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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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Now let's move to this covenant 
ceremony with Abraham. Verses 7 to 17. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.