Faith Roots with Pastor Willie George

Christ honored the covenant by seeing that it was first presented to the family of Abraham throughout the duration of his earthly ministry. Once He completed His redemptive works at the Cross and the Tomb, He released the proclamation of Abraham’s covenants to the whole world!

 

Mark 16:15 NKJV

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

The Holy Spirit is the Source of all revelation knowledge and spiritual insight. Joseph’s ability to understand and interpret dreams came from the flow of God’s Holy Spirit. Had Joseph given place to bitterness and resentment toward those who had seemingly ruined his life, he would not have known the flow of God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not flow through bitter people.

Joseph was bought in Egypt by the chief of Pharaoh’s guard. Though he was a pagan with no knowledge of the God of Israel, he could see that Joseph was a blessed man. Joseph found favor with Potiphar and Potiphar elevated him to lead his household… until his wife accused Joseph of sexual harassment. He had Joseph thrown into Pharaoh’s prison, but once again, Joseph had favor with his superiors. He made the most of his circumstances and refused to allow his pride to keep him from serving others.

 

When Jacob arrived in Padan-Aram, he met Rachael and Leah, the daughters of Laban. Although Jacob was related to Laban, Laban was ruthless and deceptive, tricking Jacob into 14 years of service for the right to marry his daughters. He then worked another six years to obtain livestock, and though Laban reduces his wages ten times, Jacob prospered abundantly because God was with him. The covenant proved to be bigger than one man and longer than one lifetime.

God stopped Abraham from offering Isaac because he passed the test. God knew by looking into his heart that he was willing to give his son. This act opened the door for God to offer His own Son who was both the Son of God and Abraham!

The covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was unconditional. Had God required absolute protection, He would have rejected Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they were all flawed men.

The circumcision of our hearts must remove the spiritual scales of blindness that keep us from seeing spiritual truth in Christ and the true nature of the darkness of this world.

Once again, an Old Testament symbol clearly illustrates an important New Testament truth.

The spiritual journey of Abraham was as much a journey of hope as it was of faith. These two spiritual forces cannot operate alone. There is no faith without hope.

For 24 years, God built Abraham’s hope until the time came for the physical creation of Isaac’s body. Isaac was a spiritual reality to Abraham, but he had no basis for faith in a physical Isaac until God’s visit in Genesis 17:1-2.

The ceremonies, rituals, and dealings that God carried out with Abram were done in meticulous detail, even though they were largely symbolic. Every detail had to be observed because the symbols had to be perfect representations of the actual events to come. The Abrahamic Covenant had to be a perfect picture of our Covenant with Christ.

The appearance of the Word of the Lord to Abram in Genesis 15 is the first time that God clearly makes a covenant with him. The covenant is hinted at in every encounter Abram had with God up to this point, but this story is the first open declaration of God’s covenant with Abram.