The Abrahamic Covenant or the unconditional, unilateral covenant of God.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

The specifics are all on the part of certain things you have to do - the negatives. While the land is specified as to directions, there is certainly no detail here that encourages obedience.

This is a picture of the fact that there are many commands in the Bible that we are told to obey without God telling us what type of blessings we will receive if we fulfill them. No details are given on the blessings in the promise land until the obedience has been fulfilled.

This is why there are times that we are told to go in a certain direction but not necessarily told what lies directly ahead of us if we do.

JOH 21:19 He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.
JOH 21:19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”
JOH 21:22 Jesus said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you? You - follow me.”

You must have enough trust in the Promiser and faith in His ability to give you what you need and what will make you happy.

We should obey not to receive something but to honor our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

ACT 20:24 “I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

A lot of times you do not see the objective or the place of blessing.

PHI 1:21 For me, living is Christ, likewise dying is profit.

PHI 3:7-8 But whatever quality of things were gains to me, those things [gains] I have concluded as an expert as loss for the sake of Christ. Not only this but more than this, I conclude as an expert all things [Paul’s pre-salvation human celebrityship and achievement] to be loss [singular] because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have forfeited all things, also, I keep on concluding as an expert them to be piles of dung in order that I may win for Christ,

Until Abram becomes a good recruit where he will go ahead and obey an order without questioning it, he’s not any good to God.

You have to learn to obey God and do it whether you feel like it or not, and once you do then you continue your spiritual growth.

For Abram, the only thing that is obscure in the order from God is the command to go to the land; not much is said about the land.

So far, all the details are related to separation geographically and separation personnel wise.

HEB 11:8 By means of doctrine resident in the soul, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

What God does not make clear to us through personal revelation of His word in us, He intends for us to operate by means of faith, trusting in the object of faith, God Almighty.

A lot of the details are not given on the land yet, that will come later, so therefore the land is to be the object of faith.
Just like God tells us to reach certain stages of spiritual growth and we will be blessed.

God gives us many promises and to believe the promises of God is one of the greatest manifestations of spiritual common sense.

If God doesn’t give you details on the objective then obey without details on the objective.

God is going to test all of us in our lives to advance without a lot of encouragement and to do it just because He said to, without having to have a pat on the head.

EPH 1:16 I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
1CO 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, I am with you in spirit,

If it is hard work for the teacher then it’s easy work for the student.
The harder it is for the teacher, the easier it is for the student.

In the spiritual realm there must be a relationship between your personal motivation and your spiritual life.

PRO 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.

To believe the promises of God before you see the result of them is the greatest demonstration of growing up spiritually.

“What is the Abrahamic Covenant?”
A covenant is an agreement between two parties.
There are two types of covenants: conditional and unconditional. A conditional or bilateral covenant is an agreement that is binding on both parties for its fulfillment. Both parties agree to fulfill certain conditions.

If either party fails to meet their responsibilities, the covenant is broken and neither party has to fulfill the expectations of the covenant. An unconditional or unilateral covenant is an agreement between two parties, but only one of the two parties has to do something. Nothing is required of the other party.

The ceremony recorded in Genesis 15 indicates the unconditional nature of the covenant. Reward - “sakar” = “your benefit”

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In verses 5-7, we see these three pictures, all of which serve to illustrate the point that the One who made the covenant or the promises has the ability to keep them.