Reassurance for Faith When Your Faith Is Struggling

Introduction

Please turn with me to the first book of the Bible – the book of Genesis. And this morning we’ll continue our sermon series, looking at the life of a man named Abraham – also referred to as Abram. If you’ve been with us the last few weeks, you may remember that God called Abraham to leave behind his former life, and to travel into a foreign land. God promised Abraham that he would bless him. Yet after many years, and a series of trying events, including a severe famine, and a battle against foreign invading armies, Abraham is still waiting (by faith) for all these promised blessings of God to show up.

This morning we’ll pick up where we left off last week, in Genesis, Chapter 15, and we’ll continue to follow how God deals with Abraham. So if you haven’t already, please turn with me to Genesis 15. If you’re using one of our church Bibles, you can find our text on page 9. But before I read this section of the Bible for us, let’s ask God to give us open ears and understanding hearts. Please pray with me once again:

[Pray and Read Text]

How Can I Know?

It’s not unusual for Christians to experience seasons of uncertainty, with respect to what God has promised. One reason why it’s common to have questions and uncertainties is because we often find ourselves in situations where what we see doesn’t seem to line up with what God has said. God has promised eternal life to those who trust in Christ, in John 3:16. And yet for the Christian funerals we go to, what we see is cold, hard death. Similarly, God has said that everyone who trusts in Christ has received forgiveness of sins, as we see in Ephesians 1:7. Yet sometimes we don’t feel forgiven. Instead we’re overwhelmed with intense feelings of guilt, shame, and fear. And even though the Bible indicates that Jesus has been enthroned as the Lord and king over all things, Hebrews 2, verse 8 points out, “…we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.”

And in this life, when we don’t physically possess these things – while we’re waiting for the full arrival of God’s promises – it’s common for us to ask how can I know? How can I know that God is actually going to bless me with these things?

God’s people have wrestled with this question throughout history. Abram’s descendants, the Israelites, living 3500 years ago – they struggled with this question, too. I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, this account of Abraham’s life was first written down for them – because they needed their faith encouraged, just as we do. Even though God had just led these people out of their slavery in Egypt, under his prophet, Moses, the people still had doubts. You can see this in the Bible, in the book of Exodus. As they wandered through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, there were seasons where they encountered hunger and thirst. God didn’t feel particularly near. Life felt hard. God’s promises seemed impossible. And the people wondered, as many of us do, “How can I know, that God will actually do what he’s promised?”

And to deal with this question – to help us through those seasons, when we’re struggling with uncertainty and doubt – God has given us Genesis 15. He shows us how he dealt with Abram. You have to remember, within God’s promises made to Abram, there are two key elements of the promise. God promises to give Abram offspring – to make Abram the father of a great nation. And God promises to give Abram and his offspring a land.

But even though Abram has been following God for years and years at this point, he still has no offspring. And he still has no land. And he begins to wonder. He begins to be uncertain. He begins to question. Yet in the midst of Abram’s personal struggle for faith, God introduces us to two foundational principles of how he deals with us – two principles that end up becoming some of the most important ideas contained in the Bible.

First, we’ll see that faith seeks assurance, and that God confirms his promises. Then second, we’ll see that faith sets itself on the Lord, and God grants us righteousness.

Faith Seeks Assurance, and God Confirms His Promises

So first, faith seeks assurance, and God confirms his promises.

In verse 1, we see that the Word of the LORD comes to Abram in a vision – and the LORD tells him, “Fear not, Abram. I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” It’s an incredible statement that God makes here. He declares himself to be Abram’s shield – Abram’s protector. He also declares that Abram’s reward will be very great. God here functionally identifies himself as Abram’s provider. And together with these things, God tells Abram how he should respond – or actually, how Abram shouldn’t respond. God says, “Fear not. Don’t be afraid.” Instead, God encourages Abram to trust him.

But how does Abram respond? In verse 2, he asks God, “O LORD God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Eliezer of Damascus wasn’t a relative. He was one of Abram’s household servants, which is why Abram continues in verse 3: “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household” (a household servant) “will be my heir.”

Abram is basically saying, “Yes, God, I know what you’ve said. I know that you’ve said that you’re going to give me blessings and such. But when? How? How can you bless me and my offspring if you aren’t giving me any offspring to begin with?” It was culturally recognized at that time that children were a blessing from God. But so far, Abram had received no children. And for long as Abram continued childless, from a human vantage point, it appeared that Abram was cursed – deprived – forgotten. For people who have suffered through infertility and miscarriages, you can probably relate to Abram, here. He simply wants to know – will God really bless him?

It’s an honest question that Abram asks here. He brings his heavy heart to God. And this is a great act of faith. Abram’s faith seeks reassurance.

It might be surprising that I’m describing Abram’s activity here as an expression of faith. You might assume that wrestling with uncertainty and asking questions – that these things are expressions of doubt – expressions of unbelief. Because sometimes when people question God, it is out of absolute faithlessness. The questions aren’t sincere. They aren’t seeking reassurance for their belief, but instead are looking for excuses to continue in unbelief. You’re right, that trying to force God to conform to our arbitrary standards and skeptical demands – that’s an exercise of unbelief, rather than faith.

But Abram entrusts his questions to God, as an act of faith, to have his faith further assured. He doesn’t withdraw from God. He doesn’t pull back from God’s Word, and his people, as we’re sometimes tempted to do. Instead, by faith, Abram draws nearer to God. He’s functionally saying, “Lord, I believe – help my unbelief.” He recognizes that he needs God’s grace – God’s help – to strengthen and sustain his faith. In times of weakness, he seeks reassurance from God. And for people of faith, that should be our practice, as well.

He does the same thing later in the chapter. After God reiterates part of his promise to Abram in verse 7, saying, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess,” notice how Abram responds in verse 8. He again raises a question: “O LORD God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

On multiple occasions, concerning multiple issues, Abram has questions. You’ll probably have questions that arise, too. And that’s because, unlike God, we can’t see the big picture. We are people with a limited ability to understand. God’s timing and actions won’t always make sense to us. And in our creatureliness – in our uncertainties – it’s right for us to admit our weakness to God, and to come in faith, seeking deeper reassurance.

On both of these occasions when Abram asks a question – God graciously responds by granting Abram reassurances. God confirms his promises. And there are two main features of how God confirms his promises that are worth pointing out here.

Visible Symbolism

First, God confirms his promises with visible symbolism. As Abram wonders about God’s promise to give him offspring, the Lord reassures Abram in verse 4, saying, “’This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”

You’ll notice here, God gives Abram a visible symbol to bring reassurance. The Lord takes his promise to Abram, which up until now has just been an abstract idea, and he translates his promise into terms that Abram can see and relate to in a sensory way. He leads out Abram out into the darkness of night – without the glow of street lamps and headlights – and God points to the sky, and says, “Look how many stars there are. Try to count them. In the same way, I will give you offspring – so many offspring, you won’t be able to count them.”

Do you see, here, how God brings himself low for us? He isn’t obligated to do this, but he willingly dumbs things down to our level. He confirms his promises through visible symbols, because God sincerely wants to comfort and reassure our faith. This is why he gave other physical rituals and symbols to the Israelites through the Mosaic law. This is why God gives Christians today visible signs in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He further attests to his promises with these visible symbols and sacraments for the benefit of our faith.

But telling Abram to look at the stars is significant in another way, too. God is pointing out all these stars – a vast number of stars that he himself brought into being, as the Creator of the Universe. And he’s saying, “just as I have filled the sky with an uncountable number of stars, I will also give you an uncountable number of offspring.”

And as Abram is looking at all these stars, he’s forced to realize that he can’t explain the mechanics of how God made them! God’s ability to fill the night sky goes beyond what Abram can understand. And yet the same Power that made the stars, is now the Power that’s promising to give him a son. We don’t need to know how God will do something in order to trust that He will. But as we look at the incomprehensible vastness of God’s power, we can trust that what God has promised, he will perform – even when we don’t understand how it’s possible.

Of course, the stars aren’t the only visible symbol that God gives to Abram. There’s also that unusual interaction that we see later in the Chapter – in verses 7 through 21, with the animals and such. God engages with Abram again in a way that’s highly visible and sensory.

Veritable Oath

But the main point to notice from verses 7 through 21 is that God is confirming his promises, not just with a visible symbol, but also with a veritable oath – a sincere, genuine oath. God validates his word to Abram in the context of a solemn covenant.

When Abram again asks for reassurance, in verse 8 – “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” – God again stoops down to a human level, to operate in terms that Abram can understand. And he asks for Abram to bring him a variety of animals – a heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon. As Americans, all this probably sounds really strange. Especially when the passage goes on to explain how Abram cuts the bigger animals in half, and puts one half on the right, and the other half on the left, with a narrow walkway through the middle. It doesn’t make sense.

But in Abram’s culture, 3500 years ago, this made perfect sense. At that time, whenever two people entered into a solemn agreement with each other – a covenant – they would confirm the seriousness of their promise in a ceremony like this. These animals would be cut in half, and then the two parties making the promise would walk together between the animals. By doing this, both people were agreeing that the consequence for breaking their promise would be death. They were essentially saying, “If I go back on my word, let me be torn in two, like one of these bloody animals.” This covenant was serious. And this practice is referred to again, briefly, in Jeremiah 34, verses 18 through 20. This ceremony wasn’t unfamiliar or strange in Old Testament times. But Abram, and the Israelites after him, would have known clearly what was happening here. God was preparing to enter into a binding oath.

So after Abram prepares these animals, he waits for God to come. He waits quite a while, just as we sometimes are forced to wait for God to confirm his promises. Abram waits through the afternoon, fighting off birds of prey – because he’s serious about receiving reassurance from God. This is a serious matter. And he assumes, quite naturally, that he and God would soon be walking together between the animals to ratify the oath.

But as the sun goes down, verse 12 indicates that God induced Abram to fall into a deep sleep, and that as Abram is lying there, “dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.” The point here isn’t just that the day is fading. But there’s a darkness of the soul that settles over Abram, as Almighty God draws near to confirm his oath. It seems to be implied here, that Abram senses this darkness because, in his sinful humanness, the intensity of the Divine presence is overwhelming. This is what we should expect! God isn’t someone to trifle with. Many American churches introduce God as being a BFF who’s infinitely flexible, permissive, and affirming. But this isn’t a Biblical understanding of God at all. God is sacred, crowned in imperial majesty over the universe, fiercer in glory than 10,000 suns, more powerful than ten million angels. At his presence, Satan and his demons tremble, and the world is brought to judgment – shouldn’t every human sinner be overwhelmed by such a God, as this?

But God doesn’t give his people over to their dread and darkness. Matthew Henry, an English pastor and theologian from the 1600s, he comments on this passage by saying, “Holy fear prepares the soul for holy joy; the spirit of bondage makes way for the spirit of adoption. God wounds first, and then heals; humbles first, and then lifts up…”

God doesn’t intend to leave Abram in this darkness. But the presence of God which reduces us to nothing, by exposing our wickedness and revealing our need for a Savior – it’s the same presence of God that draws near to confirm his promises with an oath – in a covenant.

Notice how God ratifies this oath ceremony between Him and Abram in verses 17 and 18: “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day, the LORD made a covenant with Abram…” So notice, God and Abram don’t walk between the animals together. But God takes on something of a visible appearance, as two entities – as smoke and fire – and he passes between the animals unilaterally. God ratifies the promises all by himself. There is no part of the promise that depends on Abram’s performance in any way – but the enduring validity of the promise rests entirely on God.

Many theologians refer to the covenant established here as “the Covenant of Grace.” The covenant that the LORD enters into here, with Abram and his descendants – depends 100% on God, and his faithfulness, and not at all on Abram. And this “Covenant of Grace” made with Abram, in its substance, is the same covenant that Christians are invited into today. God promises that Abram’s “very own son” will be his heir – ultimately this isn’t Isaac, but it’s pointing further ahead, to the one who brings all these promises to fulfillment – to Jesus. God promises to make Abram’s descendants into a great nation – a great people. And this is fulfilled in the Church, and its global reach to bless all nations. All who believe in Christ are counted as genuine offspring of Abraham just as Galatians 3:7 says: “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” And in God’s promise to give Abraham’s descendants the land of Canaan, the New Testament clarifies, that the intended scope of the promise reaches further. Romans 4:13 indicates that God’s promise entailed that Abraham and his offspring being “heirs of the world.” The promise that lies ahead of us, as Christians, isn’t just to inherit a new Canaan, but 2 Peter 3:13 reminds us, that “according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. The promise made to Abraham is a promise that’s intended and expanded for Christians like you and I.

And this promise is something that God binds himself to. In this covenant, he solemnly swears that He himself will guarantee the full delivery of these blessings. And keep in mind, God makes this oath – he stoops down to engage in the act of ratifying this covenant for us. It’s for our comfort – our confidence. He certainly didn’t need to enter into a covenant like this for himself. God didn’t need anyone to convince him of his own trustworthiness. He needed no further assurances. But in the book of Hebrews, Chapter 6, the purpose of God’s oath to Abram is explained – that “…when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…”

God’s covenant is an anchor for our soul, that brings confidence, no matter what our earthly trials and troubles might be. God has sworn by himself – he has solemnly promised, in his own sacred presence – that he will fulfill his Word.

It’s important to point out, though, quickly, that these promises made to Abram – before they reached their ultimate fulfillment in Christ, there was also a sense in which these things were partially fulfilled, in a way that was intended to foreshadow the greater fulfillment that would come later – through Jesus. In verses 13-16, God predicts in detail how Abram’s descendants will be sojourners in a foreign country for four hundred years, before finally coming out and receiving the land of Canaan. This may have been helpful in strengthening Abram’s faith. But, God’s primary interest in mentioning these things was likely for the sake of the Israelites under Moses, who were the first readers and recipients of this part of the Bible.

The Israelites should have seen, in Abram’s life, how God had kept his word throughout history. God had led Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans. God had rescued the people of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt. God could surely be trusted to bring them into the blessings he had promised. And as we consider the various ways that God has kept His Word in the past, those experiences should further confirm to us that God can be trusted to fulfill his Word in the future.

Faith Sets Itself on the Lord, and God Grants Us Righteousness

But there’s another foundational principle in this passage, concerning the way God relates to us. In the text, we also see that faith – right faith – faith sets itself on the Lord, and that God grants righteousness. Look with me at verse 6: And he [Abram] – he believed the LORD. And the LORD credited it to Abram as righteousness.

The first thing I want to point out, here, is that up to this point, Abram, presumably, wasn’t righteous. Meaning, he was not right with God. Legally speaking, he in violation of God’s law. He was counted as an enemy, an idolator, a sinner in need of forgiveness and cleansing.

When people become aware of their moral dirtiness, and the way that all their selfish, perverted thoughts and feelings are exposed before God, it can be incredibly discouraging. You might assume that there’s no hope that God would want anything to do with you! You might assume that there’s no way that God would be committed to blessing you with good things. Because you know yourself! You know your sin!

But when we encounter the living God, we find someone who is greater than ourselves – greater than our failures. It’s true, we can’t bless ourselves. It’s true that we’re fickle, frail, and infected with sin. But there is a God who is faithful, and you can trust in him, to bring you out of your present angst and evils, into blessing.

And our text confirms that that’s where Abram placed his confidence. He believed the LORD. Abram’s faith was good and right, because he had faith in the right object – because He trusted in God.

And it’s important to understand what makes faith good and right, because I think that many people imagine that faith, in and of itself, is virtuous. But that’s not true at all. Having faith is only virtuous if you have faith in the right thing. A billion people may have very intense faith in something, that it’s the great solution for life, and the world. But if they’re trusting in Allah, the God of Islam, or if they’re trusting in communism or democracy or free market economics – or if they’re trusting in education, or athletics, or the power of the almighty Self – then their faith is actually wicked!

This is because when you put your faith in the wrong thing, you’re robbing God of the reverence and reliance that should be his alone. You’re denying the Godness of God, and functionally you’re trying to replace him with something else – something grossly inferior. It’s an insult. It’s an attack against God’s worthiness and respectability. Yet out of the corrupted, fallen condition of our hearts, this is how we naturally want to operate. This is how Abram had operated, in his past, as an idol worshipper. Abram was corrupt – he was unrighteous – not right – before God, as we established before. But God’s calls us out of our unrighteousness, as he did Abram. And he urges us to trust in him. No one else can put away the dark deeds of the past. There’s no one else who can make us right. No one else who can secure blessings for us that last. The only good faith – the only right faith – is faith that rests in God.

And that’s the faith that Abram demonstrates here. The point of this text isn’t really to evaluate the quality of Abram’s faith – how forceful it was, or how steadfast it was, or how authentically he felt his faith – that’s not the point. The main thing we’re supposed to see is who Abram’s trust was in. He believed the LORD.

And when Abram trusts in the Lord, verse 6 says, “And he (the LORD) counted it to him as righteousness.” That is, in God’s courtroom, Abram was declared to be right with him legally and perpetually. The technical word for this is justification. And Abram was justified – counted as righteous – because he was resting himself fully on God’s rightness, and God’s blessedness, and God’s grace instead of on himself, or something else.

And the Bible mentions this, because this is the only way to be made right with God – through faith in the Lord. If we simply attempt to rely on our general decency, and the overall okayness of our behavior – our attempts to hit God’s standard will be a spectacularly lame air ball. The Lord of righteousness is the only one who can make you righteous for Judgment Day. You must be counted as righteous by faith. Not faith plus your works. Not faith plus baptism, plus penance, plus the Eucharist. But by faith in the Lord alone – that’s how God counts us as right.

This point, about Abram’s righteousness by faith, is further explained in various parts of the New Testament. Romans 4:23 explains: “the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord…” Similarly, in Philippians 3:9 Paul speaks of being counted righteous in God’s eyes, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on faith.” Also Galatians 2, verse 16: we know that a person is not counted as righteous – he is not justified – by works of the law, but through faith in Christ.

And when you understand this, how you’re counted as right with God, you no longer have to doubt about your future. You no longer have to wonder if you are too far gone to receive God’s blessing. As you see the confirmations God gave Abram, you can humbly thank God, that he himself has confirmed, by his own power, by his own promise, by his own covenant – He is committed to deliver his blessings to you.

And in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we’re able to see with greater clarity what Abram was only able to see from afar. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God gives us a visible confirmation of his promises, to bless all nations. He reinstitutes his covenant of grace, not through the blood of a heifer, goat, and ram, but through the blood of Christ. Through faith in Christ, the Lord delivers us from sin and death, and counts us as righteous, through faith. These things have been confirmed over and over again. Won’t you believe God? Won’t you take heart, and find comfort in your seasons of doubt? Let’s ask God for this to be the case. Please pray with me: