Genesis 15: Gritty Grace

Key Verse
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 
 
Meditation
God’s grace is gritty. His faithfulness keeps His promises eternally. Death cannot derail God’s promise. Sin cannot stop God’s promise. Time cannot erode God's promise. Faith has eyes to see God’s unwavering faithfulness, His resolve to keep His promise no matter the difficulty or darkness of our days.
 
In today’s reading, Abram was “as good as dead” (Romans 4:19; Hebrews 11:12) and Sarah was “barren” (Genesis 11:30) when God promises them a child. This promised offspring carries forward the hope first announced in Genesis 3:15, a promise that would one day finding fullness in another humanly impossible birth, the conception Jesus Christ through the virgin Mary.
 
God’s specific promises to Abram concern offspring and a land. Abram believes. Faith is the means by which Abram receives God’s promise (vv. 1-11, especially 15:6), but God’s faithfulness is what seals His promise through a covenant ceremony. Abram was a passive participant (he was asleep!). God alone assumes the covenant obligations, passing through the divided animals to declare, in effect, “If this covenant is broken, let what happened to these animals happen to Me.”
 
Ultimately, Jesus was cut to pieces as our representative because Abram and his offspring could not keep the obligations covenant relationship with God. Jesus bore the covenant curse so we might be saved by faith alone, joining Abram in receiving the blessings of God’s promise (Galatians 3:10-14). In the fullness of time, God sent His Son to domesticate death, transforming the grave into a doorway of hope. Faith believes, regardless of what we see, that God will keep every promise He has made.
 
Today’s Reading
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.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 
 
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 
 
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 
 
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” 
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially in regards to God’s promise, Abram’s faith, and God’s sealing His faithfulness through covenant ceremony?
 
-Why is it difficult to believe God keeps His covenant promises? Where do you struggle most with this truth?
 
-How does the fact of Jesus’ first coming and His finished work fuel your faith in God’s promises for us today and for His promised return one day soon? What different does this (or should this) make in your life?
 
Key Verse
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.