Sojourners : Introducing Abraham and Sarah
[powerpress] As we move through life as sojourners, God gives us continued tokens of His grace by providing reminders about both the people we are to become in Christ and the mission that we are on. In the life of Abram, God confirmed His promises through the covenant of circumcision, which gives us a prophetic picture of God's continued work in our stories today. As we finish our Sojourners series, we will study the ongoing journey of Abram and Sarai, unpacking the meaning of circumcision, observing the benefits of the cutting and, finally, identifying who can be a candidate for the covenant.
The Meaning of Circumcision
Genesis 17:1-14 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
We begin with the gospel by understanding that Abram was told to live a blameless life. For you this perfect life was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. The life of obedience that follows is out of both a thankful heart and love for your savior.
After we understand the gospel, we see that God is faithful and reminds Abram of His promises repeatedly. This was now the third time that God repeats His covenant promises about the inheritance that He would give him of descendants and land. (After making the initial promise in Genesis 12, the first two reminders were in Genesis 13 and 15.)
What this tells us about God is that: 1) God is unwavering. It had been 25 years since God initially made the promise about Abram becoming a mighty nation and still he was waiting for it to materialize. He was doing all that he knew to do and was waiting for God to come through. Though your emotions may vary, your focus may wander and your drive may fail you at times, God is steadfast in His purposes for your life and does not change His mind. 2) God's call on your life is not individualized. The call on Abram's life was to become a great nation of people who would be the seed-bed of returning a fallen world to the worship of the Creator of all the known universe, the one true God inevitably revealed in Jesus Christ. His descendants would take possession of and shape the territory that God gave them as an inheritance with the kingdom of God. Your call is part of the larger context of what Jesus is doing in the earth through His church. When people think that the call of God is solely about them, they are, in essence, trying to reduce God to a life coach and have missed the point. It is all about Jesus' fame and His kingdom coming to earth as it is in Heaven.
God then gives the sign of His covenant, His purposeful relationship with Abram, by introducing circumcision. It was to be symbolic of a cutting away of that which had been corrupted by the world (Joshua 5:9).
Is there a correlation today?
Circumcision is one of those axes on which both covenants turn, having application in the Old Testament as a definitive foreshadowing of the New Testament life.
The covenant of circumcision in the Old Testament is synonymous with the sacrament of baptism in the New Testament.
Colossians 2:9-15 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Do you need to be baptized?
Once you are baptized, the Holy Spirit continues to circumcise your heart in an ongoing fashion to form you into the image of Jesus.
The Benefits of the Cutting
Your identity is shaped and your purpose defined as you avail yourself to Jesus' discipleship process.
Genesis 17:15-22 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
The places that you've felt barren in life can be the very place that God is bringing about your supernatural promise.
The covenant of circumcision sets us up for the the doctrine of sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Once you repent (turn away) from your sin and come to faith in Jesus Christ, you are justified (counted innocent in the site of God solely because of Jesus' substitutionary, atoning work on the cross for you). You are at that moment counted as clean in God's sight. Then, like Jesus, the rest of your existence is an ever increasing work of learning to live in the glory of your life as a holy creature - being set apart for God's pleasure and purposes.
This is what the apostle Paul spoke of when he said this:
Romans 8:29-30 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
It was when Abram embraced the covenant of circumcision that it resulted in the change of his name and identity. As a result, the trajectory and impact of both Abram and Sarai's lives were greatly increased.
Abram means "exalted father." Abraham means "father of many." People have lived in such a manner as to solely find honor for themselves. Through circumcision, God brings you into a ministry of greater responsibility where your impact in others' lives for the gospel is multiplied as you submit to the true King. Through your service, your life isn't so small anymore.
Sarai means "dominative" (dominating and controlling). Sarah means "princess." A princess helps to govern, but is not ultimately in charge. Through circumcision, God brings you into a ruling ministry as you allow Jesus to hold the reigns of your life.
In what area are you presently being circumcised? In what area do you need to be circumcised?
C.S. Lewis said this:
"The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand your whole self - all your wishes and precautions - to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call 'ourselves', to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be 'good'. We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their way - centred on money or pleasure or ambition - and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastly and humbly. And that is exactly what Christ warned us you can not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book 4, ch 8)
Candidates for the covenant
Everyone who is willing to be circumcised/sanctified is a candidate for the covenant of Jesus.
Genesis 17:23-27 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
It is for both the young and old, for those who've just begun their walks with Jesus as well as those who have never really submitted to the cutting process allowing someone to speak into their lives. Community groups are a great place for this.
Though the cutting away of things in our lives may hurt, it is ultimately for Jesus' glorification, your sanctification and to each your joy.
How are you circumcised?
You are circumcised by the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. He often utilizes your interaction with and submission to other believers as they encourage you with the truth of God's Word as a means to do so.
Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Spiritual family through a local church should be a foundation in your life, not just another social network. Dig your heels in somewhere and allow Jesus to shape you.
Who do you allow to speak the Word of God into your life? What do you do when someone wants to? Who do you regularly encourage with the truth of God's Word?
How do I find God's grace and help in the midst of this process? Remain in the vine.
John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
What Jesus is telling us here is that if you've been around the things of God for a period of time, it does not mean that you've graduated from the sanctification process. Those who think that they have, have just become used to their sin, and lost a passion for seeking Jesus.
Where have you become complacent? Where has your love grown cold? How do you treat your spouse? How do you relate to your children? How do you speak about those at work or in your church when they are not around?
The closer you are to Jesus, the more you see your need for sanctification. The more you seek Him, the greater the help of the Holy Spirit to do just that in your life.
What is it it that needs to be circumcised in your life?
“Grant, O Lord my God, that I may never fall away in success or in failure; that I may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let me rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May I strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except Yourself. May I see always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May I shun any joy that is without You and never seek any that is beside You. O Lord, may I delight in any work I do for You and tire of any rest that is apart from You. My God, let me direct my heart towards You, and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment.” ― St. Thomas Aquinas
Because of His goodness, God reminds us continually of the covenant that He's made with us and the direction in which He's taking us. Jesus intends to enable us to fulfill His call through a continued process of sanctification, a cutting that graciously takes place by the hand of the Holy Spirit. He uses His community, the church, to aid in this process. Whether young or old, let's meet Jesus today at the cross to allow Him to continue to give us the identity and an inheritance that submission to His ways provides.
Second City Church- Sojourners Sermon Series 2014