, and that's what the end of chapter 15 deals with.
Observations on Abraham, God, and Grace
Just a couple of observations before we transition into the supper. The first, we should appreciate something about Abraham in this passage. I mean, he's not the star by any stretch of the imagination. The stress of the passage lies upon verse 17.
The emphasis of the passage is upon the God of heaven and earth who passes between those animals, who says that if I renege on my obligation, may the curse come upon me. But Abraham does serve here in a particular manner.
Imputed Righteousness and Faith
We see that righteousness is imputed to him. He doesn't become more holy. Rather, righteousness is imputed to him. It is this passage, Genesis 15.6, that it serves so primarily for the apostle's argument in Romans chapter 4.
It is imputation of righteousness. As well, faith was the instrument by which righteousness is imputed. He believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness. The object of Abraham's faith, though not indicated here specifically, was, in fact, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, Abraham saw my day. He rejoiced and he was glad. John 8, 56. Abraham sought by grace through faith, Abraham sought through the promise of God, Abraham sought ultimately through types.
In Genesis 22, remember the Lord will provide. After that transaction with Isaac, on their way out, they see a ram caught in the thicket. He understood by these types that God Almighty would send one to redeem his people from their sins.
The Indefectible Covenant of Grace
Secondly, we need to appreciate something about God's covenantal dealings. It's indefectible. It's unbreakable. It's not going away.
Not subject to failure or decay. It is grounded in the oath and the promise of God himself. Again, Robertson says, by this action, verse 17, the Lord marching between these pieces. By this action, God promises.
The Lord assumes to himself the full responsibility for seeing that every promise of the covenant shall be realized. Does that bring happiness to you? It's a book written by an author who's quite popular today. I won't mention him.
I don't want to feel like I'm picking on him. He makes a statement like this. I'm hard-pressed to think of anything greater than our responsibility to keep the covenant for our final justification. He said, I'm hard-pressed to think of any greater responsibility than for us to keep the covenant for our final justification.
If that is true, no man will ever be saved. The divines at Westminster were much sharper. And again, I don't want to mention this man's name. With whom was the covenant of grace made?
With Christ as the second Adam. And all the elect with him. Christ is the covenant mediator. Christ is the surety.
Christ is the one who accomplishes. Christ is the one who fulfills the obligations. Christ executes it to the very fullest. It is Christ alone upon whom we stand.
And that is great blessing. Christ is our verse 17 of Genesis chapter 15. It is Christ who passes between those animals. It is Christ who takes upon himself the curse.
It is Christ who becomes a curse, for it is written, curse it is everyone who hangs on the tree. You see, in this covenant of grace, brethren, someone had to die. In this covenant of grace, the parties passing between the animals. In this covenant of grace, it is Jesus Christ and Him alone.
And so when He says I covenant, when He says I take on the obligation, when He says that I'll take to the end the malediction of God most high, He means it. He carries it out to the uttermost. It's a beautiful thing.
God's Grace in Answering Weakness
Thirdly, we learn something about the graciousness of God in this passage. Now, there's many places it's to be demonstrated. God will give him his seat. God will give him his lamp.
God will, in fact, bless him. But God humbles himself, if I can use that language, to answer his servant in his weakness. I mean, what if you are God? And someone says, how shall I know?
Because I said so. Now, there's places in the Bible where God says, I said so. There's times in your lives as parents where you say, do it because I said so. There's other times where you say, well, here's the reason why, or here's what I'll show you, or here's what I'll demonstrate.
God answers this request by Abram in a most powerful and instructive way. He answers this request by Abram to put his heart at ease, to put him to rest, to encourage and to cheer him, to give him that rock-solid relief. I remember attending the pastor's conference in 2010 in Montville, New Jersey. Pastor Davis preached this particular chapter, and he entitled his sermon this, How Do You Spell Relief?
You remember that old commercial for Rolaids? I don't know if that was here in Canada, but when I was growing up, we spelled relief R-O-L-A-I-D-S. Right? How do you spell relief?
R-O-L-A-I-D-S. Dr. Davis took this passage, his title was, how do you spell relief? C-O-V-E-N-A-N-T.
Covenant. That's how you spell relief. It is the fact that God has promised, that God has called upon Himself, malediction, that God has said that He will undertake on behalf of the elect. And we see it brought into play in the new covenant arrangement.
Elements of the covenant of grace are promised in the Abrahamic. Here, typologically, we have the curse of the covenant represented by the animals in pieces. This is a horrifically bloody scene, brethren. You think they lasered?
You think Abraham had a laser there and he just did it in such a way and caught around? It was a bloody, smelly, drippy mess. Think about it. Actually, don't think about it.
Kind of a sick image. These animals are laying in pieces. Again, we get this concept that is done surgically, that Abram put on his mask, and he got out his scalpel, and he made nice cuts, and he used heat, and he reduced the amount of blood. No, he bludgeoned.
He cut animals, and he set them on either side. Again, it was a bloody, drippy, smelly mess. That's what you had in that ceremony.
Genesis 15 Fulfilled at Calvary
Think about the covenant mediator in the New Covenant. Dare I say it, it was a bloody, drippy, gory mess at Calvary. It's what he undertook for us. It was an animal sat in two.
It wasn't the effect of sin upon the animal, it was upon the Lamb of God. When you read Galatians 3.13, never forget Genesis 15.17. What you have in Galatians 3.13 is the application, the realization, the fulfillment of Genesis 15.17. God the Lord says, if I renege on my obligation, may this curse come upon me.
Jesus Christ undertook for His elect. We reneged on the obligation. We didn't obey God. We didn't serve the Father.
We didn't honor His law. We have other gods before Him. We curse His holy name. We break His holy day.
We dishonor lawful authority. We murder, if not physically, in our heart. We commit adultery. We steal.
We lie. We cheat. We covet. All those things.
And so Christ becomes a curse for us. Genesis 15, 17 is applied according to Galatians 3, 13 in the life and ministry and especially the death of the Lord Jesus. We are going to engage in a covenant ceremony tonight, only it's a bit more sanitized. We don't have pieces of animal on either side of the room.
But the meaning is the same. That broken body and that shed blood indicates this basic truth, that God has promised to save sinners, that we have sinned, but our head, our mediator, our surety, stood in our place. And the wrath and fury of God fell upon Him, so that we might have forgiveness from sin. You see, Genesis 15-17 is as important today as it was for Abram.
Yahweh walked between the pieces alone to signify that the total obligation of covenant fulfillment was upon Him. Consider that in the fullness of the covenant of grace, Jesus Christ walks between the pieces alone to demonstrate and to indicate that the whole obligation for its fulfillment lies upon Him. Our sin, He bears the punishment. Our iniquity, He bears the curse.
Our transgression, He tastes the justice and the judgment of God Most High. The curse promised in the animal ceremony was ultimately undertaken by Christ as the mediator, as the head of the new covenant or covenant of grace on behalf of the elect. This is why he says in Matthew 26, this is my blood of the new covenant. Again, these little tiny cups of sanitized juice or wine. just sort of inoculate us against the bloodiness of atonement.
When you saw Christ on that cross with the eye of sight, or the physical eye, it was not sanitized. I'm not asking you to conjure it up in your mind. You know, when a man's back is opened up with a whip, When a crown of thorns is placed into a man's brow, when he's been mocked, and when he's been spat upon, and when he's been abused, and when he's been reviled, and when he's borne his cross, and when he's finally hoisted up on that cross, it's not a sanitized scene. Spurgeon rightly indicates it's our artists that put a covering over Jesus.
He was naked as he hung on the cross. He was naked as he suffered on the cross. You see, what Jesus accomplished at Calvary makes what happens to the animals like nothing. But the emblem, the symbol, the reference between that burning oven or that smoking oven and that burning torch passing through in Genesis 15, 17, that promise is fulfilled at Calvary in the dying. of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. The language is specific and conspicuous, having become a curse for us. You ever considered 2 Corinthians 5.21? God made him who knew no sin to be sin.
I guarantee a man who is not under the inspiration of the Spirit would never write stuff like that. To be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him? He has become a curse. It's not just that the curse is laid upon Him, but He has become a curse because it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
I submit, Genesis 15, 17, the ceremony played out on that day before Abram was ultimately fulfilled at Calvary's cross when Jesus Christ bore the punishment due for our sins. Praise Almighty God. for such a wonderful Savior. You see why it's a better covenant, with better promises, with a better hope. And there's a surety, a mediator, one who executes fully all of the obligations of that arrangement that the Father had made with Him.
I hope that you find encouragement in Genesis 15. I hope that you find cheer. I hope that you find happiness. I hope that you find great delight.
Our God Almighty has undertaken to save us from our sins. The only thing we contribute is the sin we need to be saved from. Praise Him that salvation is of the Lord. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the Lord Jesus. We thank you for his death on behalf of sinners. We thank you for his resurrection.
Paul so beautifully states that he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised up because of our justification. We thank you for this arrangement. We thank you, Father, that we would never be able to carry out these obligations and that you sent your Son in the fullness of the time, born of a woman, and born under the law to redeem those under the law. We give all glory, honor, and praise unto you, and we pray through Christ Jesus our Lord.