God’s Covenant with Abraham….The Covenant of the Parts.
This is a paraphrased transcript from a
recent message, “A Covenant Relationship,” by Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer
Presbyterian in New York City. I highly recommend listening to this message…you can google it at Tim Keller, "A Covenant Relationship."
If you understand what happens in Genesis 15, you're at the very heart of what the bible is all about. God has said to Abraham, I will bless you. But Abraham says, How do I know, how can I be sure? God tells Abraham to kill some animals, cut them in pieces and arrange the pieces in two rows
with an aisle so you can walk through them.
Abraham wasn't confused by that, because in those days, when a great Lord wanted to make a covenant with a servant, that's how it was done. Animals were slain, the pieces were arranged, and when the servant took the oath of loyalty to the Lord, he did so as he was walking between pieces. He was acting out the curse of the covenant. He was saying, I swear loyalty to you O Lord, and if I do not keep my promise, may I be cut into pieces like this.
So Abraham figured he was arranging a situation for a covenant ceremony. He cut the pieces up and he expected that he would be called to walk through, because Lords never walked through the pieces. So he waited and he waited. Then all of a sudden, incredible darkness came down. It was the darkness of judgement. And in the midst of the darkness was God. He appeared as a smoking fiery pillar, just like at Mt. Sinai, later on. And he passed through the pieces as he promised to bless Abraham.
Now Abraham was startled. And almost every commentator who has ever tried to come to grips with Genesis 15 is startled, because what that means is not just that I will bless you, but he's promising to die if he doesn't bless him. He's promising to be torn to pieces if he doesn't bless Abraham. That's amazing, but that's not all.
Abraham had two shocks. The first shock was that God went through the pieces. The second shock was that Abraham was never called to go through the pieces himself. The ceremony ended, and therefore God made a covenant with Abraham. But this was unheard of! It was amazing for the Lord to come and walk through the pieces, but for the servant not even to make the oath? Do you know what that meant? Abraham knew what it meant, though he didn’t see how it could be. It meant God was making the promise for both of them, and he was taking the curse of the covenant on for both of them. Not only will I be torn to pieces if I don’t keep my promise, I’ll be torn to pieces if you don’t.
Oh Abraham, Abraham, God is saying, and to all of us, Oh world, I will bless you no matter what. Even if it means that my immortality must become mortal. Even if my glory must be drowned in darkness. Even if I have to literally be torn to pieces…..AND HE WAS.
Centuries later, a thick darkness came down on Mt. Cavalry. In the midst of the darkness, there was God in the person of Jesus Christ. And he was literally being torn to pieces….nails, spears, thorns. Why? He was taking the covenant curse.
With his perfect life, Jesus Christ completely fulfilled the terms of the covenant, and he earned the blessing, but with the sacrifice of death, he completely fulfilled the curse of the covenant, and that leaves the blessing for you and me and anyone who lifts the empty hands of faith and asks for it. Jesus Christ fulfilled the conditions of the covenant so that we could be received unconditionally.
Tim Keller summarizes that once you get this, it leads you to paradoxical obedience to God, absolute trust in God, church membership (accountability in our covenant relationships with each other) and getting serious about God.
It's Paul who says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to us all through Jesus Christ. You know what that means? This is the answer to all the riddles.
Paul says in Romans 4 this is how God can be just and justifier of those who believe. This is the ultimate blend of law and love. How so? Are the blessings of God conditional or unconditional? YES. Why? Because on the cross Jesus Christ absolutely fulfilled the conditions of the law, so that God could love you absolutely unconditionally.
Abraham wasn't confused by that, because in those days, when a great Lord wanted to make a covenant with a servant, that's how it was done. Animals were slain, the pieces were arranged, and when the servant took the oath of loyalty to the Lord, he did so as he was walking between pieces. He was acting out the curse of the covenant. He was saying, I swear loyalty to you O Lord, and if I do not keep my promise, may I be cut into pieces like this.
So Abraham figured he was arranging a situation for a covenant ceremony. He cut the pieces up and he expected that he would be called to walk through, because Lords never walked through the pieces. So he waited and he waited. Then all of a sudden, incredible darkness came down. It was the darkness of judgement. And in the midst of the darkness was God. He appeared as a smoking fiery pillar, just like at Mt. Sinai, later on. And he passed through the pieces as he promised to bless Abraham.
Now Abraham was startled. And almost every commentator who has ever tried to come to grips with Genesis 15 is startled, because what that means is not just that I will bless you, but he's promising to die if he doesn't bless him. He's promising to be torn to pieces if he doesn't bless Abraham. That's amazing, but that's not all.
Abraham had two shocks. The first shock was that God went through the pieces. The second shock was that Abraham was never called to go through the pieces himself. The ceremony ended, and therefore God made a covenant with Abraham. But this was unheard of! It was amazing for the Lord to come and walk through the pieces, but for the servant not even to make the oath? Do you know what that meant? Abraham knew what it meant, though he didn’t see how it could be. It meant God was making the promise for both of them, and he was taking the curse of the covenant on for both of them. Not only will I be torn to pieces if I don’t keep my promise, I’ll be torn to pieces if you don’t.
Oh Abraham, Abraham, God is saying, and to all of us, Oh world, I will bless you no matter what. Even if it means that my immortality must become mortal. Even if my glory must be drowned in darkness. Even if I have to literally be torn to pieces…..AND HE WAS.
Centuries later, a thick darkness came down on Mt. Cavalry. In the midst of the darkness, there was God in the person of Jesus Christ. And he was literally being torn to pieces….nails, spears, thorns. Why? He was taking the covenant curse.
With his perfect life, Jesus Christ completely fulfilled the terms of the covenant, and he earned the blessing, but with the sacrifice of death, he completely fulfilled the curse of the covenant, and that leaves the blessing for you and me and anyone who lifts the empty hands of faith and asks for it. Jesus Christ fulfilled the conditions of the covenant so that we could be received unconditionally.
Tim Keller summarizes that once you get this, it leads you to paradoxical obedience to God, absolute trust in God, church membership (accountability in our covenant relationships with each other) and getting serious about God.
It's Paul who says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to us all through Jesus Christ. You know what that means? This is the answer to all the riddles.
Paul says in Romans 4 this is how God can be just and justifier of those who believe. This is the ultimate blend of law and love. How so? Are the blessings of God conditional or unconditional? YES. Why? Because on the cross Jesus Christ absolutely fulfilled the conditions of the law, so that God could love you absolutely unconditionally.
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When I (Tricia) heard this message,
and it got to the part where he said "AND HE WAS"...that God was literally torn to pieces
in keeping with his covenant, my jaw dropped. If this was ever explained to me like this before, I cannot recall.I understood that, later, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, the ram God provided was a picture of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I also understood that God was the only one who walked through the animal parts, and that if the person who made the covenant did not keep his promise, that he would wind up like the animals. However, I did not make the connection here that this covenant in Genesis 15 was a picture of what would literally happen to God in the form of Jesus Christ.
It really shook me to the core. I got so excited about it! I couldn't wait to tell everyone I saw. Some people already knew this. Most did not. This revelation about the Abrahamic Covenant physically and mentally exhausted me. It was the best kind of "tired" I have ever been! I would have thought that this would have energized me instead of exhausting me! It is a revelation of our covenant….how it started and the magnitude of what was involved. It almost feels like getting saved all over again!
We need to know, understand and appreciate our covenant. I will always be amazed at what God did in Genesis 15. I will always be amazed at what Jesus Christ did under the New Covenant.
We have something unimaginably wonderful to be thankful for! Have you received the gift of salvation? All you have to do is believe, just like Abraham did.
Next Blog ~
"El Roi," The God Who Sees Me
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