Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Genesis 15:1-6 05/26/02

Intro: The late James Boice asked this all important question regarding our text this morning. 'Why do insects have 6 legs?' There are probably very few who know the answer to that monumental question of life. There are probably ever fewer...who really care. What is the answer? 6 legs is 2 times 3 legs and 3 legs is the minimal number necessary to give the insect stability when it walks. An insect moves 3 legs at a time so the other 3 are always anchored on the surface. Who says sermons aren't informative?

 Think about it 3 legs give great stability. A tripod has 3 legs and is very stable. A stool with three legs is stable. A football player sets up in a 3 point stance is pretty stable, unless Reggie White is lined up on the defense.

 Why all the talk about 3 legs or points and stability?  Because as we have been examining Abram's journey of faith we have been presented with two legs...God's Calling and God's Faithfulness.  The third leg which gave Abram stability in his faith journey and which upholds us as well, is God's Power.

 Why power? To show that whomever God calls, whomever God leads, God's awesome power will sustain.

Read: Gen. 15:1

 After this...after what? Abram's defeat of the 4 kings and after his meetings with the King of Sodom and Salem.
 
FEAR
 God tells Abram not to be afraid. Afraid of what?

Afraid of...
1. Retaliation. I am certain that the 4 kings Abram just defeated wanted their stuff back. People are like that when their stuff is taken..am I right?

Afraid of...
2. Poverty. Remember the land was recovering from a famine and Abram gave all the stuff he had won in battle back to the original owners.

Afraid of...
3. Misunderstanding God. Abram may have  misunderstood God and his promises about an heir and land.

Shield
 It is an amazing thing, God knows our thoughts even before we think them. He knows our pain and our fears. And He wants to quiet them and reassure us. He did just that with Abram when God said 'Abram I am your shield'.

 God was telling Abram that nothing will touch him except by permission of God who is a living shield around him. And beloved of God, He is that same shield around all those, who like Abram, are His children by faith.

  If we truly understood that, and really believed it, most of our fears we experience on our journey of faith would be gone.
God is saying 'Abram, Joe, Trudy, Abhiruta, I am your shield. I am a hedge of protection against any force that would attack you. Fear not! Nothing shall touch you unless I permit it. Do not fear.'

 Paul in Romans reminds the Christian of the very same thing.

Read: Rom. 8:31-39

 Take heart dear Christian, the power of Almighty God surrounds you. God is your shield.' As Children of God we can say to any fear in our lives...My Dad is bigger and stronger than your dad.

 God answers Abrams first fear of retaliation when He tells Abram that He is his shield.

Great Reward

  God addresses his second fear of poverty when God tells Abram that He is his very great reward. Folks, God wants to be our dearest treasure. He wants to be the only place we look to find genuinely satisfying joy in our lives. However our theology has been greatly distorted these days. We are often taught to come to God for of all wonderful things He can do for us.

 The problem is we often come to God for His presents rather than for His presence. Let me explain.

 The covenant isn't the reward.
 The promises are not the reward.
 Righteousness is not the reward.
 Good health, financial success, obedient children,
 None of these are the reward for faith.
 God, is our exceedingly great reward.

 Abram didn't follow the promise, he followed God. Many Christians live in the reverse. They seek the blessings of God and make a relationship with Him secondary.

 It won't work! We were created to have a relationship with our creator.  And relationship leads to intimacy. When we experience intimacy with God, we are rich beyond all measure.
 
Remember, before God's presents..seek His presence.
 
God addresses Abram's second fear of poverty with the promise of the richness of His presence.

 What about his third fear, that he misunderstood God's promise?

Read: Gen. 15:2-3

 In the intimacy of the moment, Abram pours out his heart to God. Abram isn't doubting God, he just doesn't understand how he is going to be a father of a great nation. Especially since he is 85 yrs old and childless.  Perhaps God didn't mean a natural child but instead his heir will be one of his servants. Abram is confused and doesn't understand the power of God.

 The book of James tells us to ask God if we lack wisdom or understanding and He will give it to us. That is how we should approach God when we don't see how something is going to work itself out or when we don't see the good in something.
 In humility, we ask God for understanding. And God answers us, just as He did Abram.

Read: Gen. 15:4-5

 God answers by clarifying his promise to Abram. He tells Abram that his son will come from his own body. God reminds Abram of His promise and clarifies it for him. I bet He has done that for you as well. God has taught you something but it has become a fuzzy memory. Then, you come to the place where you need to be reminded of it and God provides a friend, a Sunday message or a familiar passage of Scripture to help you remember. And very often you see it even more clearly then at first.

 One such reminder is the Lord's Supper. Our faith is strengthened each time we come to the Table of the Lord and receive from Him grace and mercy. And our hearts rejoice that we have experienced the presence of God. Each time we participate in communion, what Jesus did for us on the cross becomes a bit more clear. And we love Him all the more. Remember, hold this truth close to your heart...God is our shield and our great reward.

Read: Gen. 15:6

 This verse  answers the question, Pastor, how can I know the rich blessing of the presence of God? By faith, the text tells us. Abram believed God. Notice that it didn't say that Abram believed IN God. Just about everyone believes in a god, a higher power, even the devil believes in God, but he doesn't believe God. Abram didn't simply believe in the promises of God..he believed in the God of the promises...remember presence not presents.

Righteousness

 And it is this kind of faith that God counts as righteousness. Righteousness is being in a right standing or relationship with God.
Well aren't we all loved by God and in a right relationship with Him? No, sin separates us from God and Scripture says that apart from Jesus Christ, we are enemies of God.

 Scripture also says that everyone sins, so there is no one who is exempt, all are enemies of God and no one is in a right relationship with Him. So how was Abram, a sinner, an enemy of God, made right with God? This verse tells us.

 By faith in the promise of God to bring from Abram a promised seed who would be a blessing to all the nations. Abram didn't know who that would be, but we do. It was Jesus.

 The text says, Abram believed God and God counted it as righteousness. That doesn't mean God exchanged Abram's faith for righteousness. Listen because this is where it gets a bit deep. It wasn't Abram's faith that actually placed him in a right relationship with God. It was the object of Abram's faith...the promised seed, Jesus Christ and what He did on his behalf.

We can never do anything to make us right with God. So how are we made right with God? When we believe God, that's faith and when we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sin, that is the object of our faith.

 To use banking terms, when we by faith ask Jesus to save us from our sin, God withdraws all our sin from our account and deposits it in Christ's account.

 God then accepts Christ's death and resurrection as payment for the sin debt we owe to God..

 God then takes the righteousness, the right standing that Jesus has with God for living a sinless life, and places that into our account.

 Faith's reward is the power of Almighty God,  to do for us, what we are not able to do for ourselves. To be our shield, our great reward and our Savior.

Conclusion

 Do you believe God..not just IN God?
 Do you have a right standing before God?
 Are you saved?
 On what basis do you give your answer?
 By what right should God allow you into heaven when your time on earth is over?

There are really only two answers you can give.

1. Good works. You can tell God that you have lived a pretty good life and that you've been a pretty good person. You can say that your good works have outnumbered your bad and that's why you should be let into heaven.
 
 The problem is that God has already said that no one will be declared righteous, no one will be made right with God based on anything they have done or may not have done. Rom. 3. Good works will not get you into heaven.

2. No right. Your only other answer is that you have no right to heaven because you were a sinner.

 And if God was going to let you in it would have to be on the basis of your faith that Jesus died on the cross to pay the payment for your sin and to place you in a right relationship with God. You would say you have no right to enter heaven but Christ.

 Folks, the day will come when you will have to make an account for your life. The day will come when you will have to answer that very same question.

Why should God let you into heaven?

 What will be your answer?