#DailyDevotion Believing God’s Promises Is Righteousness
Lent day 10 Saturday
Read 15:1–21
Gen 15:5-18 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…(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,…
Wow how many times does God have to remind Abram of his promise? Does he ever get it? Yeah, you think you’re so good, but how often do you need to go to Church to hear God’s promises so you don’t sink down into despair or self-righteousness? The Lord repeated his promise to Abram and it was counted to him as righteousness. Right there then is the heart of the Gospel. God makes promises. Man believes those promises. God considers that as righteousness. That was the problem in the Garden. Man quit believing God’s promises and he fell into death and darkness. When we believe the promises we are righteous again. We note that is all Abram did to be declared righteous. He believed.
But his faith did not stop there. Even though he believed, Abram wanted a sign. God told him to prepare some animals, to cut them in half. The Lord was going to cut a covenant with Abram so he could have a sign to rely on when he doubted. And the Lord appeared as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch which passed between the pieces. So serious is God’s promise to Abram he makes this covenant. If I break this promise, may what happened to these creatures happen to me. The Lord kept his promise and Israel possessed the land.
Now the Lord wants to fulfill his promise to Abram on a greater scale. So he makes Abram’s seed, Jesus Christ to be the fulfillment of his covenant with Abram as the one whose seed blesses all nations. In Jesus, God makes a covenant. I will forgive them their sins and remember them no more and I will put my law on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No animals this time. God himself in the flesh pours forth his blood. Jesus, the Lord, gives us a sign of the covenant. He gives us his body and blood with the bread and the wine so we may remember like Abraham God’s covenant with us. As we partake of Christ’s body and blood we can be certain God will keep this covenant with us.
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for giving us this sign of the covenant with your true body and blood, crucified on the cross, shed in your passion and death, resurrected and ascended into heaven. May we with Abram be counted righteous for believing your word. Amen.