Sermon Central
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Hope In A Covenant Of Faith Series
Contributed by Dean Courtier on Feb 18, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: A Covenant of Faith and a man named Abraham. Romans 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
The Mighty God of Creation took time to come to one man named Abram and speak to Him. God is a very personal God and He works in the lives of people throughout Scripture.
If you were to search your Bible to find the phrase: ‘I will be their God and they will be my people’
What you would see is all through the Bible God desires personal contact with humanity.
Genesis 17:1-8, Exodus 6:1-8, Exodus 29:42-46, Leviticus 26:40-45, Ruth 1:15-16, 2 Samuel 7:4-16, Jeremiah 7:21-26, Jeremiah 11:1-5, Jeremiah 24:1-7, Jeremiah 30:8-22, Jeremiah 31:1-3, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Jeremiah 32:36-42, Ezekiel 11:14-21, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 34:11-30, Ezekiel 36:22-32, Ezekiel 37:11-28, Hosea 1:6-11, Hosea 2:16-23, Zechariah 8:1-8, Zechariah 13:7-9, Romans 9:19-26, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, Hebrews 8:6-13, and Revelation 21:1-7.
All these passages contain the phrase ‘I will be their God and they will be my people’ God repeats things that are important for His people to understand. Do you get the feeling that this is a message that is meant to give us hope?
We are supposed to listen to and trust the Word of God.
Genesis 15 speaks of God’s personal contact with this man Abram and that personal contact changed the lives of all people forever. The Almighty God wants us to be in personal relationship with Him. Throughout the Bible there are records of God’s personal interaction with countless people: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, David, Paul and so many others. God wants us to come to Him in personal prayer to talk and share and He promises to listen.
The Mighty God is also the Sovereign God. The God of Creation did not just create this world and then walk away and leave it alone. He did not create the people and then leave us to battle on our own.
In Genesis 15:1 God describes Himself as “a shield.” In Hebrew this word is [MAW GANE] it can be translated as “Sovereign.” and is also used to describe the strong scaly skin of a crocodile. So literally God is describing Himself as more than a shield he is a Skin of protection around Abram. The Mighty God is a God who protects.
God says to Abram that God is in charge of the life and events that are around Him just as a King would be in charge of a kingdom. God is all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Verse 14 talks about how God has power over the rise and fall of nations on this earth. The ‘ites’ were at the mercy of The Mighty God whether they knew it or not.
Why is this thought important? It is important because one of the basic questions that many ask about God is: ‘Why does God let bad things happen?’ Or ‘Does God care that bad things happen?’
We need to understand that knowing something will happen, allowing something to happen, does not mean that God caused it. God does not cause evil. God does not have ill-will.
We live in a fallen world cursed by sin and bad things are the result. God is involved in our world and wants people to turn in faith to Him. God is active in your life disciplining, helping, and stretching your faith. God offers His comfort and help in times when this evil world and Satan attack us. We are introduced to this Almighty Creator God in Genesis. God wants to be intimately involved in our lives and loves us.
