Genesis 17:15-18:15

What we will see in this passage are three lessons from the life of Abraham that set the foundation for how we stand for life.

Outline

  • First, Stand for life based on the promise of God (17:15-27)
    • The promise of life produces a new hope (17:15-17)
    • The promise of life produces a new plan (17:18-210
    • The promise of life produces a new commitment (17:22-27)
  • Second, Stand for life based on the protection of God (18:1-8)
    • Protect life by seeing the needs of others (18:1-5)
    • Protect life by serving the needs of others (18:6-8)
  • Third, Stand for life based on the provision of God (18:9-15)

Christ Connections

  • God offers us his grace as the fulfillment of 17:19b, he establishes an everlasting covenant through his Son’s life, death, and resurrection.
  • We can easily find ourselves in the place of Sarah, trying to fix our problems by doing good things for God instead of pursuing him. God is asking us, “where are you?” and calling us to run to Christ.

Applications

  • In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:34–40) we learn how Jesus calls us to protect life, we are all in the exact same situation as Abraham—when we serve the needs of the least of these around us, when we care for the vulnerable in our community, we are actually serving God himself
  • Abraham’s sees and steps into action and shows us three ways we are called to serve others:
    • We should serve swiftly
    • We should serve sacrificially
    • We should serve selflessly