12. Genesis 17
This morning we are going to be baptizing [child] and immediately after that we will be bringing [adult] into membership. And before the baptism I want to quickly look at one verse: Genesis 17:7. God told Abraham,
Gen. 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
Five things to notice: First, God chose Abraham before Abraham chose God. Second, God chose Abraham’s descendants long before they were born or were able to choose Him. Third, this choice would not be fickle, but would be a choice that would endure throughout eternity. Fourth, this choice was a personal commitment to Abraham. One commentator said,
Spiritually, the essence of the covenant is personal, like the ‘I will’ of a marriage: so the pledge I will be their God (8b; cf. 7b) far outweighs the particular benefits.47
This is God’s personal commitment. And the last thing I want to highlight is that God chose to be something to Abraham and His descendants. He chose to be God to them. In other words, God promises to act as God on behalf of Abraham and his descendants. All that He is and all that He has is committed to them. Now, there is the human side to the covenant that God will highlight in chapter 18, verse 19. And that human side is reflected in the vows that [parents] are going to be taking. But as we come to apply the sign of the covenant to [child] this morning, let us rejoice in God’s actions.
If we are in the Abrahamic covenant, then these promises belong to us. God chose us long before we chose Him. God chose to include our children in the covenant long before our children had faith to choose Him. Thirdly, God is not fickle when it comes to His promises. His promises are yea and amen in Christ into eternity. That’s why we constantly direct the faith of our children to Christ. Fourth, He makes a personal pledge to us and to our children through the sign of the covenant. It’s his “I will” to us. Baptism is also the “I will” of parents, but I am only looking at God’s actions today. And God makes a personal pledge to us. And fifth, He promises to act as this faithful God or to be this faithful God to us and to our descendants. With such glorious promises, the least we can do is to respond in faith and to commit our children to God. And that is what [parents] are going to be doing this morning.
I’ll ask the [family] to come up and to renew their side of the covenant “I wills.”