Posts by John

The Gospel for the City in Genesis 16-17

Genesis 16 and 17 tell the story of the Abraham’s struggle with faith as the promise of an heir is delayed.  In weakness of faith Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands rather than wait upon God for what appears to be an unlikely promise, considering their age. Abram accomplishes his goal of having an heir by his concubine but this is not acceptable to God. Consequently, rather than obtaining a legitimate heir, Abraham’s faithless act results in the birth of a nation that would perpetually afflict the chosen descendants.

Nevertheless, God shows grace to Hagar in blessing her and promising that her descendants through Ishmael would multiply in a similar way to the chosen descendants of Abraham through Isaac.  However, it is through Isaac that the promise of blessing to the nations will be fulfilled; it is through Isaac that the seed of the woman who would destroy the serpent will come.

Despite Abram’s faithless act, God is His sovereign grace reaffirms His covenant with Abraham and institutes a sign for the covenant, an outward sign that would represent the inward faith of Abraham and his descendants. In circumcision, the foreskin of the male organ for reproducing life is cut away representing one’s saving faith in God’s power alone to cut away the sinfulness of the heart of man, from which proceed all the issues of life.

Both Abram and Sarai are given new names which represent God’s assurance of their fruitfulness in experiencing God’s promises, despite their recent act of faithlessness.  What a wonderful display of God’s grace!  It is God alone who insures that the promise of a redeemer will be fulfilled and will result in a multi-national seed of Abraham.

When God reaffirms His covenant with Abraham, He emphasizes that Abraham would be the father of many nations. Ultimately, according to Galatians 3 the fulfillment of this is not about physical nations but about those from the many nations of the world who place an “Abraham-like faith” in the quintessential seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ.

Church planting in urban centers has the potential to reflect this multi-national faith. Often urban churches become microcosms of the diverse gathering of nations before the throne singing ‘worthy is the Lamb’ (Rev 5:9-12). Instead of the cacophony that often exists in the gathering of alien nations, the gospel creates a joyous harmony accompanied by a sweet symphony, singing and playing to the glory of the Lamb that was slain.

The Gospel for the City in Genesis 15

Genesis 15 reminds us that God is a God of promise who often allows delayed fulfillment as a test of our faith in His Word. Abraham had God’s promise of descendants, yet time had passed and he had no children by his wife Sarah. His heir at that point would have been one of his servants.

God reaffirms his promise to Abraham that he would have innumerable descendants. Abraham believed God and is counted as righteous on the basis of his faith. He yet had no son; he only had the Word of God.

God also reaffirms the promise of an inheritance, a land for the descendants of Abraham to call home.  But even then, there is no immediate possession of the promise; rather God tells him that it will be another 400 years before the promise of land is fulfilled. The fulfilling of the land promise is tied to a time when God would judge those who enslaved His people and when the overflow of sin in the land of promise would finally call for God’s judgment on that land.  In and through His judgment on the enslavers and the inhabitants of that land of promise, Abraham’s descendants would be granted new life in the land.

In an unusual act, God then symbolically participates in an ancient covenant ceremony in which He vows death to Himself should he break his promise to Abraham. The subsequent history tells us that God fulfilled His promise of descendants and land.

This instance in the life of Abraham foreshadows the greater judgment, deliverance, and granting of an inheritance that occurs in the New Covenant. However, in the New Covenant, the Covenant-maker does die, but not for His own covenant breaking. He dies the death that covenant-breakers deserve. In his own body, sin is judged; through his death, deliverance is brought about; in his resurrection, an inheritance is granted to the true seed of Abraham, those who believe.

As we minister in urban places, we have the privilege of looking back on God’s faithfulness to Abraham, having even more reason to live by faith in the Word of God. We live on this side of the cross and resurrection so we know that the great judgment on sin has taken place and the great liberating power of the resurrection has been displayed. We have tasted in the Spirit, the down-payment of our inheritance, but like Abraham, we still wait for that eternal land, that city whose builder and maker is God.

We can joyfully tell city-dwellers that the sin which plagues their guilt-ridden consciences has been judged on the cross; they can be set free from the sin that enslaves because Christ in His resurrection has broken sin’s power; they can live above the false promises of urban idolatries by tasting in the Spirit the promise of the world to come.