about reading a few verses from Matthew 1 and some verses from Galatians 3. So, Matthew 1 and Galatians 3, we're in cycle 2, which means we're going over the covenant and the covenants of grace, the successive supplemental covenants of the one covenant of grace. And so those two things, we want to extenuate the unity and also the diversity of the one covenant of grace is that there is one covenant of grace in history that begins in Genesis 3.15. But because it's successive and because it's progressive and because each covenant expands upon the other covenants, that come prior, it is also plural. So, the covenant and covenants, that's why it's singular and plural. There's one covenant of grace, but there are successive covenants in the outworking of that one covenant. And there are two primary epics, and that's easy to remember, isn't it? Because when we look at our Bible's table of contents, we're given two epics. What are the two epics? The old, and the new. That makes it easy, right? You know, when you're looking at the Bible like that and you think of the old covenant and the new covenant, it can make you think, it can confuse you a bit, right? So one way to remember the old covenant and the new, I think, that's always helpful, is you can put in parentheses in your Bible, above or below old, put promise. And then for new put fulfillment because that's what the Bible teaches about itself is that the reason it's old is not because it has completely passed away but because it has been fulfilled. Remember Jesus's statement in Matthew 5 17 he said I didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets I came to fulfill them. So you can see the two epics as a time of promise and a time fulfillment. I think that's helpful. So today, looking on the board, as folks are coming in, we're going to repeat, review the main theme of covenant overview. Then we're going to review the Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic, Abraham, Moses and David covenants. We're going to look at the covenant of grace and two important aspects of it. And then we're going to look at the Mosaic Davidic covenants to prepare us for our next class. Today, we're going to take the most time just looking at our Bibles at the covenant made with Abraham in its four parts, okay, or four parts, four parts or aspects. So, turning in your Bibles to Matthew 1, I want to begin there. And it's important to remember that God has given us a story. He's given us a drama of redemption. And so, it's progressively revealed. We've looked at all those things, and perhaps those things are now basic truths you know, but also very profound truths, because there's much that we could say about that. But God's given us a story and not a systematic theology. He didn't drop a systematic theology out of the sky, though what's in the story is full of good theology that we can systematize, right? But the story that he gives us is that story that we looked at in four parts, creation, fall, redemption and new creation consummation. Well, second, cycle two focuses on the covenants. And one reason why we want to focus on the covenants is because it is so central to the storyline of the Bible. It is the glue, if you will, that holds all of the scriptures together. It's the chapter headings of the story. And we see this in Matthew. When Matthew begins his gospel, he begins by rooting the history of Jesus Christ in the history of God's covenants with his people. If you notice in Matthew 1.1, that's full of covenant implications here. He says, of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. So in the first verse of the New Covenant, of the New Testament, of the time of fulfillment, you get this overview, this covenantal overview that roots the story of Jesus Christ back to the covenants made with Abraham and David. And of course, implicit in that is the covenant made with Moses, all right? But you can see how very important it is to trace Jesus's genealogy back to Abraham because he's the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. So that's why verse 2 tells us Abraham was the father of and then Isaac and Jacob. And then at verse 6, we have David the king and David was the father of Solomon. And then at verse 17, we have all the generations from Abraham to David were 14. David to the deportation to Babylon, 14, that's the exile, and then from the deportation to Babylon, or the exile, to the Christ, 14. So you have the New Testament opening with this covenantal overview. Very important, isn't it? All right, so that's just to remind us why this cycle two is interested in looking at the big picture and using covenants because it's a biblical concept and the covenants really are what holds the story together. Another passage I want us to look at as we look more deeply into the covenant made with Abraham today is Galatians three. So if you'll turn to Galatians three, I want you to see a few things. I think because of time, what I'll do is I'll read through this, and I want to comment as I go through. I don't want to get in the way of the scripture, but I'd like to just draw out some implications specifically for this class and the next couple of classes on covenants. But in Galatians 3, Paul, the apostle, in the time of fulfillment, is under the inspiration of the Spirit. He's interpreting the covenant with Abraham and Moses. And there's a tension that we often note, and you will note it, I think, more as we look at it. When you look at the covenant with Abraham and then the covenant with Moses, there can be some confusion because of it. That's an inspired truth that there'll be some tension that you'll feel because that's why Paul wrote Galatians 3, was to help relieve that tension. And yet when you hear the Abrahamic promise that we'll look at today and you get to the law, we can often be confused as to how the law plays a part. In fact, some have come to the conclusion that the Mosaic covenant or the law as it's revealed with Moses, it was a time of works righteousness. And that's what Paul is arguing against. He's saying, no, no, no, no, no, may it never be. It was always of grace. It was another aspect of the covenant of grace. It always expanded. And it built on Abraham's covenant. And so, with that in mind, listen very carefully to Galatians 3. Beginning in verse 6, he says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. That's the context. Paul's wanting to state that the Old Testament believers beginning with Abraham, particularly using Abraham because he was the father of Israel, the father of the Jews. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Verse 7, that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. So it's not just whether you're ethnic Israel or not, it's that you have faith like Abraham had. And that's Paul's most important point that he makes in Galatians three is that we're saved through the promise that is Christ. As Abraham was saved, that all who are true believers are saved through faith in God's promise, who is Christ. Verse eight. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. So very important to note here that the Abrahamic covenant is another way of saying the gospel, that what is presented to Abraham is the gospel. It's the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ and his salvation mercy. that's found through believing God. And so we're taught then, verse 9, that those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. So all true believers are those who have, by faith, received and believed, rested upon God's promise in Christ that's revealed in the covenant made with Abraham. And so then he contrasts it with the law that was revealed in the time of Moses many years later after Abraham. And he says, just summarizing verses 10 through 13, that no one can live the law. No one can earn righteousness. It's always been a faith. All true believers in Israel have believed by faith. And the law was not to cause us to think we could work out our salvation, that we could work for our salvation, I should say. So verse 14 says, in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. So the spirit is received, that great promise of the gospel we receive in Christ. is received by faith alone, not because of works we've done, but simply because of Christ's works for us. And so then he goes on to contrast the two. Verse 15, he says, to give a human example, even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it's been ratified. And verse 16, very important for us for this understanding, of the covenant of grace and the covenants in the covenant of grace. Verse 16, now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring or to his seed. It does not say and to seeds or to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring, who is Christ. So. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul wants to emphasize the singularity of the promise to Abraham and his seed was not first and foremost to a people, to plural people, but to a person, the Lord Jesus, who would, in the fullness of time, perfectly fulfill all of the covenant obligations on behalf of believers, both in the old covenant and in the new. But the point is that it's Jesus, but it's not Jesus alone. It is Jesus and all those who trust in him. All right, so it is Jesus as a priority That's what Paul's saying. Is that that the promise is Is is made to Abraham and his seed particularly to Abraham and through Abraham to Christ But then that's not the end of the story. He goes on to say At the end of chapter 3 Listen to verse 26 verses 26 to 29. This is where all believers come into play That's very important to pick up on in Galatians 3 26 to 29 I think this is the key to understanding the the person of Christ and the promise of Christ even in the Old Covenant So Paul says under the inspiration of the Spirit in verse 26 in Christ Jesus. You're all sons of God through faith. I And then he says, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And verse 29, most important, keep verses 16 and 29 together in your thoughts when you're studying about the covenant. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. So you see, the promise made to Abraham is first to Jesus Christ, and then through Jesus Christ to all who believe, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, both in the time of the promise and in the time of the fulfillment. The hope of salvation comes only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. All right? Is everybody clear on that? So that helps us then to remember the main theme of cycle two, I think, and we'll look at that in a moment, but let's pray and ask God to help us as we go into this study to try to go deeper into our understanding of the covenant, and particularly the covenant made with Abraham. All right, let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you that all of your promises are yes and amen in Christ, and they always have been. We thank you that we can trace these promises in history back to your great gospel message that you preached to Adam and Eve after the fall in Genesis 315, that a seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. and that you would place enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And we're grateful, Lord, that through your covenantal mercies, your electing mercies, we have this headwaters of the covenant of grace with Abraham, where the seed of the woman is called forth from darkness and made your son, all based on your grace. You establish a covenant with him and through him to Christ, his beloved seed, his son. And in Christ, both the Old Testament and New Testament saints come to faith in you, come to find all of the promises you've made to Abraham their own through faith as we believe in Christ. Whether it was a time of promise that came before the coming of Christ or whether it was a time of the fulfillment in which we live, all of the grace that you have stored up for sinners is found in Christ. And so we thank you for this one covenant of grace. We thank you for the way that you've revealed it to us so clearly. And we pray that we would rejoice today that we are your children. that we would be reminded that we've been captured by your grace, possessed as a people in order to be those who fear you, those who show to the world the beauty and the glory of what obedience looks like, what it was we were created to do in the first place, to live for you and your glory. We pray that you'd help us to see that Christ has set us free where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom to live for you, to love your law, to fear you and keep your commandments, to do it joyfully from the heart. And we pray for strength to do that today. We ask that you would help us in this class as we study the covenants, as we remind ourselves you're the great God who promises to us and binds yourself to us through promise because of your grace and kindness to sinners in Christ. And we pray that we would exalt you and love you more in Jesus name. Amen. And so when you're when we're thinking about the covenants, we want to keep in mind that the inspired interpretation of the Abrahamic covenant, which is in Galatians 3. And as you look at Galatians 3, you remember, you say to yourself, this is God's spirit-inspired interpretation of Abraham's covenant. And you can imagine how blessed we are. Let me just apply this. How blessed we are that the old covenant saints wouldn't have understood it to the extent we do today. That that was the fullness of the gospel that was being revealed in the time of Abraham. So I want you to think about that, be rejoicing that you see the promise in Christ Jesus because you live on this side of the resurrection and of Pentecost. And so we have this privileged understanding of this great mystery that was hidden from ages, yet revealed. And we've got it no longer in any way hidden. It's no longer in the old concealed, in the new revealed. It's fully revealed. Isn't that wonderful? And because of that, we can say everything that was written in the Old Testament was written about Jesus Christ, ultimately. And every time we see the word seed or offspring, we're going to think first of Jesus Christ. And then we're going to think of all those believers in Jesus Christ, united to Jesus Christ. We're not going to think first about Abraham's seed as Israel. We're going to think first and foremost about Abraham's seed as Jesus Christ, the true Israelite. And then all is all believing Israel, both in the old and the new, in him, in him. So you see that priority. Jesus Christ is the one that promises are made to. So when the covenant's being made in history with Abraham, it's being made to Abraham and Christ, and in Christ to all believers. All right. So the main theme of cycle two, somebody help me with this, if everybody remembers, we're gonna try to keep this before us, is that God's what? God's principle, and what is that principle, very briefly? What's the principle? The Immanuel principle, that the very simple, gracious promise of all the Scriptures is, I will be your God and you will be my people. And to summarize it even more, I will be with you. I will be with you. It's the Emmanuel principle, God with us, God with us, God with us. Emmanuel, I will be your God, you'll be my people. It's the alpha and the omega of the gospel. So God's principle that he progressively what? Pursues. He pursues us when he established the covenant with Abraham. Was Abraham seeking after God? No, not at all. Abraham was a moon-worshipping pagan, right, from Ur of the Chaldees, and God called him out of darkness into his marvelous light. This really extenuates, doesn't it, that God is the God of sovereign grace who initiates and pursues his people vehemently and zealously for his own glory and our good. And how does he pursue us? Through the means of the covenant. And you can put S there, because when we're talking about one covenant of grace, we're talking about it being revealed in successive covenants, okay? That's why there's singular and plural. Again, just to emphasize that as often as I can, that it's one covenant of grace, but there's a progressive outworking of the covenant. So progressively pursues reminds us that it's through the means of the covenant or covenants. With the purpose of purchasing what? a people for his own possession. And if you remember the Titus 2, 13 and 14 passage, it's possession for who are zealous for good works, right? So let me just stop there for a second. That really is how we helpfully make sense of the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenant, beloved, is that you remember that Titus 2.14. When you're memorizing this, think of the fact that God has a purpose of purchasing a people for his own possession to be his own, that God will be God to a people. And that the possession is for good works. That's where you're going to get your Mosaic Covenant coming out, is the good works, not unto salvation, not for salvation, but the law is going to be revealed that teaches how to live by grace. The law is going to be revealed to teach how to live by grace after the Abrahamic Covenant. And that's just a heads up on what's coming. Another thing that we've looked at before that we want to review is just thinking about the overview of the covenant. Remind me of what that looks like. Our drama, our story overview, of course, was creation, fall, redemption, new creation. What is our covenant overview that we want to keep in mind during this second part? They're just people's names. What are they? Okay. Yep. All right. Yep. Very, very, very simply, we want to, well, we're not going to cover these in as much detail, but there is a pre-temporal, pre-historical covenant between the triune God. It's the eternal covenant. All right. And then there's the covenant with Adam, covenant with Noah. So I'll put those in parentheses for now. Today, we want to concern ourselves in the next class with Abraham, Moses, and who else? David. And remember, the Matthew 1 passage tells us that this is the framework that inspired Scripture. This is the way that the Spirit wants to reveal the framework of Scripture, is not just as a story, but as a covenantal story from Abraham to Moses to David. So the covenant overview you can memorize is the eternal covenant, something before time, pre-temporal, between the persons of the triune God. Then the covenant worked out with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David in history. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David in history. All right. Now, because we're just wanting to focus on these three for right now because of time, Let me ask you, what is the basic promise of the covenant with Abraham? Do you remember? Does anyone know? Okay, yeah, the promise is made up of three elements, and we'll look at all three of them today. But the promise is basically, we can summarize it as a people. And what the three elements are, seed, land, So people, place, and blessing, a blessing to all, but essentially a people. And what is the symbol or the sign of the covenant with Abraham? Circumcision. All right, good. Circumcision. All right. And with Moses, Moses will come over 400 years later, again, Think of the interpretation you get through the Spirit in Galatians 3, to understand that the Mosaic covenant doesn't undermine the Abrahamic covenant, that it's still of promise, even though it has law. It's still of promise. It's still part of the covenant of grace. What's the promise made to Moses? What is the summary of the promise? Law is included, but it's primarily a people. Israel is defined as a holy people, a priesthood, a holy nation. And that law is what defines them, that obedience to God in reliance on grace. And we'll look at that. So excellent. Yes, it includes law, no doubt. It's going to include law, but it's still got the focus on the people. Remember, I'm your God who has called you to be a kingdom of priests. a holy nation unto me. So Israel's promise by grace that continues the promise made to Abraham is that the people are going to be a holy people for all the world to see. So it's going to expand on the Abrahamic covenant. And what's the symbol and sign? the Sabbath. And beloved, that's very important because I don't know if you've thought about it, but the Sabbath, the one day and seven, the rhythm of our work and our rest is the most visible manifestation to the world of our faith in God. And that's why that Sabbath, that principle still, though it's fulfilled in Christ, it's still most important for us to remember as a people today that the way that people are going to see our lives will be in the rhythm of our work and our rest and our worship. So it's very important to see that the Sabbath is rooted in creation and reiterated in the time of Moses, but that Sabbath is the one way to change the world that Christians haven't considered in this century at least. Because remember, Israel was to be an example to the world of what created human beings were to live like through redemption. All right. So that hasn't changed, except the day has. But the pattern or rhythm of one in seven has not. David, the promise primarily is a king, right? A ruler. And what's the symbol and sign? You remember? A throne. Here you have the, you know, Christ revealed. How would Christ be revealed through circumcision? How is Christ revealed through circumcision? You can use a New Testament passage. I mean, there's Colossians 2, 11 to 12. What's that? He was cut off. Yep. Circumcision is a blood sign. It's wonderful because in the new administration, the promise is still to us and to our children. The administration of the signs is still the responsibility and privilege of parents, but the sign is no longer a blood sign. It's water, actually. It's cleansing. It's a bloodless sign because Christ's blood has been shed once and for all. So there's no longer that. Christ has been cut off. Christ has been circumcised on the cross. And then his people are set apart as holy unto God. How about the Sabbath in Christ? Is that in the New Testament? He sat down, absolutely. God sat down and kept the Sabbath in creation. Christ sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high when he completed the work of redemption. And so you've got creator, redemption, and then you've still got the linking together of one day and seven. So we enter our Sabbath rest in Christ, but that doesn't mean that we still don't live out an embodied one and seven kind of pattern. And then third, the throne. How does that relate to Jesus Christ? What's his rule? Yeah, absolutely. That he's king of kings and lord of lords. All right. Good. So that's what we want to do in in looking at these things. We want to think about Christ as we're going through them, because remember, when the promise is made to Abraham, who's it ultimately be made to? And you could argue the same thing when the promise is being made to Moses and the people of God, who is ultimately going to be the one who realizes the fulfillment of the law and keeps the law perfectly on behalf of believers? Who's going to demonstrate a perfectly holy life and loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, but Jesus Christ? And then Davidic, who's going to be the ruler that doesn't fall from grace? Now, who's going to be the perfect one to lead the people into righteousness? and to bring them into a place of rest from all their enemies, Jesus Christ. So the covenant of grace, though it's revealed in these successive covenants, the three we're focusing on, Abraham, Moses, and David, the covenant of grace has two important aspects we want to remember, two important aspects, okay? And when we go into our Bible in a moment, we're going to see these, I think. The first is the promise of God They the promise and related to that, the privilege, the privileges of being I will just put promises and privileges of being those that are privileged to have God, the living God, come close in the covenant community. You know, even unbelieving Israel, even even portions of Israel who are unbelievers, had the privilege of tasting the powers of the age to come just because God was with them. by fire at night and cloud by day. His holy presence was still with them, even though many were unbelievers. And when someone's in the covenant community here in the New Testament era, you know, the book of Hebrews is very clear. Speaking to a covenant people, it says you're very privileged, even those who don't believe. They're held to a higher account and standard, and it'll be a greater wrath for the knowledge they do know. But the privilege is that you have been part of the preaching of God's Word. You've had the powers of the age to come. You've had the Spirit working in your midst. And then you've trampled on the blood of the Son of God. That's the part that we're getting to in part two. Because the second part to promise and privilege is what? Obligation. Now, I want to say something that that tends to give people some some concern when you think of the obligation of the covenant. Just to put it easy, I sent a paper out that you're welcome to read. And I think it would help you with this. But there's always going to be a tension between God's promise and the obligations to that promise. But here's the way to keep it clear as a bell in your mind. Don't ever forget this. All right. As your interpretive key, I think this will help you is that whatever obligation God calls us to, he gives us the grace in Christ to do it. Augustine said it best, you know, Command what you will and give what you command. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about obligation, but we're really talking about response. So, for instance, you go to hear a preaching of the word or you go to take part in the sacraments, you have an obligation then to keep your part of the covenant because you've been equipped, you see, with truth and grace. And it will be then on your responsibility, your shoulders, if you deny that grace you've been given. if you disobey it. And I've got to say that. That's not being a legalist, by the way. That's being a biblical Christian. All right. So very important to keep these two together when we're looking at covenant. And I'll try to point that out. Now, some covenants are going to contain more of the promise privilege and some more of the obligation. Which one would have more of the obligation? And that's why people have a hard time with Moses. That's why people have a hard time with Moses. If we could see things as clear as a bell, we'd say, oh, Moses is just showing the people then how to live by grace and heightening the need for a Savior because we can't keep the demands of the covenant. Boy, we need more Jesus. We need more Christ. That's the point of the Mosaic covenant. But it's not to take away from anyone the promise that was already made to Abraham. It was just to live believing that promise and knowing that this is God's will now so that the whole world... Remember, Israel was, as it were, on a stage before the whole world in the navel or the center of the world on God's terms. I mean, they were in Israel and their land was to be an example to all the nations of what humanity was created to do. That is to worship and serve the living God and to be obedient to the living God. That was their job. That was their privilege. And it's still the truth for us today, beloved, is that what matters most to people is not just talk and confession, though that's important. It's a life that's been transformed by the love and grace of God through promise in Christ. Yes, thank you. Yeah, the pattern is usually thought of when we think of the Mosaic covenant, as it fits in the larger covenant of redemption, we think of guilt, grace, and gratitude. You know, the Heidelberg Catechism is set up on three parts. Wonderful catechism, 1563 written, and very personal catechism written in the first person. You know, what's my only, you know, comfort in life and death. That's how it begins. So it's about you before the Lord. Very helpful. And the three parts it's made up of is guilt, that the law shows us the guilt, the grace that God promises to give us in Christ that we so desperately need, and the gratitude of how we're going to live obediently. So guilt, grace, and gratitude would be helpful. I'll put this in here as a summary of how to perhaps understand better these three covenants that we're looking at, guilt, grace, and gratitude. And that's what the Psalms do, isn't it, as Margaret pointed out, is the Psalms draw us into thinking about God's person and character and his works of how he's redeemed his people and to give thanks to the Lord and to obey him and to love him and serve him. Yes, sir? The covenant of grace? Yes. Yeah, the promise of the covenant of grace is always live and do this. It's always you've been made alive by the Spirit's work through promise. You've been like Abraham. If you're a child of Abraham, you've received the promise through faith. Right. And because of that, you've been made alive and because of that, you are to live. in reliance upon that same grace that has purchased you. This is the reason for this, again, the means of the covenant with the purpose of purchasing a people for his own possession is that the people would live for God in a way that would show forth to the world humanity's purpose. And, you know, I don't know that we think of that often, but that was Israel's purpose is to be a light to the nations. But there was only one who succeeded in being a light to the nation, the light of the world. All right, so the Mosaic Davidic covenants we'll come back to, but let's turn our Bibles to Genesis 12. I want to look at a few passages from Genesis 12, beloved. And I've got some more detailed notes on covenant theology. If you think that would be helpful, I'll try to send that out with our board today. especially a little bit more, something briefer, perhaps, with regard to the eternal covenant. Let's look at, first of all, the Abrahamic covenant, and in Genesis 12, what you have here is, we're going to read a few of the verses, and the Abrahamic covenant is actually, we can see it in four parts, one, two, three, and four, and we'll highlight that today. Remember that what preceded this was, what came before the covenant with Abraham, was the covenant that God had made with Adam, all right, at creation, the covenant of works, as it's often called, that was broken, okay? That, you know, Adam, as representative of humanity, he sinned, and all humanity in him, because he was our representative, we fell with him and in him, all right, as the covenant of works, Then the covenant with Noah, and I'd invite you to look at that further in Genesis 6 and particularly Genesis 9. And guess what? The promises that are revealed in Genesis 3.15 are reiterated to Noah and to his offspring. And not only is that reiterated, but to Noah is given also the command to go forth and be fruitful and multiply. So it's a renewal, if you will, of the original purpose of mankind. Again, extenuating that God saves us by his grace in order to fulfill a mission that he hasn't changed. Think about it. Even going into the world and preaching the gospel is continuing the mission of being fruitful and multiplying. It's just more emphasizing the spiritual truth of that. That multiplying is multiplying through the nations, not just through families, but through nations through preaching. So it continues, doesn't it? that primary mission of God's people. And then, so with Noah, you have Abraham, and Abraham's covenant is the headwaters or the water source, the riverhead of redemptive history because it's where God calls a people that he's going to name Israel. He's going to name this nation through whom through whom he will bring his Christ, he'll bring his Messiah, who was promised in Genesis 3.15. All right? Everybody following? Claus Skilder, a marvelous covenant theologian of the last century, gave a really helpful picture of what the covenant of Noah's relationship with the covenant of Abraham, or the larger covenant of grace. And he said that all of nature in covenant with Noah becomes God's work floor. for the laying of his church floor in Abraham and his seed. Really beautiful. So the covenant with Noah is to say that all history is open wide as my work floor to call Abraham and his seed to build my church, my people for my own possession. So it gives dignity and meaning and purpose to history. That's what it does, not only by creation, but by the reiteration, the renewal of that covenant with Noah gives creation. So what we have here, let's look at the covenant with Abraham. So Abraham calls him, or God calls Abraham, Abram, in chapter 12, verse one, the Lord, that's the covenant Lord, said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you. I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. This is the mother promise. Well, the mother promise is Genesis 315, but this is the mother promise that gets more spectacular, expanded, and specific to Abraham and his seed. And let's give the three parts of that just in review. In the Abrahamic covenant, we hear a seed, okay, a people or offspring. We hear of a land. and we hear of a blessing to all, all right? Those are the three things we want to keep in mind as we go forward in thinking of Abraham's covenant, Moses, and David, all the way to Christ, that God has a seed that he has purpose to dwell with in a land or a place that will then be a blessing to all humanity, all the nations. All right, let me say that again, that God is promising a seed, who is ultimately? Jesus Christ, according to inspired interpretation from Galatians 3, the land which will be the place where God dwells with his people, and that those people where God dwells will be a blessing to the whole world, all right, to all humanity, to the nations, if you will. And so if you look at chapter 12, verse 7, There's the Lord verse 7 the Lord appeared to Abram and said again to extenuate it to your offspring I will give this land now I want to do something right here that I will expand upon as we study But I want to take you keep your finger there and turn to Romans 4 13 And I just want to remind you of something about the land I We want to remember, beloved, that, and again, this is inspired interpretation of what we're reading. Remember that Abraham never saw the promise realized in his time, all right? Not fully, partially he did, but not fully. He saw a son of promise, but he never experienced the place, the land. And it's important to remember that the land was typological. And what that means is the land pointed to something forward and upward. It pointed to the heavenly land above, ultimately. Even in Hebrews 11, we're told, beloved, that Abraham's faith was not in a city that was built by men. It wasn't in an earthly Canaan or land, that ultimately his faith was on God who was building him a heavenly city. All right? And that's Hebrews 11, verses 8 through 16. But what we're told in Romans 4.13 is very important. Listen to this. The promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. We want to keep this in mind that the land ultimately points to the world. It points to the cosmos. Abraham was to inherit all created things. That's important. The land just was pointing forward and upward to that reality. It's why Jesus, for instance, can quote Psalm 37 where it says, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the land and say what? Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. So the Lord Jesus had the same typology in his holy mind. So just keep that in mind when we're thinking of land. We are thinking in history of a real place in the Middle East, but we're also looking forward through the interpretation of the New Testament to see that that's not the ultimate destination for Abraham, for Israel, bleeding Israel, for anyone else. Look now at chapter 15 of God's covenant with Abraham. God appears to Abraham, and here's where we see the promise, the privileges, and the obligation is also given to us. In verse 1, we're told in chapter 15, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, your reward shall be very great. So the covenant Lord appears again, gives himself to Abram, gives himself in promise to Abram, and Abram tells him that this is what will be given you. Verse 2, Abram says to him, O Lord God, what will you give me for I continue childless? And the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, behold, you've given me no offspring. So he's still waiting the promise of God to be fulfilled. And verse five says that God brought him outside and he said, look toward heaven and number the stars if you're able to number them. He said, so shall your offspring be. And he believed the Lord and it counted to him as righteousness. So this is that justification by faith alone we talk about, that Abraham just simply believed in the promise of God, that God would provide for him supernaturally an heir, a seed. And what God does, it's so gracious, is in verses 12 through 20, God involves himself in a covenant ratification ceremony. where he lays the two halves of an animal. And if you think of the animal being cut long ways in half, you've got this path of blood. And when this kind of covenant was made between men and kings, it was the responsibility of the subjects of the king to walk through. And there would be covenant blood on their feet. from the sacrifice, and they would walk through as a promise that they were going to be committed to keep all the obligations of the covenant that the king has required of them. And they would have that blood on the bottom of their feet. And you would actually see footprints as they would walk through the path of blood. But God does not, in his grace, require Abraham to go through the pieces. God, through what is a theophany, through a smoking, fiery torch, symbolic of his spirit, but visible, God himself puts himself under the covenant oath and malediction. And that's this bond in blood that God commits himself to, to keep all the promises he's made to Abraham and his seed. And that promise that God is going to keep is ultimately to his beloved son, the Lord Jesus, the seed of Abraham, and to all those in him who receive him by faith and who take hold of all the promises that God's held out to them in Christ Jesus. In fact, the blood is to say that if the covenant is not kept, This bloody matter, this bloody situation is what will happen to the covenant breaker. And can you see, beloved, the infinite holy, all trice holy God could never, as spirit, immortal, as the one who never changes, he could never, ever be cut in half and suffer the consequences of the covenant unless he became man. And so through his covenant, we see the cross. For God became man and dwelt in our midst, the Emmanuel principle. But he had to keep the covenant and on our behalf, and all the curses of the covenant fell upon him on the cross. And those curses go back to this covenant that God promised here, that if the covenant wasn't kept, that he himself would would suffer the malediction, the curse of the covenant. So that's the sovereign grace promise that we ought to see all the other covenants rooted in. That's the source of all the rooting. That's all the promises and privileges that are found in Christ, that God has taken care of everything we need for life and godliness. That's what he's promising Abraham and all believers, okay? In chapter 17, Here we have Abraham giving a sign which would help Abraham's weak faith. Abraham's name changes from Abram, which means what? Someone remember? Even the name change tells us a lot about the progress of redemption, doesn't it? Because his name is Exalted Father. Imagine the irony there on God's part that he calls a man named Abram to be a father. to an innumerable people, and he's powerless to have a child for many years. His wife's barren. And then note Rebecca and Rachel, same problem. So that the sovereign grace and power of God is extenuated. that the seed will come about not through human means, but simply through the power of God and his resurrection glory, you see. But Abra means exalted father. Abraham means father of many nations. And so we have that exalted father, the father that's receiving this promise from God of his supernatural power, now becoming the father of nations, that God's going to change his name so that in and through Abraham, God will save all the nations of the world through the blood of Jesus, through faith in Jesus Christ. So it's not just Israel, it's the nations. It's wonderful at the end of the story in Revelation how there's the east, west, north and south of the beautiful heavenly temple that's revealed in Revelation. Have you ever thought about the meaning of all that? You think about the gates of the city are never closed, but all directions are open. Why is that? Because the promise is to all the nations, north, south, east and west, to come into the heavenly city through the blood of Jesus Christ, through the promise given to Abraham. So at the end of the story, you have all the nations and tribes and peoples and languages coming from all points on the compass by faith to enter into the heavenly city. That's wonderful. All right, so in chapter 17, very quickly, Abraham is given a sign. And notice verse 1, what he says, when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I'm God Almighty. This is where he changes his name. But I want you to note something. There's a chapter in between 15 and 17. This is where Abraham takes it upon himself to try to fulfill God's promise on his own. He produces a child of the promise. You would think that he produced a child of the flesh, I should say, and not waiting on God. Ishmael and Emmanuel represent the two seeds. So you can always remember that when you think of the seed of the woman, think of Emmanuel. That helps you remember God's principle. When you think of the seed of the serpent, think of Ishmael. One's a son of promise. One's a son of flesh. One's a son of the spirit. One's a son of the flesh. But note how God appears to Abram here, even though he's done some wicked stuff. God's going to bring good out of Ishmael and his descendants. God's going to be kind. He's the God who sees the need. But he hasn't changed in his affection toward Abraham and his seed. He says, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless that I may make my covenant. Again, he means continue that covenant relationship with him. God calls him to obligation. God calls him to obedience. But notice the grace of God. God doesn't turn his back on Abraham, even though Abraham has done great wickedness. And we can remember the saying, beloved, that's what keeps God committed to us, is that he has promised to his son through Abraham that his son will receive all of the people whom he has died for. And that's why it's not up to us to get into grace or into heaven. It's all up to Christ, and it's us receiving Christ and all the resources and the strength we need from Christ. Isn't that wonderful? You don't have to ever worry that your sin, this is going to cut you off. No, you need to be obligated to say, I'm going to repent of that sin, no doubt, and I'm going to take that sin seriously, because that sin might be pointing to a heart that hasn't truly known God. It could be. I'm going to repent with the strength and grace God gives me. I'm going to walk before Him blamelessly because I've got an obligation out of gratitude and grace to do what He's called me to do. And that's what Genesis 17 teaches. But here's where it gets even better. God says, I know it's hard for you, Abraham. I'm going to give you a sign to assist your faith. And I want you, as the head of the home, to administer this sign, whether you understand it fully or not, whether everybody in your home realizes it or not. I want you to take this sign to give them aid to help their faith. I want you to circumcise them, everybody under your watch. You let me worry about the grace. You worry about the administering of the sign, Abraham. Because look at verse 11, how important it is. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. And that's how the covenant was signified in the old covenant on males until the coming of the seed of the woman of Abraham, who was circumcised and cut off for the sins of his people. so that we might be truly circumcised in Christ and might continue to believe the promises that were made to Abraham. And to then, as heads of the home, involve all of our children in the sign, the administration of the covenant. Whether we fully understand it or whether they understand it, the administered sign is what is required of us, not the grace. That's God's Word. What's required of us is that we administer the sign as those who are part of the same story, the same salvation, and the same people, and the same promise, may Abraham. Different administration of the sign, no doubt, but the same covenant of grace. And so let's summarize what we learned in the Abrahamic covenant that's so important and why we want to spend a whole class on this, even one and a half classes, right? Because we want to really understand that this is the promise that is made to Christ Jesus, ultimately, and to us in Christ. So the first, you can summarize Genesis 12 by being, this is the covenant inaugurated, okay? This is where Abraham is called. Okay, the covenant inaugurated. This, Genesis 15, is where the covenant is formally ratified, okay, by God himself going through the covenant ceremony on behalf of his people. All right, that's formally ratified. In Genesis 17, you have the covenant sign and the fullness of the covenant revealed because Another aspect of that covenant is that the sign will be that Abraham will have the seed. The name change is that Abraham will be the father of many nations. That's the fullness. In fact, God goes on to say even more about the land. But when I emphasize fullness, what I really want to emphasize are these two aspects we talked about, the promise and the privileges. of the covenants, right? But also the obligation to respond in faith and obey obedience. Walk before me and be blameless. Listen, we're going to do this link right here for the Mosaic covenant, all right? And maybe this will help before we get to Moses next week, Lord willing. There's the link right there. I am the Lord your God. walk before me and be blameless. What the law does is that it gives the people of God, as the seed of Abraham at that time in redemptive history, what it means specifically to walk before God blamelessly. That's the link between Abraham and Moses. But there's no less grace in the time of Moses than there is in the time of Abraham because God never changes. The promise to true Israel, let's just take one. Let's take Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. How did they get into heaven? They got into heaven because they believed the promise made to Abraham. And they lived blameless lives by faith. That's how. Were they perfect? No, no. Moses even shows us at the end of his life that he's like us in that he fails miserably and sometimes in the way that he lives his life, especially in the way he was shepherding the people. He got very angry, very, very, very, very disobedient to God, but quite upset with the people, right? Impatient. And he doesn't enter the promised land, but does he enter The city? Does he enter into the presence of God when he dies? Well, of course he does, by God's grace. But it's just to remind us that it's all of faith. So the covenant sign and fullness of the covenant. And then I just want to say here, chapter 22 is often misunderstood, but remember this. I think it'll help you if you always remember that chapter two is just to show covenant faith and fruitfulness. Remember, James uses this, not in any way opposed to the Apostle Paul in his saying that we're justified by faith alone, but James uses this to remember that true covenant faith will be fruitful. And remember what happens in Genesis 22. Abraham is told to take his son, the promise, the son of promise, his beloved son, his only son, and to go up Mount Moriah. And he believes God is the God of Abraham. And he believes that as his God, he's the God of the living and not the dead. He believes that he's able to raise the dead. All right? So he does that. So Abraham goes forth to show his fruit. And when James talks of the fruitfulness of faith, he's using Genesis 22, covenant fruitfulness or covenant faith. When Paul's speaking of Abraham being justified by faith alone, he's using Genesis 15. So let's just mark these two to remember. When you're in the New Testament, Paul's going to use this. Abraham was justified. He was declared righteous by his faith. And James is going to use this. All right? Primarily. And both of them together just stress the importance of what? Let's say it together. Promises and privileges always imply responsibilities or obligations. There you have Paul and James together. If I was to preach a sermon today, I might emphasize promises and privileges to some degree, but it wouldn't be a sermon without also obligations and responsibilities. And maybe there's more obligation responsibilities in some texts. There will be. Then there will be promises and privileges, but they all have to go together as part of one covenant. All right. If you have one without the other, if you have too much obligation, you're moving toward legalism. If you have too much promise and privilege without obligation, you're moving toward what? Antinomianism. Very dangerous. Very dangerous right now in the church. probably the chief danger of even reformed churches right now. So emphasizing Christ that you miss that in Christ you've been set free to live for him obediently. And so emphasizing Christ that you're not told what to do because somebody might call the preacher a legalist. But Moses has been called a legalist and Moses is no legalist. Jesus has been called a legalist. He's no legalist. So promise, privilege, obligation. And again, to reiterate, Abraham's promised, very quickly, a seed of people, a land, and a blessing to all. So what we'll do next time, you ready? Is we're going to continue linking this to Abraham and seeing how the covenants then expand, okay? Expand and expound upon, all right? Successive, not supplant, not replace. Moses will not replace. Moses will will supplant, or I should say not supplant, no, no, no, not wrong word, supplement. Supplement, Abraham, will expand, will expound, will not replace, will build on. That's the word progressive. Where are we? Progressive. And so the seed and the people will be expanded upon, the land will be expanded upon, and the blessing to all will be expanded upon. All right. And so we're going to do Moses to David next time. Lord willing. And I've got some notes. Like I said, I wanted to go over all kinds of goodies today. And one thing I think is important when we're thinking about the promises of privileges, the obligations, is I've got some things I'll send out to you to think about, like God's part is always giving, establishing, ratifying, commanding, and keeping for us. Man's part is hearing, observing, maintaining, and hold fast. So those kind of things I'll send out that might help you or might assist, might be useful. So what are we going to do? All right. So let me write this last thing down. Mosaic, David, covenants, and expand. Oh, that's what I just said. What's that word? I wonder. What did I mean by that? Advance. Yep. Forget those words sometimes. Okay, so the Mosaic and Davidic covenants we're gonna look, we'll advance and expand Abraham's covenant so that we still have the same story, okay? We still have the same covenant of grace being worked out further. Whew, that's a lot, isn't it? Y'all got all that? I love doing these things, don't you? And going over this and seeing Christ in all the scriptures. It's amazing, isn't it? It really is. There's a lot of stuff in the Bible. But it's so wonderful how it all comes together so clearly by the Holy Spirit and how we see the Lord Jesus. That's what I want to leave you with is just thinking about Christ, how he is the seed of Abraham, and he's the hope of all mankind, and how you know more about him than even Father Abraham did. Isn't that amazing? You know more about him. All right, let's thank God for that privilege, and we will come back next week, Lord willing, all right? All right, let's pray. Our Father and our God, we are so thankful and grateful for your son, your beloved son. For the foundation of the world, you planned this story of redemption, and you promised to your son a seed, a people. You promised him that he would be King of Kings and Lord of Lords over this people for his own possession, and that you would be greatly glorified through this, and you would bring great good to your elect through Christ. Thank you that the Son willingly came. to live in our place perfectly according to all the obligations of the covenant, to love you with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself, to die coming under the malediction and the curses of the covenant, taking your just wrath upon him, and by his stripes we're healed. We thank you that Jesus in our flesh was raised and seated at your right hand for our vindication, and for our own resurrection hope. We thank you that you, Lord Jesus, sit at God's right hand as the heir of all things, as the heir of the cosmos, as the heir of the world. And you're the one that we come to on the throne of grace. We thank you for being the circumcised one, cursed on the cross and yet set apart for God's purpose to make men holy. We thank you that you're the one who gives us Sabbath rest from our works and labors in you and rest from our enemies. And you're the one, oh Lord God, who is seated on the throne of grace. Fill us with your spirit today and help us to realize more deeply your love for us and the resources you've given us in the covenant of grace to do your will. and to know that all the obligations of the covenant, all that you ask us to do in being blameless, not perfect, but sincerely living by faith, you give to us in Christ, who is full of grace and truth for sinners. We thank you, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen. Amen.