El Shaddai: The God of the Covenant

Genesis 17
Gerrit Buddingh’ | Sunday, June 05, 2022
Copyright © 2022, Gerrit Buddingh’

Lord God, now open the mouth of me your servant to preach your word in the power of your Spirit. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will also open the hearts of the hearers assembled here this morning. Enable everyone to receive your word preached and to be pleased to write it on every heart. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

This morning we will examine Genesis 17, which records Abraham receiving another direct revelation from God in the form of a theophany, perhaps an appearance of the preincarnate Christ.

We begin by remembering that the God of glory had previously appeared to Abram several times, the first being when Abram was in Haran. After Abram’s father died, the Lord appeared to him and promised to make him into a great nation, that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through Abram (Gen. 12:2–3).

At that time, Abram was seventy-five years old. He believed God, left Haran with his wife and his extended tribe, and came into the land of Canaan. Years later, at Bethel, after Abram and Lot had parted ways and Lot had headed for Sodom, the Lord appeared again and promised the entire land of Canaan to Abram, saying that his descendants would be a very large number, like the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:14–17).

Then, still later, in Genesis 15:1–6, the Lord graciously reappeared to the then eighty-six-year-old Abram. Abram reminded God that he had no child to inherit his estate, and God graciously promised to give Abram a son, also stating that Abram’s descendants would be as innumerable as the stars, and that they would ultimately inherit the land of Canaan as theirs (Gen. 15:4, 16).

At that time, God formally cut a covenant with Abram, reaffirming all of this. The only problem was that Sarai, as you know, was barren. As we heard last Sunday, Sarai devised her own plan. She gave her servant maid Hagar to Abram as a lesser-type of wife. Sarai seems to have thought, “The Lord has not kept his promise. He must intend for us to do something.” She probably reasoned, “He must intend for us to act if we are to have children. If he is going to fulfill his promise, he needs our help. The child will have to come about by means of a surrogate mother.” How absolutely wrong she was!

Then as we heard last week, Sarai took charge and spoke to Abram. In the English Standard Version, it says, “Behold!” You could say, “Now look! The Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai (Gen. 16:2). The New International Version 1984 translates that last sentence this way: “Abram agreed to what Sarai had said.” And the old King James Version says, “Abram harkened to the voice of Sarai.” Being a hear-and-do kind of man, Abram meekly and unwisely went along with the program.

What amazing presumption on both their parts! God does not need any help from us to accomplish his purposes. We can never do God’s will by worldly means. The arm of the flesh can never accomplish the work of the Spirit. And we all know the disaster that came from Abram and Sarai’s attempt to do so.

Another thirteen years elapses between the accounts of chapter 16 and chapter 17. We know that those were years of unhappiness and unrest in Abram’s household. The presence of Ishmael in their home created endless contempt, envy, jealousy, bitterness, weariness of spirit, and an ongoing cat fight between competing women.

Yet despite Sarai and Abram’s unbelief and presumption and sin, God proves himself gracious and faithful to his word. Now in Genesis 17 we will consider, first, “Why the Delay?”; second, “God Who Is Able”; third, “A Name Change”; and, fourth, “The Sign of the Covenant.”

1. Why the Delay?

There is no record of God speaking to Abram in any way during the years when Ishmael grew from infancy to being thirteen years old. Why the gap? Why the delay?

It may often appear from our perspective that God is not at work and that his purpose is being thwarted. But this is never the case. God’s delays are always deliberate. He always awaits his appointed time. It is not only true that God always knows best and does best, but he also always does it in precisely the best time. He always fulfills his promise in the fulness of time. He is never late, and he is never early. God is always on time, his time.

So why did Abram have to wait so long for God to fulfill the promise? Did God go into hibernation? Absolutely not. Why, then, the wait? The reason is simple. Abram and Sarai had to be brought to the end of themselves. God would appear only after their self-strength was gone. They must be made to know that God’s work is in no way dependent on them or determined by others. So God waits until both Abram and Sarai are as good as dead and incapable of having children. God often does not show his power until he shows us our impotence.

God had given his promise and its fulfillment now required a miracle. How did Abram react? He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, as we are told in Genesis 15:6. Frightfully, though, Abram faltered. He fathered Ishmael. But God graciously sorts through Abram’s mess. It is only then that God gives Abram and his wife a son. They finally believe that God can and must do the humanly impossible, and God does. One of the most frightening things, though, about life with God is this fact:  If you insist on having your own way, God often will let you have it until you are sorry you asked for it. He gives you an Ishmael.

The NIV 1984 version of Psalm 106:15 reads, “So [God] gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.” Interestingly, the King James translates it as “He gave them their request but sent leanness into their souls.” May God give you and me faith to trust in him to do his will in his way as he has promised so that we do not have to learn the hard lesson over and over again until we finally and truly trust and rest in him.

2. God Who Is Able to Do the Impossible

Who God is has definite implications for how we should trust and live for him. After thirteen years of seeming silence, the Lord now appears and reintroduces himself to Abram with a new covenant name: “I am the Lord Almighty [El-Shaddai].” There is considerable debate surrounding the name “Shaddai.” It has various interpretations, probably all of which are shades of meaning that give us a fuller picture of who God is.

The most common translation for it is “almighty.” It occurs about forty-eight times in the Old Testament. Throughout the New Testament, the Greek equivalent from the Septuagint, “Pantokratōr,” is used. For example, we find it in 2 Corinthians 6:18:  “I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” And in Revelation 1:8 God says, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” We see it again also in Revelation 19:6. John says, “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.’” The King James version says, “Alleluia:  for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” which is just a synonym for “almighty.”

Now, some scholars say this name is derived from the word “shadad,” a verb meaning to destroy, to desolate, to ruin (Strong’s, 7703), as well as the noun form “shôd,” meaning destruction, violence, devastation (Strong’s, 7701). In Isaiah 13:6–8, the Berean Study Bible interprets it this way: “Wail, for the Day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty [El–Shaddai]. Therefore all hands will fall limp, and everyman’s heart will melt. Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.” God is the great Judge who will, in his righteous anger and fury, will severely punish the unrepentant wicked for their sins committed against him.

Other scholars think “Shaddai” originally meant “the thunderer.” If so, it speaks of God who thunders in his power and judgments. This probably freaks some people out. Such people think that you should never raise your voice. But God does. Such people hope for a fluffy, happy, benevolent God who wants to shower us with good gifts, always giving great celestial hugs. And God, in his common grace, does give us good gifts:  life, health, work, food and housing, seasonable weather, and, to his elect, he gives the greatest gift of all—salvation in Christ Jesus.

Still, at the same time, if we are honest, we want a God who sees injustice and acts on it. We want a God who not only fosters the good but also raises up the downtrodden and punishes the wicked. In those cases, we need a God who is justifiably angry, who hates injustice, who despises evil, and who will punish and remove it once for all. To those people who do not like a righteously angry God, Job had this to say in Job 40:2–4 (from the Berean Study Bible):  “‘Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.’ Then Job answered the Lord: ‘Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.’” Job had the good sense to realize that he should shut his mouth and submit to God and to what God has to say.

There are some other scholars who say the foundational meaning of El Shaddai means “the overpowerer,” which emphasizes God’s power to achieve his purposes. Exodus 15:6 tells us, “Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.” And Matthew 19:26 says, “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Yet another possible nuance in the meaning of El-Shaddai is “The God of the Mountain.” Some Bible scholars state that “Shaddai” comes from the word “shaddu,” meaning “mountain.” God lives in heaven, but he also inhabited a mountaintop, namely, Mount Sinai. And it was on that mountain that Moses met with God and received the Ten Commandments. So God rules unopposed and governs his people from on high. He is El-Shaddai. He is the God who expects obedience to his commands, and swiftly and powerfully takes action against those who rebel and ignore his will.

Another possible interpretation of “Shaddai” is “sufficient,” as in “God is the all-sufficient one.” Thus, the Almighty is the God who is able. He is more than sufficient to meet any need. He is all power and provision. He takes your and my weakness and gives each of us necessary strength.

Finally, there is another group of scholars who associate “Shaddai” with the Hebrew word for “chest,” “shad” (Strong’s, 7699). Thus, its meaning may have in mind the strength of a young man’s chest (the Lord God Almighty).

If we combine these concepts, we might say that El-Shaddai is the all-powerful, all-sufficient God who can do anything and meet any need. There is nothing too difficult or too hard for God. His power is unlimited. He can even raise the dead and rejuvenate the barren. So this name points to God as the one who has the power to fulfill each and every one of his promises to his people.

Abram’s response in Genesis 17:3, 17 to this divine disclosure is to fall on his face before God. It is the only proper response. It shows that Abram knew who is Lord and who is not.

Why, then, does God reveal this name to Abram at this point in Abram’s life, at the close of thirteen years of silence? God is telling Abram, “You tried on your own and made a muck of things, and you are now suffering the consequences of your own rash folly. Now I am going to teach you that I am El-Shaddai, who is fully capable of doing everything that I desire to do, whenever I desire to do it. What I have promised I will do. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is too difficult for me” (see Jer. 32:27).

Twelve times in Genesis 17, God authoritatively tells Abram, “I will.” And when God purposes to do something, who can stand against him? God is about to do the miraculous in Abram’s life without any assistance from Abram and his wife. He is going to give Abram and Sarai a son.

Now, when Abram is ninety-nine years old and impotent, and Sarai is eighty-nine and well beyond menopause, when both Abram and Sarai are as good as dead and incapable of naturally having children, God assures them that he is more than sufficient to bring about this promised miracle birth. So God now presents himself as El-Shaddai, God Almighty, as God who does what is humanly impossible.

Would that we each discover this truth for ourselves! We each need to recover the reality of El-Shaddai in our own lives, that God is sufficient for whatever we are going through right now.

But revelation and covenant always bring responsibility. And with this new disclosure from God comes a new covenant duty required by God. God demands in verse 1, “Walk before me and be blameless,” that is, Abram is to live coram Deo. This means that Abram is to live his entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and to the glory of God. Abram is to live according to God’s rules in the knowledge that God’s eyes are always upon him. He is to live a God-conscious and God-centered life.

We too are to walk coram Deo before God, knowing full well that the Lord Almighty, God, whom we should honor with all our heartfelt obedience, is watching. God sees all things completely. And more than that, the Holy Spirit lives within us, if we are Christians. We must never think that we can slip even one sin past him.

Proverbs 5:21 says, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.”  Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:15–16 exhorts, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

Interestingly, the King James Version translates Genesis 17:1 as “Be perfect.” The word “perfect” in modern English is misleading. (GJB) The verse cannot mean “sinless,” for that would be an impossible goal for anyone other than Jesus himself to accomplish. Our sin nature still resides within us. We are told in 1 Kings 8:46 what we each experientially know to be true:  “For there is no one who does not sin.”

The Hebrew word for “blameless” is “ta-mim.” It means “complete, sound, whole.” It is a call for integrity. It means to be singlehearted, without blame, sincere, wholly devoted to the Lord. Thus, God is demanding Abram’s total commitment to serving God, while this is not perfection, even if it can only be done in reliance on God, who is El-Shaddai. The Holy Spirit alone is able to help us to wholeheartedly love and serve God, to believe in and love and obey our God.

So we, as God’s people, should not settle for anything less than continually striving to conform to God, to his will, and to his image as expressed in the Scriptures and from the pulpit and from those delegated authorities God has placed over us. And we, like Abram, must frequently fall facedown before God.

This is what a “circumcised life” is. It is Christ asserting his practical lordship over our lives. When you become a Christian, you did so by recognizing the right of Jesus Christ to be Lord of your life. You did not, of course, comprehend what that would involve, but you saw, in one way or the other, that God’s saving grace in your life involves his right to control your life.

Before you became a Christian, you made decisions on the basis of how you felt and what you wanted to do. Then the Holy Spirit began to exert his presence. He says to you, “Stop it! Don’t do that! Start doing this other thing instead.” What the Holy Spirit is really doing is asserting the lordship of Christ in your life. He is beginning to cut the ties that bind you to the world and to the self-life within you.

This is essentially what God is saying to Abram here. God is sovereign, and God’s true people are responsible to obey him. We are foolish to try to fight him.

If pastors preached the whole counsel of God, they would remind God’s people to see God as he is—the reigning Lord God Almighty who will someday openly exert his great power, crush all his enemies, and reign forever without even nominal opposition. He is the God who purposes us to be a holy people. And if you are his, he is able to transform you by his power as he did Abram and Sarai. He is to be honored with reverence and awe. Holy fear of the Lord should be ours.

Then in verses 2 through 8, God spells out what he will do for Abram. There isn’t much human free will here or room for debate in these verses. God does not ask Abram for his opinion, not even on the personal mater of changing the ninety-nine-year-old man’s name. God simply announces, “I am unilaterally changing Sarai and your names; and this is the way it is. Period. No argument.”

3. A Name Change

The covenant God changes each of Abram and Sarai’s names. Now, the right to name something shows authority and even ownership over the thing or person being renamed. Abram is God’s man, God’s bondservant. As covenant Lord, God simply announces and commands. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah as an assurance of the future fulfillment of his promises (Gen. 17:3–14, 23–27).

“Abram” means “exalted father”; “Abraham” means “the father of multitudes.” He is to be the progenitor of many nations and, most importantly, of the Messiah. Additionally, the Lord says, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of [many] nations; kings of peoples will come from her” (Gen. 17:15–16).

I am sure that when Abram informed the people in his camp that Sarai and he had new names, some of them must have smiled and said to themselves, “Father of a multitude?  Mother of nations? They are the parents of none! Why, he and his wife are fooling themselves. They are simply way too old to have children.”

Abraham may well have been somewhat embarrassed by it. But then, whenever anyone called him by his new name, he was reminded of God’s gracious promise to give him many descendants and particularly a son through Sarah. God Almighty, and not Abraham and Sarah, will build a family. God Almighty will rejuvenate their bodies and give them a son. God Almighty renews his covenant with them and their descendants forever.

4. The Sign of the Covenant

In Genesis 17:7, God tells Abraham, “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.”

“To be your God.” That is the heart of God’s covenant. It is God’s pledge to be your liege Lord, and you will be his covenant man or woman, owing allegiance and service to him under his covenant stipulations.

In Genesis 17:9, God says to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.” Interestingly, the word “covenant” is used fourteen times in Genesis 17. It defines God’s relationship with Abraham and his relationship with us as well. God sovereignly initiates his covenant with whom he chooses to initiate his covenant. God picked Abram for no other reason than that he had chosen to do so. There was nothing in Abram that merited God’s favor. It was all of God’s grace to Abram, and so it is with us.

The truth is, God chose very, very few in Abram’s day to be his people, and he does not choose many today. Moreover, God does not seek your advice or counsel or consent. But like he did with Abram, he simply demands your submission to him as God and your obedience to his commands. Obedience is covenant-keeping, and disobedience is covenant-breaking and treason toward God.

If you are not living for God, you are proving by your insubordinate, disobedient actions that you have never been regenerated by God the Holy Spirit, and that, as a result, you are not part of his covenant.

Now, the covenant that God makes in Genesis 17 is not a new covenant, different from the one God had already established with Abram in Genesis 12 and 15. Rather, it was a republishing of the same covenant with an important addition of circumcision as the sign and seal of the covenant. Verse 12 says, “For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring.”

As a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, circumcision stood for Israel’s relationship with God, their covenant Lord. It was to ongoingly demonstrate their total surrender to God as Lord. Living under divine sovereignty involves more than a reluctant submission to sheer sovereignty that is motivated out of a fear of punishment. It involves recognizing that there is no higher goal in life than offering loving obedience to our God. Our lives are to be living sacrifices offered in a spirit of adoration and gratitude.

Sealing the covenant with God can be painful. When we are baptized, we are sealed not only into God’s covenant but also into his service, and that can be painful to our flesh at times. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, not our own agenda—always remembering Jesus’ words, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

Despite Abraham and Sarah’s foolish behavior in Genesis 16, God now promises again to multiply Abraham’s family, even though at the moment they have no child. God rejects Abraham’s request to let Ishmael be the fulfillment of the promise. Instead, God promises Abraham and Sarah,  “I will bless her”; “I will give you a son by her”; “She will be the mother of many nations”; and “I, not you, will build a family for you through Sarah. You build nothing.”

These promises are just an elaboration of God’s earlier promise that Abraham’s descendants would be as the dust of the earth and as the stars of heaven. These two comparisons—earth and heaven—may suggest that Abraham would have a physical family, the Jews (Matt. 3:9), and a spiritual family made up of all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26–29). Those of us who hope in Jesus Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises.

Notice that in verse 4 God said, “As for me,” but in verse 9 he says, “As for you.” Abraham’s part in the covenant was to obey God and mark each male in his family with the sign of the covenant. The actual event is recorded in verses 22 through 27.

What a strange rite this is—the literal carving in the flesh of the sign of God’s lordship! It was intended by God to be the mark of his ownership. For the descendants of Abraham, circumcision was not an option; it was an obligation. Circumcision, for Abraham, meant that he had bound himself to God, the God of the covenant. He looked forward to God’s covenant blessings and he submitted to its stipulations.

Now, let us remember that what was physical and literal to Abraham was intended to have spiritual significance to us. In the New Testament, therefore, we no longer read of circumcision of the flesh, but of the heart. The heart is the symbol of the soul—the mind, emotions, and will—the whole personality. Every believer in Christ is to bear on his heart the sign of Christ’s lordship. Your total personality is to be at Christ’s command.

That is our commitment made to God at our baptism and reaffirmed at the communion table every week. We are to live circumcised lives before our God. Colossians 2:10–12 says, “You have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”

Both Old Testament circumcision and New Testament baptism signify covenant union with God, a union that has already occurred. Both necessitate the putting away of former things and living a life pleasing to God (see Rom. 6:1ff; Col. 3:1–11).

There are, however, some obvious differences which must be kept in mind.

• Circumcision was performed on infants eight days old, or new converts, as evidenced by the faith of their parents. Baptism is for believers as indicated by their personal profession of faith in Christ (Acts 16:33; 19:1–7).
• Circumcision was a private sign. Baptism is a public sign.
• Circumcision was only for males. Baptism is for all believers, male and female.
• Circumcision was an outward sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. Baptism, along with the Lord’s Supper, is the sign of the new covenant with our Lord Jesus.

Old Testament circumcision required faith to be effective, and so, too, does baptism. Abraham “received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (Rom. 4:1).

Thus, physical circumcision did not automatically save, and baptism does not make a non-elect elect. “Having believed, [true believers] are marked in him [in Christ] with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13).

So ours is a circumcision of the heart. The believer’s heart is totally Christ’s to use as he wills. All of our emotions, mind, intellect, and will are dedicated, available, and ready at the command of Jesus Christ to be used for his purposes. Paul says in Philippians 3, “For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).

As Christians, we are to have no reliance upon ourselves. We are to rely totally on Jesus, our covenant Lord. Every thought, every imagination, is to be brought into captivity to him. That is the circumcised life. The Lord’s Supper is also an ongoing reminder that God is our covenant Lord, and we must serve him in his way.

Due to the prevalence of man-centered theology in our day, many so-called Christians live as though God must have resigned as the Ruler of the universe and as Lord of his people. While no sincere Christian would come out and say such a thing, many so-called Christians deny in practice the absolute sovereignty of God over their lives. But either God has resigned, and he has not, and he will not, or he reigns, and he reigns unopposed. Thus, God requires that we “walk before [him] and be blameless,” wholehearted in his service. And in Genesis 17:9, the covenant Lord declares Abraham’s responsibility to keep the covenant: “You must keep my covenant.” It is pretty clear.

This is followed by more divine pronouncements about what is going to happen. God changes their names. He tells Abraham that he will give him a son and make Sarah the mother of many nations. However, Abraham still did not quite get it. He asked that Ishmael, his son by Hagar, might be God’s chosen one, and God denies the request. Instead, God sovereignly chooses to establish his covenant with Isaac, and it is God’s will that is done.

Note in verse 23, “On that very day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.” In this, Abraham acts decisively. “On that very day” he obediently circumcises every male in his household, perhaps upwards of four hundred to a thousand men and boys. Abraham did so immediately, exactly, and, even if haltingly, joyfully, even though their painful recovery rendered the entire camp vulnerable to enemy attack. Now, that is covenant commitment. That is great faith in God Almighty.

But circumcision, like baptism, does not save. Take note of the fact that Ishmael was circumcised and, probably later in time, Esau. But neither of them was saved. What saves us is circumcision of the heart by God the Holy Spirit, which is regeneration.

The Jews placed great value on circumcision as their sign of the covenant with God. But the outside sign is not the reality. Romans 4:11 says that Abraham “is the father of all who believe.” By this verse, Paul asserts that everyone who believes in Jesus, the son of Abraham, the son of David, whether Jew or Gentile, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, is a true child of God and a son or daughter of Abraham.

In Deuteronomy 30:6, God promised to his true covenant people, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”   The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 2:29, “No, a man is a Jew only if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.” As Pastor Mathew often notes, the visible church always consists of baptized unbelievers and baptized true believers.

Conclusion

Genesis 17 ends with Abraham’s obedience to God in that all the males in his household are circumcised. There are two major themes in this chapter. One is that God is the great covenant God and he will accomplish his sovereign purpose in his sovereign way. The other is that God’s people, then, are responsible to keep his covenant he made with them. So we see God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility both in the same context. But God’s sovereignty is obviously the supreme factor undergirding the whole relationship.

We see that God delayed answering Abraham’s prayers to hone Abraham’s faith. God has several reasons for his delays in our lives. Often it is to test our trust in him as El Shaddai. His delay brings us to the end of ourselves so that when he does act in his delivering power, it is more plainly seen and evident that he did it, not us. Then, as a consequence, he receives all the glory.

In Abraham’s case, at God’s right time, the preincarnate Christ shows up and identifies himself as El-Shaddai, God Almighty. And that is the same Jesus we worship and serve. This title describes Jesus who is able to do all that he purposes and save all his people that the Father has given him. Wonderfully, we see in Romans 4 that the apostle Paul writes that Abraham’s faith grew rather than weakened. So we read,

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom. 4:18–25)

Faith in God’s promises, or today we would say faith in Christ, who is the confirmation of all God’s promises, is the way to become a child of Abraham, and obedience is the evidence of our faith, that it be genuine. This is why Jesus says in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the things Abraham did.”

Children of Abraham are people who throughout the world have put their hope in Christ and who, like Abraham, as proved on Mount Moriah later in time, offer up their most precious treasures and gifts to God. We who hope in Christ Jesus and follow him in the obedience of faith are descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises. The promise to Abraham was that he and his seed would inherit the earth. Christ is his seed. Abraham believed God’s covenant and, in Christ, we believe in that same covenant and are made heirs of the same covenant, remembering always that Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

The Lord Almighty invited Abraham, and invites us, to trust in him, in his name, and in his word as revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ. We can trust in him because he is the Lord Almighty. He is the solid rock and our hiding place. He is our deliverer and protector. He is our Savior. It is the height of stupidity not to trust in Jesus with all your heart, soul, and mind.

Our Lord says, “Come to me” (Matt. 11:28) because he alone is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to [God] the Father except through [him]” (John 14:6). Salvation is found in Jesus alone.

It is a wonder of wonders that the God who is El-Shaddai would humble himself to bring us salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. Should we not then love and thank and praise and serve Jesus as Lord?

If you have not trusted in Jesus, then I urge you to forsake all your self-made attempts to save yourself by trying to be good enough before God, and, instead, run to Jesus and embrace him as Savior. Trust in Christ alone to save you. Salvation is not merit-based but mercy-based. It is based on God’s grace alone received by faith alone.

If Almighty God is for you, then all his omnipotence and all his omniscience are engaged all the time to work for your good in all the circumstances of your life. May God be your covenant Lord.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you enable everyone here to embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord Almighty and be saved and blessed. But, Father, help us also to bear in mind that just as Israel would pervert the truth of circumcision in the flesh, so it is possible for us to deceive ourselves to pervert the truth of a circumcised heart. It is quite possible for us to give the impression that we are totally yours, Lord, that we love you and serve you, and that all we have is yours, and yet be quite false in that idea. Help us, then, O God, to discover the glory of the circumcised life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.