{"id":18607,"date":"2021-12-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/genesis-061-lifes-most-important-issue\/"},"modified":"2022-01-18T12:12:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T18:12:04","slug":"genesis-061-lifes-most-important-issue","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/genesis-061-lifes-most-important-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 061 – Life’s Most Important Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[12],"series_event":[511],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18607","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-genesis","series_event-genesis","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Genesis 061 - Life's Most Important Issue","sermon_date":"20211205","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":19672,"sermon_slides":19673,"sermon_mp3":19674,"sermon_id":"125211439343957","series_or_event":511,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":12,"chapter_and_verse":"15:1-6","sermon_transcript":"Genesis 061 - Life\u2019s Most Important Issue<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBy Andy Woods \u2013 12\/5\/2021<\/em>\r\n\r\nGen 15:1-6<\/em>\r\n\r\n[[@Bible:Gen 15:1-6]]\r\n\r\nAlright! Is the\u2026 children are being dismissed? Let's take our Bibles if we could and open them to the book of Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15 and verse 1 (Gen 15:1) The title of our message this morning is \u201cLife\u2019s Most Important Issue\u201d. See, I always got to figure out a way to get people to listen. So why not call the sermon \u201cLife\u2019s Most Important Issue\u201d? In fact, that\u2019s not just a marketing scheme, this is reality. There is no more important issue to think about, involving the eternity of the soul than what we\u2019re going to speak up this morning in Genesis, 15, verses 1 through 6 (Gen 15:1-6) and as you\u2019re turning to Genesis, Ed did a great job mentioning all of the announcements, just a couple of other things to add to the list is May 14th and 15th, we\u2019re going to be hosting a Prophecy Conference here at Sugar Land Bible Church and you say: Well, why are you picking May 14th? Does anybody know? May 14th is the day of Israel\u2019s birthday and so, we\u2019re going to be having a Prophecy Conference here, Saturday and then extending into our services here on Sunday dealing with the subject of the nation of Israel and so on your way out on the CD table, there\u2019s a little flyer to kind of give you some familiarity of the Conference and the speakers we\u2019re going to have and speaking of Israel, I had a chance to contribute in an article to Arnold Fruchtenbaum\u2019s, I guess he knows I quote him a lot (laughs) in his magazine and there\u2019s a copy of that on the CD table on your way out if you\u2019re interested. If we run out, don\u2019t panic, we'll have plenty more next week. 2:24\r\n\r\nWell, we have been moving through the book of Genesis verse by verse. We have finished Genesis, 1 through 11 which is the beginning of the human race\r\n\r\nGENESIS STRUCTURE\r\n
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    1. Beginning of the Human race (Gen, 1\u201211)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nGenesis, 1-11 (four events)<\/strong>\r\n
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          1. Creation (1-2)<\/li>\r\n \t
          2. Fall (3-5)<\/li>\r\n \t
          3. Flood (6-9)<\/li>\r\n \t
          4. National dispersion (10-11)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n
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              1. Beginning of the Hebrew race (Gen, 12\u201250)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nGenesis, 12-50 (four people)<\/strong>\r\n
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                    1. Abraham (12:1\u201325:11)<\/li>\r\n \t
                    2. Isaac (25:12\u201326:35)<\/li>\r\n \t
                    3. Jacob (27\u201336)<\/li>\r\n \t
                    4. Joseph (37\u201350)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nfeaturing four events, creation, fall, flood, national dispersion and as that has been unfolding, there\u2019s been the tracing of a promise. Genesis, 3, verse 15,(Gen 3:15) the first prophecy of the coming Messiah given in the Bible and you want to keep that in your mind cause that\u2019s going to become a very big, big, big, big deal here today as we look at our verses, verses 1 through 6 and we moved away from the beginning of the human race to focusing on the special nation that is going to bring forth this Messiah, the nation of Israel and so Genesis, 12 through 50 focuses now on this special nation that God is starting and it begins with this patriarch named Abram.\r\n\r\nGenesis, 12\u201214 - Abram\u2019s Early Journeys<\/strong>\r\n
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                      1. \r\n
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                        1. Unconditional promises (Gen 12:1-3)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        2. From Haran to Canaan (Gen 12:4-5)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        3. In Canaan (Gen 12:6-9)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        4. In Egypt (Gen 12:10-20)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        5. Abram and Lot Separate (Gen 13:1-13)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        6. Reaffirmation of Abram\u2019s promises (Gen 13:14-18)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        7. Abram Rescues Lot (Gen 14:1-24)<\/li>\r\n \t
                        8. Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15:1-21)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nHad God not dealt with Abram, we would not have the nation of Israel. If we did have the nation of Israel, we would not have Jesus Christ. We would really have nothing to celebrate this month at Christmas, but we have been tracing the early life and journeys of this man Abram and we now come to which I think is, and I\u2019ll try to make this case as we go through these verses today and the subsequent weeks, this probably is the most important chapter of the Bible, because if you can understand Genesis, 15, you can understand everything that God is doing in the Bible but without this background, a lot of the things God does in the Bible are sort of a strange happening to us, they are a mystery. 4:26\r\n\r\nSo the chapter really has two parts to it, verses 1 through 6 (Gen 15:1-6), the seed promise.\r\n\r\nGenesis 15:1\u201221 - Abrahamic Covenant<\/strong>\r\n
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                              1. Seed Promise Clarified (Gen 15:1-6)<\/li>\r\n \t
                              2. Land Promise Ratified (Gen 15:7-21)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nRemember Abram was told that he would have many seed or children, that promise is clarified verses 1 through 6 (Gen 15:1-6) and then the land promise, Abram was told that he would possess one day all of the land of Canaan, that promise is now ratified into an official covenant verses 7 through 21 (Gen 15:7-21) but this morning we\u2019re only going to have time to take a look at, Lord willing, verses 1 through 6. There\u2019s our outline of verses 1 through 6, as we look at it this morning.\r\n\r\nSeed Promise Clarified - Genesis 15:1-6<\/strong>\r\n
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                                    1. God\u2019s Promise (Gen 15:1)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                    2. Abram\u2019s misunderstanding (Gen 15:2-3)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                    3. God\u2019s clarification (Gen 15:4-5)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                    4. Abram\u2019s response (Gen 15:6)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nGod\u2019s promise verse 1 (Gen 15:1), Abram\u2019s misunderstanding of the promise verses 2 and 3 (Gen 15:2-3), God\u2019s clarification verses 4 and 5 (Gen 15:4-5) and then you get this response from Abram (Gen 15:6). Notice if you will Genesis chapter, 15, verse 1 (Gen 15:1) where the promise is reiterated. Look at this, it says in verse 15 chapter 15, verse 1 (Gen 15:1): After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; and Your reward will be very great\u2026 Notice, first of all, this expression \u201cAfter these things\u201d After what things? After the things that just happened in chapter 14 and chapter 13 and when you take chapter 13 and you take chapter 14 and you put them together, what you learn is that Abram separated himself. He separated himself from Lot, chapter 13 verse 11 (Gen 13:11), he separated himself from the king of Sodom, he would take no spoils or wealth from the king of Sodom because he didn\u2019t want the king of Sodom to think that the king of Sodom made Abram rich and now that this man Abram has separated himself through sanctification, he is willing and able to receive one of the greatest revelations that has ever been given to the human race. 6:50\r\n\r\nSo this is sort of an interesting pattern to us because we oftentimes wonder why the Lord is not blessing. Lord, why are you not blessing this? or why you\u2019re not blessing that? Why are you not blessing me? Why am I not enjoying the intimacy that I once had with you? And the question is, well, have you separated yourself unto the Lord? Or are we still holding on to worldly values, worldly thinking, perpetually dwelling on the world\u2019s way of doing things? Those things will stifle the grace of God, the voice of God, the leading of God, the guidance of God, the illumination of God in your life more than any other single thing. So, Abram is in this position of being able to receive a tremendous blessing because he had separated himself unto God. After these things the word of the lord came to Abram in a vision. Now, Abram is blessed by God. We know that because Genesis, 12, verse 2 (Gen 12:2) God says to Abram: I will bless you\u2026 and one of those blessings is he received seven times, direct communication from God. This particular communication that he\u2019s about to receive apparently took the form of a vision. If you look at verse 1 (Gen 15:1), you\u2019ll see the word vision there. It\u2019s something that Abram, I think, saw and what does God say to Abram? After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear\u2026 Now, this issue of \u201cdo not fear\u201d must be very important because this is what God said to Abram here and it is what God will say to Isaac his son, Genesis, 26, verse 24 (Gen 26:24) and it\u2019s what God is going to say to Jacob, Genesis, 46, verse 3 (Gen 46:3). God keeps saying over and over again to these fountainheads of Israel, the patriarchs, \u201cDo not fear\u201d \u201cDo not be afraid\u201d. Solomon in the book of Proverbs says this (Prov 28:1): The wicked flee when no one is pursuing but the righteous are as bold as the lion. Fear, anxiety is not a condition that is to habitually characterize the life of the child of God. All of us are afraid of different things, but God tells us over and over again, not to yield to fear. In fact, to young Timothy, who was pastoring the church of Ephesus, Paul would write these words: For God\u2026 2nd Timothy, 1, verse 7 (2 Tim 1:7)\u2026 has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline\u2026 If you find yourself today as a child of God constantly in fear, those feelings and thoughts aren\u2019t coming from God, they\u2019re either coming from Satan and his falling angelic realm or they are coming from the sin nature, because God says \u201cDo not fear\u201d. In fact, it\u2019s interesting that when you look at the book of Revelation chapter, 21, verse 8 (Rev 21:8) sometime, it describes unbelievers in the lake of fire and it begins to give their characteristics, what are unbelievers like, and the very first characteristic of unbelievers in Revelation, 21, verse 8 is the cowardly. You know, even before it mentions immoral, sorcerers, murderers, God says the very first thing that characterizes an unbeliever is cowardice, fear, because God has not given us, as His children, a spirit of timidity. 11:02\r\n\r\nIn fact, when you search out how many times in the Bible does it say \u201cdo not fear\u201d? The number I come to is 365 times. Hey, that\u2019s interesting. That\u2019s once for every day of the year. Every day of the year God is telling His people \u201cDo not fear\u201d \u201cDo not be afraid\u201d and there\u2019s a lot of things happening in the world today with shutdowns, lockdowns, government tyranny, loss of jobs, inflation, I mean, there\u2019s a lot of things from the human perspective to be afraid of and yet, God\u2019s word to us is the same yesterday, today and forever. What does God say? Do not fear, do not yield to the emotion of fear but stand on My word and My truth and My promises because what is God going to do for Abraham? Then called Abram? He says there in verse 1 (Gen 15:1): I am a shield to you\u2026 What is a shield? A shield is a protector. We certainly saw that protection going on in Genesis, 14 where a seventy five year old man won a military conflict against an eastern conglomeration of nations that he should have never won. So God says, I\u2019m a shield to you and you saw that, Abram, as I interacted with you in Genesis, 14. You know, it\u2019s interesting that when Job was tested, we learn in early Job, Job chapters 1 and 2 that Job had placed a hedge of protection around Job where Satan could not get into Job\u2019s life without divine permission. That same protection is around me, that same protection is around you. Anything that\u2019s happening in your life is being allowed by God himself for a greater purpose and if therefore, nothing in my life comes into my life without the divine design of God, then why am I always nervous, why am I always fearful? Why are we always afraid? And Abraham, Abram was told \u201cdo not be afraid\u201d. You continue on verse 1 (Gen 15:1) and it says: \u2026 Your reward shall be very great\u2026 God is in the rewarding business, and it\u2019s interesting Abram could have rewarded himself. I mean, Genesis, 14, he could have taken the spoils of war all for himself because of the right of conquest, yet he did not and you see that same pattern in Abram\u2019s life in Genesis, 13 where he tells Lot: Look, whatever land you don\u2019t take, I\u2019ll take, you go west, I\u2019ll go east, you go east, I\u2019ll go west\u2026 and it\u2019s interesting that Abraham was not in a posture in his life where he was always looking out for himself, trying to enrich himself and God sees that and tells Abraham: Don\u2019t worry about rewarding yourself, I\u2019ll reward you. Don\u2019t worry about making your name great as they were doing at the Tower of Babel, I\u2019ll make your name great\u2026 and so many times we lose sight of that, we think that somehow, if we don\u2019t look out for number 1, who will? And yet, the Biblical truth is the words of Christ. Matthew, 6, verse 33 (Matt 6:33): But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things\u2026 What are these things? What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? What are we going to wear? What are we going to put on? How much money is in my retirement account? What\u2019s the interest rate? What\u2019s the inflation rate? God says: Forget about all that, you know be a good steward but seek me first and all these other things I\u2019ll add to you\u2026 Abram is rewarded by God because Abram wasn\u2019t trying to reward himself, and you continue on here in verses 2 and 3 where we move away from the promise to a misunderstanding.\r\n\r\nSeed Promise Clarified - Genesis 15:1-6<\/strong>\r\n
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                                      1. God\u2019s Promise (Gen 15:1)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                      2. Abram\u2019s misunderstanding (Gen 15:2-3)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t
                                      3. God\u2019s clarification (Gen 15:4-5)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                      4. Abram\u2019s response (Gen 15:6)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nLook at verses 2 and 3 (Gen 15:2-3): Abram said, O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus... Verse 3: And Abram said, Since You have given no offspring to me, the one born in my house is my heir\u2026 Abram says: I\u2019m childless and that\u2019s a problem because the last time we checked in with his age it was 75, his wife Sarai was no spring chicken either, she\u2019s ten years behind him, she\u2019s 65 and Abram is saying: Lord, you just told me I\u2019m going to be rewarded but what good is it if I have no heir, if I have no child, I mean, What good is being blessed by you if I have no one to transmit the blessing to? In other words, Abram is sort of complaining: Lord you promised me prosperity but where\u2019s my posterity? I mean, what good does it really do to be the richest person, if you have no one to transfer your blessings to? So, Abram said: Well, I guess Eliezer of Damascus will have to do. 17:21\r\n\r\nNow, this gentleman, Eliezer of Damascus, where did he come from? Well, remember that Abram was called from Ur of the Chaldeans? He was called up to an area called Haran up north, another name for that is the area in and around Damascus and we believe that\u2019s where Eliezer of Damascus joined the household of Abram and then Abram begins to move down south into the land of Canaan, the land of promise which eventually would be called the land of Israel.\r\n\r\nSo he has someone in his household, who is not his natural child and not his natural son and so his assumption is: Well, you know Lord, I guess all of these rewards and blessings you promised me, I guess it\u2019s going to be Eliezer of Damascus who\u2019s going to be an heir to all of these things\u2026 It is interesting that when you get into biblical archeology, somebody actually asked me a question there at the break on biblical archeology, it is interesting to me that the archeological record does not contradict the teachings of the Bible. In fact, the archeological record is filled with evidence that the stories that we\u2019re reading about here are not just stories. These are historical events. This is how it worked in the ancient Near East. Everything we know about the ancient Near East, especially during the time of Abram, works according to what he thinks is going to happen here in verses 2 and 3 (Gen 15:2-3) because the heir, if you didn\u2019t have a natural child, always went to the lead servant in your household. Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes:\r\n\r\nDr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum - The Book of Genesis, <\/em>273\r\n\r\n\u201cThe inheritor Abram had was one of his servants: He that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, who was his chief servant. This statement is in accordance with the Code of Hammurabi<\/em> and the Nuzi Tablets<\/em>: A childless husband and wife were free to adopt their slave in order to have an heir to inherit their possessions.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe inheritor Abram had was one of his servants: He shall be the possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, who was his chief servant. This statement is in accordance with the Code of Hammurabi\u2026 Now, the Code of Hammurabi is a legal code that predates the Law of Moses by at least four centuries\u2026 This statement is in accordance with the Code of Hammurabi and the Nuzi Tablets: A childless husband and wife were free to adopt their slave in order to have an heir inherit their possessions\u2026 So what you are reading about here in terms of what is in Abram\u2019s mind is exactly what we know from the archeological record. This is how it always worked, you have no natural son, you have no natural heir, then your wealth, your prosperity went to your chief servant. 20:29\r\n\r\nI find this very interesting because the liberals have dismissed Genesis, 15 a long time ago. Oh, it\u2019s just a bunch of fables, it never actually happened. Don\u2019t you know that Moses really didn\u2019t write this? They say, these things are the compilation of somebody long after the time of Moses, they deny Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. This all started in Germany in a movement called Higher Criticism in the 19th Century and look at the state of the church is in Germany today, and Europe, and you can see exactly where this liberal thinking leads, it leads into a dead end. As a pastor when I tour Europe, I\u2019m not so much worried about or concerned about all of the liberal thinking that came in through the seminaries, I\u2019m concerned about the churches because the churches there are dead. Christianity by all intents and purposes from the human perspective, Christianity is over in Europe. Europe was the cradle of the Protestant Reformation. What destroyed the churches in Europe? What destroyed it was one attack after another on God\u2019s word, particularly Genesis and yet with the discovery of the Code of Hammurabi, the Nuzi Tablets, all of these things that we have, everything that has happened in Europe could have been avoided if they had consulted the archeological record. If they had the knowledge of archeology that we have today, it\u2019s very doubtful whether Higher Criticism would have ever gotten off the ground and I share these things with you because when you\u2019re watching Mysteries of the Bible, A&E, The History Channel and someone comes on there and they start to spout the party line or the party narrative that the book of Genesis is just a bunch of myths, your children are watching that and your grandchildren are watching that and you need to be in a position to say: Well, that\u2019s not true what they said there through the television. Let me tell you what the archeological record actually says, so I go into these things not to bore you with a bunch of information about archeology, I\u2019m trying to show you that the archeological record is in harmony with the Bible, if anything. It creates a scenario whereby you can say: You know what? The biblical stories make sense therefore, they are not myth and you\u2019ll have an answer. 23:31\r\n\r\nAs 1st Peter, 3, verse 15 (1 Pet 3:15) commands us to give every man an answer for the hope that lies within us with gentleness and respect and we\u2019re in a time in church history in the United States of America when we start needing to be equipped to give answers and you may not have some vast apologetics ministry but I\u2019ll show you where you do have it, you have it in your own house, with your own children, with your own grandchildren who are hearing things from teachers, hearing things from cable, hearing things from television, hearing things from media that simply aren\u2019t true and if you allow those thoughts in those little minds to go unchecked and unfettered then Christianity in the United States will become just like it became in Europe. That\u2019s why these kinds of things matter. So what Abram is saying here makes perfect sense from an archeological perspective, it\u2019s totally consistent with the Code of Hammurabi and I think what you\u2019re seeing here in Abram although he\u2019s seen the hand of God over and over again, is you\u2019re seeing some worldliness still in his thought process, because when God saves us and begins to move us through phase two of our salvation, the middle tense, progressive sanctification, that\u2019s a process. Justification occurs in a nanosecond as we\u2019ll see later, but growth in Christ is a process and there are highs and there are lows and there are ups and there are downs and you might have had some great success with the Lord last week as Abram had in Genesis, 14 but the Lord says: You\u2019re still a work in progress, you\u2019ve still brought into your mind a lot of worldly type things which were there before you were saved and I\u2019m going to have to teach you how to think rightly about this because what we\u2019re going to see is God has a totally different way of doing things. God is not limited by the legal standards of the ancient Near East. He\u2019s the God of the impossible and we\u2019re going to see God speak to that in just a bit. Colossians, 2, verse 8 (Col 2:8) says: See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ\u2026 Abram is still thinking with elementary principles. He\u2019s thinking in terms of this is how the world works and we learn in Genesis, is there anything too hard for the Lord? There\u2019s nothing too hard for the Lord. This issue of childlessness is not a problem as we\u2019ll see. This is why the book of Romans chapter, 12, verse 2 (Rom 12:2) says: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is acceptable and perfect\u2026 that\u2019s the growth process of the Christian, the mental renewal that we\u2019re constantly under and Abram despite these great promises and past successes, is still under that process because he\u2019s still thinking here in a worldly way. This is how the world operates and consequently, verses 4 and 5 (Gen 15:4-5), God then gives a clarification. 27:31\r\n\r\nIf you look there in Genesis, 15, verse 4 (Gen 15:4), it says: Then behold, the word of the LORD came to Abram\u2026 Now, this is the second time in the span of just a few verses where God talks again and Abram as we\u2019ve said was blessed unto God because he\u2019s receiving direct revelation from God. So what did God say to Abram misunderstanding that Oh, I don\u2019t have a child so obviously it\u2019s going to be Eliezer of Damascus who is going to gain the inheritance? God says Genesis, 15, verses 4 and 5 (Gen 15:4-5): Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, This man\u2026 Eliezer of Damascus\u2026 will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body\u2026 a natural son, in other words\u2026 he shall be your heir\u2026 Verse 5 (Gen 15:5): And He took him outside and said, Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your descendants be\u2026 (close quote), coming from your own body, not from Eliezer of Damascus. I mean, the clarification couldn\u2019t be clearer. This business of innumerable descendants coming from your own body, it is in harmony with what we learned earlier in Genesis, 13, verse 16 (Gen 13:16) where God said: I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth\u2026 It\u2019s in harmony with Genesis, 15, verse 5 (Gen 15:5) which says they\u2019ll be as innumerable as the stars, it\u2019s in harmony with Genesis, 22, verse 17 (Gen 22:17) when He says your descendants will be as the sands of the seashore, look at the imagery that\u2019s being used here. Dust of the earth, stars of heaven and sands of the seashore. That\u2019s how many descendants you\u2019re going to have coming from your 75 plus old body. 29:53\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s interesting that God says to Abram here, look at the heavens and count the stars, if you can count them. You have to understand that a statement like that it\u2019s completely ahead of its time. It\u2019s absolutely scientifically prescient in what it says, because as you go through the different philosophers of the different ages, all of them, thought that they can count the stars, you know, they came up with, you can see it in Greek literature, Roman literature, I don\u2019t care what era you\u2019re in, they all thought they were the smartest people of the room, smartest people in the world because they knew how many stars there were. So here we are now in the 20th century\u2026 20th century, 21st century where now we have the Hubble Telescope and as you look through the Hubble Telescope, you suddenly learn that don\u2019t waste your time counting the stars because there are so many of them, it would defy human computation just to come up with a number. Now, how will little old Abram receive this without even the advent of the Hubble Telescope? Because God who designed the universe does not need the Hubble Telescope. He designed it and that\u2019s why as you go through the Bible you\u2019ll see a plethora of statements that are made that are way, way ahead scientifically. There\u2019s wonderful books written about this and I bring these kinds of things up because what people want you to believe is: Oh, well you\u2019re a Christian, you believe in the Bible, you must be kind of an ignoramus, you must be scientifically illiterate\u2026 The fact of the matter is the opposite is true. The Bible is revealing things about so-called science long before human beings should have known these things because God is the one that designed this universe. This universe is a ball, a sphere, the book of Job says, the oldest book of the Bible. I think it\u2019s in Job, 26, verse 7 (Job 26:7) \u201cthat hangs suspended in space.\u201d You want to talk about scientific accuracy? Compare it to what the Quran says, where the earth sits on the back of an elephant (laughs) and that\u2019s why we have earthquakes, cause the elephant is walking (laughs) and people want to say, we are scientifically illiterate and yet the Quran and Islam gets a free pass? And you\u2019ll find these kinds of things over and over again in the Bible, count the stars if you\u2019re able to, hahaha, you can\u2019t count them. Well, how would God know, well, He designed it all. He knows their innumerable character, and God here makes a statement to Abram that seems from the human perspective, and remember Abram\u2019s mind is largely operating still on HVP, human viewpoint, not DVP, divine viewpoint, for the simple reason that he thought his heir was going to be Eliezer of Damascus. 33:33\r\n\r\nFrom the human viewpoint, the whole promise of God seemed absolutely on its face absurd. I mean, it didn\u2019t make any sense. I\u2019m 75 or more, my wife is 65 and here God is telling me that from the womb of Sarah is going to come a nation of people that will be so numerous they\u2019re going to be like stars of heaven, the dust of the earth and the sand of the seashore. I mean if God\u2026 put yourself in Abram\u2019s shoes and God said that to you through direct revelation. What would you do with that? Most of us, I fear to say, would scoff at it. I mean, most of us would probably be so afraid of being ridiculed that if God said that to us we wouldn\u2019t advertise what He said. The whole thing doesn\u2019t make any sense and yet, look at the response of Abram, verse 6 (Gen 15:6): Then he\u2026 that\u2019s Abram\u2026 believed in the LORD\u2026 I mean, he, at some point, put aside human viewpoint, human way of doing things and he said, you know, if God believes it\u2026 if God said it, that settles it. I don\u2019t know if I have to have an explanation for everything. God said it, God can deliver, therefore, I will believe it. Is that you in your walk with the Lord? Some people, I\u2019m sort of envious suddenly, have a lot of faith, a lot more than I have and they will just believe things that they think are from God despite the fact that what they just said makes no sense concerning how the world operates. Abram was one of those types of people, and what exactly did Abram believe? That\u2019s a great question. He believed in the disclosure of God, he believed in the power of God, he believed that God against all odds from the HVP, human viewpoint, could pull it off because after all, He is God and is anything too hard for the Lord? Abram didn\u2019t know how, how God was going to do this, but he knew what God said and he was taken outside, he was given this counting lesson, he was told what he was told by God. It obviously was absurd on its face. I mean, how could I have a child at my age? Why wouldn\u2019t Eliezer of Damascus be my heir? Oh, you know what? It doesn\u2019t matter what I think, the only thing that matters is what God just said, and I believe it, I trust it. Now, most commentators stop the story there. What did Abram believe? Oh, it was just a generic promise of innumerable descendants and I\u2019m here to tell you that the story is a lot more complicated than that. I believe that because Paul the Apostle interprets this story for us in Galatians, 3, verse 16 (Gal 3:16). I don\u2019t know of any better commentator on the Old Testament than the New Testament, amen? I mean, you\u2019re studying a story like this, don\u2019t run off to your favorite commentator, run off to the inspired New Testament and see what the New Testament has to say and Paul the Apostle makes this statement in Galatians, 3, verse 16 (Gal 3:16). Hey! Chapter 3, verse 16, that\u2019s kind of a salvation number, isn\u2019t it? Reminds me of John 3:16. It\u2019s kind of interesting, in our verse divisions of the Bible, two of the most important verses on the issue of salvation are in a chapter 3, verse 16. Easy to remember. 38:05\r\n\r\nPaul commenting on what Abram just experienced here in Genesis, 15, verse 6 (Gen 15:6) says: Now the promises were spoken to Abram and to his seed\u2026 He does not say \u201c and to seeds\u201d as referring to many but rather to one \u201cand to your seed\u201d, that is Christ. Paul picks up on the idea that seed, here\u2019s our fancy word for the day, is a collective singular. You say, well, what is a collective singular? A collective singular is a noun that can be used in the singular or the plural. You say seed, are you talking about an individual sunflower seed, or are you talking about a whole bag of them? The word seed covers both, right? Singular or plural. It\u2019s like the word sheep, when you use the word sheep, you could be referring to a flock or you could be referring to an individual animal. Same with the word hair, by the way. People say: Andy, you need a haircut.. and I don\u2019t say: Oh, what hair are you talking about. I can pull it out right now\u2026 Because hair can be a singular strand or it can be everything on your head, that\u2019s the word seed. What Abram believed according to the commentary of the Apostle Paul in a chapter 3, verse 16 of the Bible was not just a generic promise of many seed being born to him in his old age. Most commentators teach just that and they stop right there cause they don\u2019t factor in the whole counsel of God\u2019s word. Did Abram believe that through his body would come seed as numerous as the stars? Yes, he believed that, but that\u2019s not all, he believed something else. He believed that through this mass amount of seed or descendants would come a seed, an individual coming from a nation. 40:40\r\n\r\nSo when Abram believed the promise of seed, collective singular, he had in his mind the promise of God that through his aged body and that of his wife would come an innumerable nation but from that innumerable nation would come an individual who would be the Savior of the world. Well, where did Abram get the idea that an individual was going to come? Aren\u2019t you glad that we\u2019ve been studying the book of Genesis verse by verse? Because all the way back in Genesis, 3, verse 15 (Gen 3:15) this singular individual is predicted: I will put enmity Between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel\u2026 Eve from your lineage is coming somebody who\u2019s going to crush Satan, an individual. That\u2019s why when Cain was born, Genesis, 4, verse 1 (Gen 4:1) it says: The man had relations with his wife Eve, she conceived and she gave birth to Cain, and said, I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD\u2026 with the help of<\/em> is in italics in the English translation meaning it\u2019s not there in the original. What she actually said is: I have begotten a manchild, the Lord\u2026 She thought she'd given birth to the Messiah. Why would she think such a thing? Because his coming was announced in Genesis, 3, verse 15 (Gen 3:15). That was the reason for her case of mistaken identity and then we read what Lamech said to Noah his son (Gen 5:29): Now he called his name Noah, saying, This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed\u2026\u00a0 Noah is the one that\u2019s going to fix the curse. Why would Lamech think that about Noah? Why the case of mistaken identity? Because the coming of the Messiah is predicted in Genesis, 3 verse 15 (Gen 3:15) and then we learn that Noah has three sons and this Messianic channel is going to come through the lineage of Shem (Gen 9:26) and then the lineage of Shem was ultimately traced to Abram, the patriarch of the nation of Israel where God says concerning Abram (Gen 12:3): Through you the whole world will be blessed... Meaning that this coming one who\u2019s going to crush Satan\u2019s head is coming through your lineage and that\u2019s why there\u2019s this Messianic chart starting with Genesis, 3, verse 15 going through Seth, going through Noah, going through Shem, ultimately coming to Abram.\r\n\r\nGod\u2019s Messianic Purposes Beginning in Genesis\r\n
                                          \r\n \t
                                        • Proto-evangelium<\/em> from Adam & Eve (Gen 3:15)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Seth (Gen 4:25)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Noah (Gen 5:29)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Shem (Gen 9:26)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Abraham (Gen 12:3)<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Isaac (Gen 21:12)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Jacob (Gen 25:23)<\/li>\r\n \t
                                        • Judah (Gen 49:10)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThis is why they all had a knowledge of this coming Messiah and you wouldn\u2019t believe the Old Testament scholars that are extremely critical of this interpretation. Oh, you\u2019re reading the New Testament back into the Old, they say. No, I\u2019m not, I\u2019m simply following what the Messianic expectation was in Old Testament times. They all knew this Messiah was coming and Paul says, Abram knew\u2026 and so when God made to Abram a promise that seemed absolutely ridiculous, you have to understand what Abram believed. He didn\u2019t just believe in the generic promise of many seed, he believed in the promise that there\u2019s coming \u201ca seed\u201d, who\u2019s going to fix the world\u2019s problems related to sin and he believed it. The truth of the matter folks is the plan of salvation, as you go through the Bible, it\u2019s always the same. It\u2019s always faith alone in Christ alone. It\u2019s just Abram was looking forward and didn't know the name Jesus. We look backward and we do know the name Jesus. We are looking backward two thousand years, Abram is looking forward two thousand years, but it\u2019s the exact same person of Jesus Christ. That\u2019s who Abram was trusting in, or relying upon and what did God do? Because Abram believed this promise? It\u2019s at the end of verse 6 (Gen 15:6), it says: Then he\u2026 that\u2019s Abram\u2026 believed in the LORD; and He\u2026 that\u2019s the Lord\u2026 reckoned it to him for righteousness\u2026 and of course, the Bible is obviously Texan because it uses this word \u201creckon\u201d, right? In fact, there\u2019s no doubt in my mind that Paul could not be Texan because Paul said he was content no matter what state he was in (laughs), but the thing to understand here is the moment Abram believed in that promise is the moment God reckoned it to him for righteousness. Watch this very carefully cause if you miss this, you miss the whole point of Christianity. Abram was righteous cause God made him righteous positionally. 46:48\r\n\r\nThe Protestant Reformers called this \u201calien righteousness\u201d Why is it alien righteousness? Because it\u2019s coming from a source outside of ourselves. It\u2019s transferred to us at the point of faith. Paul in the New Testament talks about this in the book of Philippians chapter, 3 and verse 9 (Phil 3:9) and he says: \u2026may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own\u2026 Did you hear that?... not having a righteousness of my own as derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God\u2026 See that? it\u2019s alien, it\u2019s foreign, it\u2019s something that\u2019s transferred to you\u2026 on the basis of faith\u2026 I don\u2019t know about you but I\u2019ll tell you this much about myself. I have no desire or interest in standing before God one day in my own righteousness, which when you think about it it\u2019s not worth that much anyway. God does not call us to stand before Him one day through our own loin coverings and our own self-righteousness and our own religiosity and our own good intentions. If that\u2019s what you\u2019re going to do, best of luck to you. We stand before God through His righteousness which was alien, which was foreign, it was transferred to us at the point of faith. The NIV has a very interesting translation of this, it says: Abram believed in the LORD, and He\u2026 that\u2019s God\u2026 credited it to him as righteousness\u2026 Now, we all know what credit is, right? Particularly this time of the year, we love credit, because credit allows us to get goodies with no payment. The day of payment is postponed. Abram got this whole package from God, transferred righteousness on credit. Why did he get it on credit? Because it hadn\u2019t been paid for yet. When would it be paid for? Two thousand years later in the person of Jesus Christ. Abram, looking forward by faith, not knowing the name Jesus, trusts in a promise of God which seems irrational and God gave Abram righteousness on credit even though it hadn\u2019t been paid for. It\u2019s the exact same way that we\u2019re saved today, the difference is we look backward, we do know the name Jesus and we don\u2019t receive it on credit, because it\u2019s already been paid for and what you\u2019ve stumbled into here in Genesis, 15, verse 6 (Gen 15:6) is the Apostle Paul\u2019s favorite Bible verse. I mean, Paul, of all of the things in the Bible he could have quoted, he quotes this all the time. Romans, 4, verse 3 (Rom 4:3), Romans, 4, verse 9 (Rom 4:9), Romans, 4, verse 22 (Rom 4:22), Galatians, 3, verse 6 (Gal 3:6). Paul keeps quoting Genesis, 15, verse 6: Abram believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. 50:42\r\n\r\nWhy does Paul like this verse so much? The answer is Paul was dealing with Pharisees. You say well, what\u2019s a Pharisee? A Pharisee, in the time of Paul, was somebody trying to mix obedience to the law with faith to be justified before God. The Pharisees were always mixing the two together. Everywhere Paul went he dealt with Pharisees and that\u2019s why Paul keeps quoting this verse, because when you study this verse in context, in chronology, which is what you do when you move through the Bible verse by verse, is you learn that Abram could not have been justified by faith plus circumcision. Well, why not? Genesis, 15 comes before Genesis, 17, you guys agree with me on that? Genesis, 17, circumcision is implemented amongst the Hebrews. We\u2019re not even there in Genesis, 17 or in Genesis, 15. How could Abram be justified by circumcision when there was no such thing in terms of implementation from God? How about people that say: Hey! You\u2019ve got to be justified by believing but you\u2019ve also got to keep the law. What does Paul do? He quotes Genesis, 15, verse 6 (Gen 15:6) because he says: You\u2019re not paying attention to the chronology of the Bible because the law of God would not be handed down for another six hundred years. So if the law of God is not handed down for another six hundred years, obviously Abram wasn\u2019t justified before God by the law, there was no law. He wasn\u2019t justified by circumcision, because there is no circumcision.\r\n\r\nWhat does justify mean? It\u2019s a forensic declaration of righteousness, that\u2019s what it is. It\u2019s a legal term. It\u2019s what a jury does. Your honor, not guilty. How could heaven itself declare you not guilty? Because you don\u2019t stand before God in your own righteousness, that\u2019s why you\u2019re not guilty. You stand before God in alien righteousness, transferred righteousness, righteousness from outside of yourself and when we understand this, we understand very quickly how Phariseeism is, we don\u2019t have the Pharisees exactly like the Bible describes them, but we\u2019ve got them. It\u2019s the world of religion, who\u2019ll always tell you something like this: Well, I\u2019m glad you trusted in Christ for salvation but you\u2019ve got to live a certain way, you\u2019ve got a give a certain way, you\u2019ve got to do this, you\u2019ve got to do that and my response to that is: Get your \u201cbut\u201d out of the way! (laughs) We don't say: You believe in Jesus but\u2026 Get your \u201cbut\u201d out of the way (laughs) Am I saying this from a pulpit in the church? Because there is no but. Do you see a conjunction \u201cbut\u201d here? Is there anything in this verse that says but? All it says is he believed in the Lord, generic promise of seed, individual seed coming, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. This is so easy. How have we mess this up? I\u2019ll tell you how we\u2019ve messed this up. Because if you believe this you don\u2019t get any credit. You don\u2019t get to stroll into heaven as proud as a peacock saying Lord, look at what I did for you. This is why the world of religion thrives, because it feeds on the pride of men. If anything that will abase you and bring you to humility in the Bible, nothing will do it faster than this doctrine here, because you get no credit, it was credited to you, it was given to you, it was transferred to you as a gift because someone else paid the price that we memorialize today at the Lord\u2019s table. 55:39\r\n\r\nGalatians, 3, verse 29 (Gal 3:29) therefore calls us Abraham's descendants. We are Abraham\u2019s seed, the Greek word translated \u201cseed\u201d is \u201csperma\u201d where you get the word obviously \u201csperm\u201d Why in the world is little old me called the seed of Abraham? Is it because that we, as the church, have taken over Israel\u2019s position? The reformed community will tell you that. They will tell you that\u2019s what this verse means. The truth of the matter is, we\u2019re not the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is what is necessary to be Israel. We are the seed, singular, the word promise there, singular. We are the seed of Abraham, he does not call us, Paul the Apostle in Galatians, 3, verse 29 (Gal 3:29), the seed of Abraham because suddenly we\u2019ve taken over Israel's position. He calls us the seed of Abraham for this very simple reason and he uses the singular noun promise there for this reason: We\u2019re justified before God personally, the exact same way Abraham was. The only difference is Abraham was looking forward by faith not knowing the name Jesus and what he received from God, he received it on credit. We are justified before God the exact same way. The only difference is we\u2019re looking two thousand years backward, where Abram was looking two thousand years forward. We do not receive it on credit because it\u2019s been paid in full and we do know the name Jesus Christ. Other than those dissimilarities, the plan of salvation is exactly the same. We are the seed of Abram. This is why Lewis Sperry Chafer tells us that:\r\n\r\nBelief - God\u2019s One Condition for Justification\r\n\r\n\u201c\u2026because upwards of 150 passages of Scripture condition salvation upon believing only (cf. John 3:16; Acts 16:31).\u201d\r\n\r\nLewis Sperry Chafer, vol. 7, Systematic Theology<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), 265-66.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\u2026upwards of 150 passages of Scripture condition salvation upon believing only\u2026 A hundred and fifty times the New Testament tells us this, not circumcision, not the law, not Phariseeism, not obedience, not religiosity, not good intentions, but because you put your faith in a person. That\u2019s what saves you. There are many, many classic examples of this: You know John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life\u2026 Easy. How about this? Life\u2019s most important question from the Philippian jailer, what must I do to be saved? Can you think of a more important question to ask than that? I can\u2019t. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said: Circumcision, law, Phariseeism, church attendance, giving regularly, it doesn\u2019t say anything like that. I mean, my goodness! He didn\u2019t even tell the Philippian jailer to walk an aisle. What kind of evangelistic school did Paul and Silas go to? Didn\u2019t even tell them to fill out a card? He didn\u2019t even say: Okay, bow your head, close your eyes and repeat after me. He just simply said: Believe, because that\u2019s all the Bible requires. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said (Acts 16:30-31), Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed, in this case, He\u2019s already come, and hang in there and be tough and I hope you make it in the end, No. He gave him immediate assurance of salvation: You will be saved. See, a lot of times when I\u2019m teaching verse by verse, I try to give the Gospel at the end and it\u2019s kind of hard sometimes to cram it in there, cause sometimes it doesn\u2019t always exactly relate to the passage. 1:00:10\r\n\r\nI don\u2019t think I have that problem today, because you just saw in these verses the most crystallized clear articulation of the Gospel that you could find. So there's really no need for me to rearticulate the Gospel, it\u2019s already been articulated. The only thing you need to do is believe it. \u201cBelieve\u201d is another way of saying trust, reliance upon, dependence upon a person and in this case it\u2019s the person of Jesus Christ who came two thousand years ago that we memorialized at the Lord\u2019s table. I hope as the spirit of God takes these truths and convicts people either in the building or online or listening or viewing in archive format after the fact or reading the transcript that they would respond to this simple message and secure their future by believing or trusting in the Lord.\r\n\r\nShall we pray? Father we\u2019re grateful for this man Abram, we are grateful for learning about his successes and even some of his shortcomings and we know Father that the way you work is different than the way the world does. Help us to walk out this week even as we move now into the Christmas season, focused on the birth of your son, that Jesus has been born. He has paid the penalty for all of our sins and by receiving what He did by faith as a free gift, we receive the alien transferred imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ where God the Father looks at us as if we\u2019re just as pure as His Son. What a message to proclaim, to think about and to share at this time of the year. We pray you\u2019ll do this great work. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name and God\u2019s people said, Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t