Broadlands Bible Church
December 7, 2022
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Thesis: God's method of dealing with man comes to the critical focus at the issue of faith.
Introduction: In our previous studies, we have camped on these claims: The issue of
perspective is so crucial as to
determine understanding. Involved in the matter of perspective are these factors: 1) God is and has spoken; 2) Man is a creature of eternity; and 3) God has addressed man
in terms of the way He made him when He created him.
In order to make our perspective "biblical", I have camped in recent studies upon the record of the temptation of man in the Garden in Genesis Three in order to show that the categories of man's "creation" (body, spirit, soul) became the categories of the serpent's temptation of Eve and Adam (body, soul, spirit) so that "food", "appealing desire of the eyes", and "the need for wisdom" are expansions of man's created reality.
Then, last week I went to Genesis Twelve in order to show that the categories of man's "creation" (body, spirit, soul) are recognizable in the "Abrahamic Covenant" in both the demands of God and the promises of God made to Abram. I also made the claim that this "Abrahamic Covenant" was the seed bed for successive covenants as well as large overarching governors of God's plans for man for his time upon the earth.
At some point, I plan to press that thesis of the "seed bed" by looking at those successive covenants and their impact upon how history has developed upon the earth. But this evening, I am going to try to make the case that God's words in covenant form have one particular requirement that, if met, leads into the experience by man of the Life of God, and, if not met, turns man's experience of existence in God's dealings with men into a gradually developing chaos that ultimately leads to Death. That one requirement is commonly known to men: Faith in the words of God.
- I. The Central Focus of Faith: Ephesians 2:12.
- A. The text with its focus upon "the" promise.
- 1. At issue is the plural form of the word "covenants", and the singular form of the word "promise".
- 2. It is my contention that the plural form of "covenants" points all the way back to Genesis 12:1-3.
- 3. It is also my contention that the singular form of "promise" has, as its absolute requirement, "Faith".
- a. Romans 4:13-25 insists that we understand that there is an essential link between the divine side of "promise" and the human side of "faith".
- 1) "Promise" is God's gracious commitment to His works for man's benefit.
- 2) "Faith" is man's positive response to that commitment by God.
- b. Hebrews 11:6 makes "faith" the issue of whether a man "pleases" God.
- B. The text in the larger context of the biblical summary of the essence of the promise (1 John 2:25).
- C. The text in terms of what it says about faith.
- 1. First, it says that God has addressed man...
- a. This means that at the bottom of the pile is the fact that God's method of applying grace to man's condition is to address him...to communicate information aimed in his direction that will enter his brain through his ears in a verbal form.
- b. This compels us to come to this conclusion regarding faith: it is a response to verbal communication from God.
- c. It, then, is not what is so often called faith in our generation: some kind of content-creation that is then wedded to some form of strength of conviction in the mind of man.
- 1) The content is created by God as the Speaker. Thus the content is not generated by man as the hearer.
- 2) The strength of conviction is created by God as the Speaker Who speaks to man with a certain and comprehensive understanding of what is necessary in the man for the speech to carry the weight of Truth. The strength of conviction is not created by man as the hearer.
- 3) In every instance of faith in the Scriptures, there is a specific God-created content that carries the weight of truth in the mind of the man who is credited with belief.
- a) Abraham is the father of all who believe and the testimony regarding him is that he considered that what God promised, God would accomplish (Romans 4:21).
- b) Elijah is called a man like us who was able to pray and have his request granted by reason of his faith (James 5:17-18). The often overlooked fact regarding this faith is that Elijah was simply asking God to do what He had said He would do [see Deuteronomy 28:23 and 1 Kings 8:35 and 18:1].
- 2. Second, it says that God has addressed man by means of multiple covenants in respect to a single promise.
- a. The single promise is not a simple promise: it has a rather large complexity to it.
- b. The multiple covenants are those which are highlighted and emphasized by the words of God to man recorded in the Bible.
- 1) These multiple covenants have a large umbrella: The Abrahamic Covenant with its three parts as addressing man in his three areas of need.
- 2) Under this umbrella is a deliberate, divine, intensification of the three specific areas of man's susceptibility to deception and disbelief.
- a) What is often called the Palestinian Covenant focused God's people on His promise of the land (Deuteronomy 28:1-29:1).
- b) What is often called the Davidic Covenant focused God's people on His promise of the seed (2 Samuel 7).
- c) What is often called the New Covenant focused God's people on His promise of a great name (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
