5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will beAbraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. - P152
6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations ofyou, and kings will come from you. - P152
8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside asa foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession toandyourdescendants afteryou;and I will be their you God." - P152
[NIV] 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, theLORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty;walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I willmake my covenant between me and you and will greatlyincrease your numbers."
- P152
10 This is my covenant with you and
after you, the covenant you are to keep:
Every male among you shall be
circumcised.
- P153
11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant
between me and you.
- P153
Abram falls on his face when the Lord
appears to him. We see manypeople get
into this posture throughout the Bible. It
expresses humility before the Almighty. - P154
When we come before God in worship,
we must do it with a humble attitude,
recognizing His supreme Lordship
over all. - P154
Abram rightly understands this when God exercises His authority by changing his
name to Abraham and speaking His covenantal promises over him. - P154
Our relationship with God is one of intimacy as well as deep reverence
when we become fully aware of our
position before Him. - P154
The next time you go before God in worship, remember the privilege that He has
given you and approach Him in total
humility. - P154
God‘s covenant with Abraham is not limited to him or even his prom-ised son that will be born through Sarah. The covenant includes allof Abraham‘s descendants, both his physical and spiritual children.
- P154
According to Galatians 3:7, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham,
of the same household of faith. - P154
God had us in mind when He madethis covenant with Abraham, even though we
possess no direct link to Abraham‘s race
or bloodline! - P154
It is certainly amazing to think that God
was thinking of each one of us when
He made this promise long ago.
- P154
May this truth empower us to go into all
the world to bring God‘s sons
and daughters into His family through the gospel. - P154
"As God made a covenant with Abraham to be his God, so God in Christ makes anew covenant with us to be our God." - Sidney Greidanus - P154
Likewise, name changes in the Bible often mean the start of a new identity. - P155
There are many different examples of
this in Scripture: Jacob became Israel after he wrestledwith God; Simon became Peter, a rock and pillar of the church; andin Revelation 2:17, God‘s faithful ones are promised a new name. - P155
Heavenly Father, I humbly come before You, for You alone are worthy ofmy worship even though I am unworthy on account of my sin. - P155
[NLT] 15 Then God said to Abraham, "Regarding Sarai, your wife-her name will nolonger be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. 16 And I will bless her and giveyou a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of manynations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants." - P156
19 But God replied, "No-Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You willname him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as aneverlasting covenant. - P156
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and Ishmael,
his son, was thirteen. 26 Both Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised onthat same day,
27 along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether they were bornthere or bought as servants. All were circumcised with him. - P157
When God tells Abraham that he will have a son, Abraham laughs atthe highly improbable thought that he would father a child at suchan old age. - P158
Interestingly, God uses this moment to choose a name for Abraham‘s son: Isaac,
meaning"laughter." What begins as an expressionof awkward embarrassment will turninto joy when we see God‘s promise
fulfilled. - P158
Right now, we may experience tension and uncertainty about how things will turn
out in our lives, and we may not always
know the right response to the situations we face. - P158
But we should be confident that all will
be well. When God is finished with His work, wewill look back and laugh with uncontainable joy.
God tells Abraham that He will establish
His covenant with Isaac instead of Ishmael.
Ishmael is Abraham‘s firstborn son, but he is the result of Abraham‘s efforts. - P158
Isaac, on the other hand, will be born out of God‘s grace. - P158
God does not save us
because we worked hard and did things
according to our own capacities. - P158
Rather, He saves us precisely because
there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. - P158
If we try to accomplish God‘s plans
outside of God‘s ways, we will fail. - P158
But if we walk in faithful obedience to
His will, walking with Him step by step and waiting forHis timing, then He will demonstrate His power through us so that Hecan
receive all the glory. - P158
"The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether webelieve the God we believe in."- R. C. Sproul - P158
Lord God, let me never become indifferent to how amazing You are or grow
dull toward Your wonderful work in my life. - P159
Cause my heart to recount all Yourblessings so that I remain unwavering in my trust that You will accomplish Yourplans for me. In Jesus‘ name, amen. - P159
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