I Will Establish My Covenant
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
1/4/2015 PM
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Text:
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Genesis 17:7
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Psalters: |
73, 127, 235, 359 |
Sacrament of Baptism |
- The concept.
- God speaks about His covenant as something with which Abram was familiar (cf. Gen. 9:9; 15:18).
- Now Abram has some unrest because it has been a long time (over 13 years) since God last spoken to him.
- God makes clear that He alone “establishes” this relationship, i.e., to cause it to arise and stand.
- It is not a mutual agreement, for God alone passed through the rows of dead animals (Gen. 15).
- This is because God is a covenant God within Himself (“my”) as the three in one.
- Also important to God’s unilaterally establishing the relationship is the fact that it is “everlasting.”
- The heart of the covenant relationship is that God is “to be a God to thee” (Lev. 26:12; Jer. 7:23; 11:4; 30:22; Ezek. 36:28).
- This language shows that the covenant is a relationship, not a contract or an agreement between God and man.
- When the covenant God says that He will be a God to them, then He is “their God!”
- The covenant is a very definite relationship God has with Abram and his seed; it is not a promise, nor a contract, nor a way to some higher end, nor an alliance.
- He is the God who loves them with an eternal, infinite love. He is their delight.
- And when Jehovah is their God, then they are God’s people.
- Amazing because God is so far above us. What an honor!!
- This relationship God will also establish in the seed of Abram, i.e., in his generations.
- While this was also said to Noah, it is emphasized in our text because the sign of circumcision is being added (10ff).
- Even then we must remember that it is not with all and not with only them, but with the spiritual seed among the natural.
- God’s promise to use parental instruction spurs us to teach and train to the best of our ability (Gen. 18:19).