“Genesis 15:6: The John-Three-Sixteen of the Old Testament”

TEXT: Genesis 15:6
TITLE: “Genesis 15:6: The John-Three-Sixteen of the Old Testament”
KEY VERSE: “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”
SERMON IN A SENTENCE: Like Abram, we believe our Father and He imputes righteousness to our account.
INTRODUCTION:

The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed. This axiom is very true as we look at Genesis chapter 15 and verse 6 and the surrounding verses.

How can a person be right with God? How can sinful creatures stand before holy God who must eternally judge even the smallest sin? Some say it is faith and the ordinances of the church. Others say it is by obeying the Ten Commandments. Another group believes your good works must out weigh your bad works as though God holds a balance and judges on the basis of your works. Some churches advocate a mourners bench and praying through to be saved. This is all an attempt to get God in the notion to save sinners as though He must be cajoled or coercer. He is ready and able to save. We don’t need to be like the pagan who thinks God is distracted or disinterested.

Salvation is God’s business and His way is the only way. We don’t have the right or privilege to interject our ideas or feelings into the salvation of the Lord. Jonah hit the nail on the head when he declared “Salvation is of the Lord.”

Before the Moses ever received the Ten Commandments, without praying a prayer or bowing at a mourners bench, without following a ritual or confessing his sin to a man, Abram was declared to be right with God. The way Father Abraham is made right with God is the same way we are right with our heavenly Father.

TRANSITION:

Let’s see what the Word says to us this afternoon. Our Father doesn’t mind our questions. In the Bible people with honest faith questions are always accepted. When we pray “Lord I believe, help my unbelief,” our Savior’s heart is moved to help us.

OUTLINE:

I. I am childless, but You promised an heir?
A. Yahweh’s Declaration:
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
B. Abram’s Question:
Genesis 15:2 - 3 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
C. Yahweh’s Explanation:
Genesis 15:4 - 5 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
II. I am landless, but You promised me Canaan?
A. Yahweh’s Declaration
Genesis 15:7 7Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
B. Abram’s Question
Genesis 15:8 8And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
C. Yahweh’s Explanation:
1. Covenant Established: Genesis 15:9-11 reads, "So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away."
2. Covenant Expounded: Genesis 15:12 -19 reads, "Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
III We are undone, but You promised us heaven.
A. God said, “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Abram continued to put his trust and confidence in the Lord and believed He would fulfill ever promise although he did not understand how. “This foundational truth [Gen. 15:6] is repeated three times in the New Testament (Romans 4:3,16-25; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23) to show that righteousness is reckoned in return for faith” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament).
B. We stand in the same place as Abram. Knowing the promises of God, but not seeing or understanding. Faith is not illogical nor is it opposed to reason. Instead, it means we take God at His Word. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Romans 10:16 - 17 declares 6But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
1. Romans 3:21 - 24 declares "21But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
C. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by ME." Do you believe in such a way that you are willing to follow Him?
Without the Way, there is no going;
Without the Truth, there is no knowing;
Without the Life, there is no living.

Jesus is the Way, follow Him;
Jesus is the Truth, believe on Him;
Jesus is the Life, grow in Him.

Romans 4:16-25 reads, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 23Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification (italics added for emphasis).”

CONCLUSION:

Do you have questions? We all do. Our Father doesn’t mind our faith questions. But some allow fleshly questions to keep them from Jesus. Questions like, What about all the different denominations? Why are there so many Bible translations? How could a loving God consign someone to hell? And so on. These are questions that bar people from heaven. The number one thing is whether or not you are born again. Jesus died for you and rose again. He will save you if you receive Him as your Master and Rescuer.