Genesis
17 begins with God appearing before Abram to remind him of His
covenant and promise. “I
am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless… 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“.
God changes this 99 year old man’s name from “father of many”
to father of many nations”. God Almighty tells Abraham, “I
will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and
you and your descendents after you”
God gives Abraham a new name and a sign of the covenant, “Every
male among you shall be circumcised…it will be the sign of the
covenant between Me and you“.
Don’t miss the picture, the act of circumcision is not what makes
them righteous, it is a symbol of their faith. God also extends the
blessing to everyone in Abraham’s household, “whether
born in your household, or brought with your money, they must be
circumcised“.
As Christians, Jesus gave us a symbol in Baptism. And like the
Jewish circumcision, it does not on it’s own make us holy- it is
merely an outward expression of the inward change God has produced in
us. The apostle Paul makes the point that keeping rituals does not
make us right with God, but it is faith in Jesus as Savior that gives
us our hope. “For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means
anything, but by faith working through love“.
God
also explains to Abraham that Sarai will bear a son and He changes
her name to Sarah because she will be “the mother of a nation”.
Abraham still doesn’t completely understand so God repeats the
promise, “Yes,
but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.
I will establish my covenant with him“.
And for emphasis He repeats it a third time, Ishmael will be a great
nation, “But
my covenant will be established through Isaac, whom Sarah will bear“.
Abraham may be a little slow to get the point, but once he does, he
does not hesitate, “On
that very day, Abraham took Ishmael and all those born in his
household and circumcised them, as God told him“.
Abraham believed God and acted like it. So often we say we believe
God, but we act like it is still up to us, our actions reveal our
lack of faith.
In
Paul’s letter to the church in Rome (chapter 4) he devotes a whole
chapter to Abraham receiving God’s promise by faith. He contrasts
that with believers that trust in rituals to make them right with
God. Paul explains that before the Law of Moses and before the
covenant of circumcision, Abraham received the promise and believed.
Paul explains that if we do work we expect to be paid, because it is
our due. “But
the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is reckoned to him as righteousness“.
Paul later makes the point that if we could simply follow the laws
of Moses and be made right with God, then the sacrifice of Jesus was
unnecessary. Spiritually speaking, when we accept by faith Jesus
Christ as our savior, we too inherit the promise made to Abraham. Is
your faith in following rituals, or the resurrected Christ?