IN THE DAYS OF HIS POWER SERIES.
TOPIC: LIVING AND WALKING UNDER ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
SERMON BY-:
Rev. Innocent Chukwudi Peace-Udochukwu
President Living Fountain Ministries Int’l LIFOM
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 12:3
One of the outstanding covenants of the Scriptures is the covenant of God with Abraham.
Its provisions not only condition the immediate life and blessing of Abraham himself but they constitute the key to the subsequent history of Israel and God’s purpose in relation to the saints.
The ABRAHAMIC COVENANT is really the beginnings of the formal revelation of the covenant of grace, of God’s decision to reach into humanity and specifically save people for Himself.
Now that promise that’s given in Genesis 12 takes on a very formal, a covenantal form, later on in Genesis, in which God reaffirms the promises and takes an oath, basically makes a lasting promise to Abraham that He will not fail to come through on this.
We all come into the world with a nature that is prone to sin.
From the dawn of human history through all generations the essence of sin has been self-reliance and self-exaltation.
It is not merely the heinous crimes of men that inflame the righteous wrath of God, but also the seemingly innocent self-deification behind these crimes that robs God of his glory.
Therefore, there is a terrible enmity between man in his natural condition and God.
The natural heart will not submit to God (Romans 8:7), but seeks its own glory (John 5:44) and, therefore, deeply resists the call of God to turn and become like little children and enter the kingdom (Matthew 18:3).
And from God’s side, his righteousness will not allow him to be indifferent to the defamation of his glory, for he says, “How should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:11). Hence the terrible gulf and enmity between fallen man and holy God.
And hence the helplessness of humanity under God’s righteous condemnation.
And now we arrive at a point in history which will prove to be of such tremendous importance as to shape the course of the world both in this age and the age to come.
But, like many of God’s mustard-seed size actions, it is obscure and seemingly insignificant.
It is the kind of action scarcely anyone would have thought of who wanted to redeem the world, reclaim creation from the curse of sin, and fill the earth with God’s glory.
God zeroes in on one man, Abram, a worshipper of false gods (Joshua 24:2, 3) in the land of Ur, and says, with unbelievably far-reaching implications, “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.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse, and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3).
In completely sovereign grace God comes to this undeserving idolater and says, with life-creating authority, “I am going to bless you, and through you bring blessing to the whole world.” And with that begins the history of the people of Israel.
Origins of Abrahamic Covenant
Normally, when a covenant was made in the ancient Near East, they would talk about the covenant being cut. The cutting of the covenant involved the sacrificing of animals. Animals would be literally cut in two.
The person who had to keep the promises would walk through those animals, basically saying, “If I don’t keep my end of the bargain, may be done to me what has been done to these animals.” Typically, in a covenant, the great king would force the lesser party in the covenant to walk through those animals.
It was up to the junior member of the party to keep the terms of the covenant.
What’s so amazing in the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT is that God Himself takes the threatened curses upon Himself, guaranteeing, as He walks through those animals that are cut in two, that He will certainly bring this promise to pass.
Now God’s enduring covenant with Abraham should be a comfort to the Church. God’s promise to Abraham models His heart towards humanity.
“I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” At this, Abram fell face down, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”
(Genesis 17:3-5)
Another version of Genesis 17:1 records God as saying in part to Abram, ‘…walk before Me and be thou perfect.’
This divine instruction was followed by God’s everlasting covenant or perpetual promise, to multiply Abram exceedingly.
Then, God changed his name to Abraham, as a first sign that he would become a father of many nations.
What does ‘walking before God,’ mean for the Christian of today? What does it mean practically, to be perfect?
He, who walks before God, is sure that God has his back. He is keenly aware that God watches his every move or
every thought.
Isaiah 30:21 captures this thus: ‘Thine ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.’ God, Who sees the heart (I Sam 16:7), knows our thoughts, motives and aims; and knows what we need even before we ask.
Walking before an all-seeing God under the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT requires having a pure heart, full of faith. It requires trusting God in all things, with all our heart. (Proverbs 3:6)
The covenant with Abraham is a covenant of grace, in that it brings about the redemptive purpose. It does so by making a separate nation out of Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people, through Isaac and the twelve tribes of Israel. And one of those tribes led to the promised Messiah Jesus.
Abraham’s blessing and promises extend to all the families of the earth. By faith, we as believers, experience Abraham’s blessing of being in the family of God.
We believe by faith, just as Abraham believed by faith and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
I Will Bless Those Who Blesses You And Curse Those Who Curses You
From the light of this Covenant statement in God’s Covenant with Abraham which says “I will bless those who Blesses You And Curse Those Who Curses You”
It is very dangerous now to curse a Child of God who understands this and is living and walking under ABRAHAMIC COVENANT not only because of this Covenant alone because “Christ has delivered us from every curses” so it’s not only useless to curse those of us operating under this ABRAHAMIC COVENANT but quite dangerous.
God’s Covenant Blessings
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).
Christ is the blessing – apart from him there is no blessing!
God Chose You to Bless the World
Now you are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
Of course, God loves you. He chose you to represent him and bless the whole world. Like Abraham, and the twelve, God blessed you to be a blessing.
Thus, you are now the conduit of God’s blessing to the whole world.
In Numbers 24:1-9 Balaam, a seer, prophet, diviner, reader of omens tried to ignore this all important ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
But failed woefully because no matter how he tried he couldn’t get himself to curse the children of Israel who are obviously walking under ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, at the end of it all Balam the prophet ended up blessing those he intended to curse!
“He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.”
Numbers 24: 9
When you are Living under ABRAHAMIC COVENANT Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curses you. This is a covenant promise of God to his people.
God made this promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3): “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 does not mean that everyone will bless the people of God, but it does mean that there will be dire consequences to those who curse God’s people.
There is a divine principle that begins in Genesis and runs through the Scripture: “God blesses those that bless His people”
Simply put, if you bless anyone operating under ABRAHAMIC COVENANT God will bless you, well, if you curse them, you are on your own.
A New Testament Twist
Jesus tells us what we should do to those who curse and persecute us. Luke 6:28 “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” We are not to curse those who curse us, we are to bless them.
We need not worry ourselves over those who speak evil and do evil against us.
God will take care of them. God says that we are to bless them.
Right now, start considering what it is that you want and need from God through this ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.
Do you need His covering, shelter, and provision?
Do you need His healing?
Do you need His forgiveness, cleansing, and salvation?
His message is still very clear.
“If you will walk in My covenant, all of My blessings will flood your life.”
“Everything I have promised in all of My covenant will come upon you.” AMEN!🙏
SHALOM!
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