1. Hope for Families – Part 2 Jesus Seals the Deal Matthew 1:1-6 Genesis 12:1-4; 15:6-18; 17:1-11

2. Definitions Abraham means “father of a multitude” and before he was Abraham his name was Abram which means “exalted father

3. Definitions A covenant relationship is the deepest relationship that any two people can enter into. The word “covenant” means: “cut” or “divide

4. We need to know we are invited Genesis 12:1-4 – God’s first recorded speech to Abraham.

5. Genesis 12:1-4 (NIV) The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

6. Genesis 12:1-4 (NIV) I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.

7. Genesis 12:1-4 (NIV) "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

8. We need to know we are invited You will never live God’s dream for your life until you let your own dreams die.

9. We need to know we are invited God is telling Abram two things: The greatest life you can live is a lived by grace and in grace. I can do better for you than you or your family.

10. We need to believe God. Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

11. We need to believe God. But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

12. We need to believe God. Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

13. We need to believe God. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

14. We need to believe God. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

15. We need to believe God. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – Genesis 15:6-18 (NIV)

16. We need to believe God. Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Cut the covenant sacrifice God made a promise to Abraham: He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

17. We need to believe God. Abraham asked for a confirmation: But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" God confirmed it by making a covenant with Abram.

18. We need to believe God. Abraham asked for a confirmation: Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

19. We need to believe God. The seventh step of a covenant was to set the terms. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

20. We need to believe God. The seventh step of a covenant was to set the terms. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

21. We need to believe God. We don’t set the terms of a covenant with God. To accept the terms of the covenant involves an unconditional surrender on our part.

22. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

23. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. Abram fell facedown, 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.

24. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

25. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

26. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.

27. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. – Genesis 17:1-11 (NIV)

28. We need God to establish the standards for pure living. Two important principles of circumcision. This calls for a disclosure of the inmost self. Circumcision “cuts” to the seat of identity.

29. Bottom Line: Jesus Christ, Abraham’s “son” is the final fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham – indeed nations will be added to Abraham and anyone in Christ is in covenant with God.