2nd Quarter: The Promise: God’s Everlasting Covenant
Lesson 2 Covenant Primer
Tuesday: The Covenant With Abram
Text: [[Gen 12:3]] KJV
_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._
Message
Another Covenant recorded in scripture between God and a man was that with Abram. Here again, without any request from Abram, God initiated a covenant relationship which Abram was going to reap the blessings if he agreed to. God guaranteed that the He himself was responsible for the reward, and Abram had nothing to bring to the “covenant table” which God was going to benefit from. All it required was his acceptance and obedience.
Notice carefully God’s covenant promise, _”Get thee out of thy country,… unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (vs 1,2)_ God had covenanted with Abram to make him great. He only had to respond to one command – Get out! Note again that, *He obeyed by faith (Heb. 11:8), but not in order to bring about the promised blessings. His obedience was the response of his faith to the loving relationship, which God already had established.In other words, Abram already believed in God, already trusted in God, already had faith in God’s promises.
There was no physical evidence of what God said He’ll do for Abram, yet, he left his father’s house. Why? Only faith could explain that. By the exercise of this faith, he enjoyed fully the covenant promise. His obedience wasn’t the trigger for his blessing, but he wouldn’t have received if he didn’t obey. This Abrahamic covenant teaches a key principle of our salvation.
Reflection
We are saved by faith—a faith that results in works of obedience. The promise of salvation comes first; the works follow. Although there can be no covenant fellowship and no blessing without obedience, that obedience is faith’s response to what God already has done. How can this understanding help us appreciate our relationship with God today?
