I Will Establish My Covenant

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: Genesis 17:7
Psalters: 73, 127, 235, 359
Sacrament of Baptism
  1. The concept.
    1. God speaks about His covenant as something with which Abram was familiar (cf. Gen. 9:9; 15:18).
    2. Now Abram has some unrest because it has been a long time (over 13 years) since God last spoken to him.
    3. God makes clear that He alone “establishes” this relationship, i.e., to cause it to arise and stand.
      1. It is not a mutual agreement, for God alone passed through the rows of dead animals (Gen. 15).
      2. This is because God is a covenant God within Himself (“my”) as the three in one.
      3. Also important to God’s unilaterally establishing the relationship is the fact that it is “everlasting.”
  2. 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).
    1. This language shows that the covenant is a relationship, not a contract or an agreement between God and man.
    2. When the covenant God says that He will be a God to them, then He is “their God!”
      1. 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.
      2. He is the God who loves them with an eternal, infinite love. He is their delight.
    3. And when Jehovah is their God, then they are God’s people.
    4. Amazing because God is so far above us.  What an honor!!
  3. This relationship God will also establish in the seed of Abram, i.e., in his generations.
    1. While this was also said to Noah, it is emphasized in our text because the sign of circumcision is being added (10ff).
    2. Even then we must remember that it is not with all and not with only them, but with the spiritual seed among the natural.
    3. God’s promise to use parental instruction spurs us to teach and train to the best of our ability (Gen. 18:19).