The Covenant of Promise

Genesis 15:6-18

God counted Abraham as a righteous man, though there is ample evidence that Abraham did not live like a righteous man. The reason that God viewed Abraham as righteous was that Abraham believed what God told him, and God called this “faith”. That faith made Abraham righteous in God’s eyes, though his actions spoke otherwise.

God has always chosen to deal with man on the basis of covenant. In covenant, two parties decide upon an allegiance, swearing to one another by the killing of an animal and eating of a covenant meal. If one party breaks the covenant, they are held accountable by death, thus you did not enter these things lightly.

When the Lord chose to give Abraham a promised land, Abraham wanted proof that he would inherit it (Genesis 15:8). God then introduced covenant to Abraham, asking for a specified number of animals to be sacrificed. Their bodies were to be divided and placed apart with a walking space in between the pieces. The two parties involved in covenant would then pass between the pieces, stopping to cut their hands and then bind them together to mingle their blood with one another. Then they would eat and converse to seal the covenant.

After Abraham places the carcasses on the ground, he sits and waits on God to do whatever it is that He is going to do. In the meantime, the fowls of the came down upon the carcasses and Abraham worked to drive them away. God sees this action and makes a crucial decision. If God enters covenant with Abraham, then Abraham must live up to some pre-set, specified set of rules. If he fails, he breaks covenant and God must kill him. This negates his inheritance, for he won’t be around to take what God wants to give him. This poses a great problem, which is characterized by Abraham’s action in driving away the birds. God needs to make this covenant happen in way in which Abraham puts no effort into it, and has no standard to live up to. The only way to remove the possibility for Abraham to fail is to remove Abraham. Thus, God puts him to sleep during the ceremony.

While Abraham sleeps, God passes between the pieces of animal in the form of “a smoking furnace and a burning lamp” (Genesis 15:17). The smoking furnace is a type of God, the booming voice of Mt. Sinai, while the burning lamp is a type of Jesus, the light in a dark place. God literally cuts covenant with Himself, for He won’t break the deal on either end. When Abraham awakes, God tells Him all that He has given him, and He gives Abraham no requirements to keep.

When you accept Christ, you are not entering into a Covenant with God; rather you are receiving the blessings of the Covenant that Jesus made with His Father. Jesus shed His blood in this Covenant so that you would not have to. You get the inheritance while Jesus paid the price. Paul said that when we accept Jesus, a powerful thing happens to you: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). You and I are living under the same promise that Abraham was, without any obligation on our part. We can rejoice that we get the benefits of Covenant because Jesus paid our price. Hallelujah!

The Promise, Not the Present

2 Corinthians 5:1-8

It is fitting to open this devotion with the last verse of the preceding chapter, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Paul is encouraging the reader to live beyond the things that they see, and hold fast to the unseen promises of glory. He continues with the theme into chapter 5.

Remember that there is a distinct difference between the promise and present. Oftentimes the present seems dark and discouraging, with persecutions and trials, but we can rest in the knowledge that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus and that we have an eternal inheritance. I am not saying that Christianity is gloom and doom, for I don’t believe that in the least, but there are going to be rough seas on this journey, and persecutions will come (Mark 10:30).

Paul uses this section of his letter to give hope to the church, that there is more than meets the eye. He differentiates between the physical body of the believer and the spirit man. If we were to have this physical body stripped away, he assures us that we have a glorified spirit body that we will live in forever in heaven. The burden that is faced by the saint is “not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). We are not groaning to “be unclothed”, which means that as saints we are not begging God to kill us so that we can escape this world; instead we are longing for the glory that will come with being in His presence.

God actually implanted the desire inside of us to be with Him (5:5), and then gave us the “earnest of the Spirit”. The “earnest” is the “down-payment” in Greek, meaning that God put a down-payment on our eternity by placing the Holy Spirit in each one of us. We get a taste of His heavenly goodness everyday due to the presence of the Holy Ghost as He speaks to us and ministers to us of God’s love. Remember, the Holy Spirit’s first job within the heart of every believer is to shed the love of God abroad in every area of our heart (Romans 5:5).

Because we have this down-payment in our hearts, “we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (for we walk by faith, not by sight)” (2 Corinthians 5:6, 7). The Lord is not absent from us, for He never leaves us nor forsakes us, but we are absent from His physical presence. We know this for we do not walk by what we see, but by faith. Paul has already stated this case to the Romans when he said, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

Paul’s final piece of “blessed assurance” as I like to call it is to guarantee the believer that if we are absent from our body, we shall be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). This is a glorious promise for those who have lost a loved one who was a Christian, for we can know that they are at home with Jesus. They are not in some state of spiritual limbo, nor are they in a deep spiritual sleep awaiting the resurrection, but rather they are presently with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are fully aware of all that is happening around them (Luke 15:19-31; Revelation 6:9-11).

Don’t fall into the trap of always looking at your surroundings. They will deceive you and cause you to fear the circumstances. Keep your heart focused on the promise that we have eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Painting God in the Proper Light

Numbers 20:7-13

When a photographer shoots a photograph, they need proper lighting to bring the beauty out of the subject. The same is true for a portrait painter, who needs to see the subject in proper perspective in order to render a quality painting. When a preacher delivers a sermon on God, he is painting God in a particular light, and that light has a great effect on how the listeners perceive God in their daily lives.

If God is painted against a backdrop of judgment and darkness then He is an angry God, ready to dole out lightning bolts of fury against a sin-filled world. If He is painted against the light of the cross, where Jesus was judged for our sin then He is seen as a compassionate God, ready to dole out grace on a world that is perishing.

Moses had an opportunity to paint God in a wonderful light for the children of Israel as they thirsted in the desert of Zin. The people complained of the lack of food and water, prompting Moses to go before the Lord. God told him to “speak ye unto the rock before their eyes” (Numbers 20:8). God wanted this done before the eyes of the people so that they could see for themselves what God was about to do. In his anger, Moses replaces God as the sole provider, asking the Israelites, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (Numbers 20:10) Moses has joined himself to God, saying “we” when he should have said, “Must God fetch you water?” By adding himself to the equation, he is removing the awesome power from what God is about to do.

The mistake is exacerbated when Moses lifts up his hand and smites the rock rather than speak to it. In the 17th chapter of Exodus, before the giving of the law at Sinai, Israel had been in a similar situation. They had complained of no water and God had instructed Moses to smite the rock, bringing forth water. Paul said that the rock in the wilderness was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4), so the smiting is a type of Christ being smitten of God at the cross (Isaiah 53:4). Paul also states in Hebrews 10:12 that Jesus “offered one sacrifice for sins, forever”, meaning that Jesus will not be smitten twice for our sins. If He is not smitten twice, then we are not smitten even once. Praise God!

God wanted Moses to speak to the rock so that He could show grace to His people, though they do not deserve it. Grace is never deserved and that is what makes it a free gift. By speaking to the rock and not smiting it, it is an example to them that God has never stopped providing for them by His smitten Rock. Jesus is our constant provision, and the believer only need speak His name for Him to provide water to their thirsty soul.

This mistake cost Moses entrance to the Promised Land. Being under law, he would bear the punishment for his failure. You and I are under grace, so Jesus has bore the punishment for us. We will not be denied our Promised Land due to our mistakes and failures, for where our sin abounds, grace does much more abound.

Paint God in the glorious light of the cross, showing the world that Jesus has been smitten for their sins. The God that you present is the God that they know, so show them the Rock that has already brought forth living water.

The Covenant of Promise

Genesis 15:6-18

God counted Abraham as a righteous man, though there is ample evidence that Abraham did not live like a righteous man. The reason that God viewed Abraham as righteous was that Abraham believed what God told him, and God called this “faith”. That faith made Abraham righteous in God’s eyes, though his actions spoke otherwise.

God has always chosen to deal with man on the basis of covenant. In covenant, two parties decide upon an allegiance, swearing to one another by the killing of an animal and eating of a covenant meal. If one party breaks the covenant, they are held accountable by death, thus you did not enter these things lightly.

When the Lord chose to give Abraham a promised land, Abraham wanted proof that he would inherit it (Genesis 15:8). God then introduced covenant to Abraham, asking for a specified number of animals to be sacrificed. Their bodies were to be divided and placed apart with a walking space in between the pieces. The two parties involved in covenant would then pass between the pieces, stopping to cut their hands and then bind them together to mingle their blood with one another. Then they would eat and converse to seal the covenant.

After Abraham places the carcasses on the ground, he sits and waits on God to do whatever it is that He is going to do. In the meantime, the fowls of the came down upon the carcasses and Abraham worked to drive them away. God sees this action and makes a crucial decision. If God enters covenant with Abraham, then Abraham must live up to some pre-set, specified set of rules. If he fails, he breaks covenant and God must kill him. This negates his inheritance, for he won’t be around to take what God wants to give him. This poses a great problem, which is characterized by Abraham’s action in driving away the birds. God needs to make this covenant happen in way in which Abraham puts no effort into it, and has no standard to live up to. The only way to remove the possibility for Abraham to fail is to remove Abraham. Thus, God puts him to sleep during the ceremony.

While Abraham sleeps, God passes between the pieces of animal in the form of “a smoking furnace and a burning lamp” (Genesis 15:17). The smoking furnace is a type of God, the booming voice of Mt. Sinai, while the burning lamp is a type of Jesus, the light in a dark place. God literally cuts covenant with Himself, for He won’t break the deal on either end. When Abraham awakes, God tells Him all that He has given him, and He gives Abraham no requirements to keep.

When you accept Christ, you are not entering into a Covenant with God; rather you are receiving the blessings of the Covenant that Jesus made with His Father. Jesus shed His blood in this Covenant so that you would not have to. You get the inheritance while Jesus paid the price. Paul said that when we accept Jesus, a powerful thing happens to you: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). You and I are living under the same promise that Abraham was, without any obligation on our part. We can rejoice that we get the benefits of Covenant because Jesus paid our price. Hallelujah!

The Promise, Not the Present

2 Corinthians 5:1-8

It is fitting to open this devotion with the last verse of the preceding chapter, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Paul is encouraging the reader to live beyond the things that they see, and hold fast to the unseen promises of glory. He continues with the theme into chapter 5.

Remember that there is a distinct difference between the promise and present. Oftentimes the present seems dark and discouraging, with persecutions and trials, but we can rest in the knowledge that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus and that we have an eternal inheritance. I am not saying that Christianity is gloom and doom, for I don’t believe that in the least, but there are going to be rough seas on this journey, and persecutions will come (Mark 10:30).

Paul uses this section of his letter to give hope to the church, that there is more than meets the eye. He differentiates between the physical body of the believer and the spirit man. If we were to have this physical body stripped away, he assures us that we have a glorified spirit body that we will live in forever in heaven. The burden that is faced by the saint is “not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). We are not groaning to “be unclothed”, which means that as saints we are not begging God to kill us so that we can escape this world; instead we are longing for the glory that will come with being in His presence.

God actually implanted the desire inside of us to be with Him (5:5), and then gave us the “earnest of the Spirit”. The “earnest” is the “down-payment” in Greek, meaning that God put a down-payment on our eternity by placing the Holy Spirit in each one of us. We get a taste of His heavenly goodness everyday due to the presence of the Holy Ghost as He speaks to us and ministers to us of God’s love. Remember, the Holy Spirit’s first job within the heart of every believer is to shed the love of God abroad in every area of our heart (Romans 5:5).

Because we have this down-payment in our hearts, “we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (for we walk by faith, not by sight)” (2 Corinthians 5:6, 7). The Lord is not absent from us, for He never leaves us nor forsakes us, but we are absent from His physical presence. We know this for we do not walk by what we see, but by faith. Paul has already stated this case to the Romans when he said, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

Paul’s final piece of “blessed assurance” as I like to call it is to guarantee the believer that if we are absent from our body, we shall be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). This is a glorious promise for those who have lost a loved one who was a Christian, for we can know that they are at home with Jesus. They are not in some state of spiritual limbo, nor are they in a deep spiritual sleep awaiting the resurrection, but rather they are presently with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are fully aware of all that is happening around them (Luke 15:19-31; Revelation 6:9-11).

Don’t fall into the trap of always looking at your surroundings. They will deceive you and cause you to fear the circumstances. Keep your heart focused on the promise that we have eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Painting God in the Proper Light

Numbers 20:7-13

When a photographer shoots a photograph, they need proper lighting to bring the beauty out of the subject. The same is true for a portrait painter, who needs to see the subject in proper perspective in order to render a quality painting. When a preacher delivers a sermon on God, he is painting God in a particular light, and that light has a great effect on how the listeners perceive God in their daily lives.

If God is painted against a backdrop of judgment and darkness then He is an angry God, ready to dole out lightning bolts of fury against a sin-filled world. If He is painted against the light of the cross, where Jesus was judged for our sin then He is seen as a compassionate God, ready to dole out grace on a world that is perishing.

Moses had an opportunity to paint God in a wonderful light for the children of Israel as they thirsted in the desert of Zin. The people complained of the lack of food and water, prompting Moses to go before the Lord. God told him to “speak ye unto the rock before their eyes” (Numbers 20:8). God wanted this done before the eyes of the people so that they could see for themselves what God was about to do. In his anger, Moses replaces God as the sole provider, asking the Israelites, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (Numbers 20:10) Moses has joined himself to God, saying “we” when he should have said, “Must God fetch you water?” By adding himself to the equation, he is removing the awesome power from what God is about to do.

The mistake is exacerbated when Moses lifts up his hand and smites the rock rather than speak to it. In the 17th chapter of Exodus, before the giving of the law at Sinai, Israel had been in a similar situation. They had complained of no water and God had instructed Moses to smite the rock, bringing forth water. Paul said that the rock in the wilderness was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4), so the smiting is a type of Christ being smitten of God at the cross (Isaiah 53:4). Paul also states in Hebrews 10:12 that Jesus “offered one sacrifice for sins, forever”, meaning that Jesus will not be smitten twice for our sins. If He is not smitten twice, then we are not smitten even once. Praise God!

God wanted Moses to speak to the rock so that He could show grace to His people, though they do not deserve it. Grace is never deserved and that is what makes it a free gift. By speaking to the rock and not smiting it, it is an example to them that God has never stopped providing for them by His smitten Rock. Jesus is our constant provision, and the believer only need speak His name for Him to provide water to their thirsty soul.

This mistake cost Moses entrance to the Promised Land. Being under law, he would bear the punishment for his failure. You and I are under grace, so Jesus has bore the punishment for us. We will not be denied our Promised Land due to our mistakes and failures, for where our sin abounds, grace does much more abound.

Paint God in the glorious light of the cross, showing the world that Jesus has been smitten for their sins. The God that you present is the God that they know, so show them the Rock that has already brought forth living water.