Genesis 16:1-16

Continuation from the Covenant of Grace.

We ended up our last insight into the Covenant of Grace by praying for favor after learning that God grants favor to those who do not deserve it but want to believe in Him.

We continue today under the sub-theme: Grace Supersedes Sin

In our last encounter with Abram, we learnt that he came to Egypt poor but left Egypt a rich man, all because of the unmerited favor of God.

In Genesis 16 we see that after all these issues in Egypt when Abram and his family returned to Canaan and God revealed to him how he was going to bless him with his own baby through whom many nations will be blessed, Abram again agreed with his wife Sarai to shortcut God by piling sin upon sin. Abram committed adultery with his wife’s maid, proposing that perhaps God’s promise will come true through this arrangement –

What a big lie !!!!

So for over 13 years, Abram did not hear again from the Lord –

Sin is terrible, ya’ll!  Sin is subtle!  Sin can really make you miserable, when you are into it it looks minor, it feels enjoyable, even pleasurable, as if it is no big deal. But all that pleasure is just temporary. Sin will come back and bite you! Sin separates you from God, Sin clouds your mind with darkness, sin corrupts the mind, the soul and the spirit – sin brings sickness, pain and suffering and it will ultimately kill you, if you do not do anything about it!

But God is such a merciful God, such a Good God, full of grace, and mercy, and forgiveness. God is NOT what our warped mind think of him to be – a hard-headed non-communicative being, not concerned with human pain and suffering, and only looking out to punish bad people.

Noooo, God is LOVE!!!

…no matter how terrible you are, no matter how many times you run away from him, he comes right back chasing after you, calling out your name, beckoning on you to come back to his loving arms, to his gracious mercy and forgiving heart. Call on him today, He will hear you!

What God is actually looking for is to enter into a covenant relationship with you! Yes, You!

You say how do I know that? Well, don’t take it from me, but take it from God’s dealing with Abram and Sarai. After those 13 years of silence because Abram and his wife were still dabbling with sin after sin instead of repenting and forsaking it, God still didn’t give up on them. He came looking for Abram again.

He appeared to Abram and told him “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Rather than punishing Abram for his sin, He came looking for a relationship with Abram, He came looking for faith (the walk of faith) so that He could impart righteousness, joy and peace into the life of Abram by completely wiping out sin from his flesh(sign of which is the circumcision, which I will explain later) and giving him a spirit of holiness and power!

You want to be holy, good and perfect? Do you need power to overcome the sin that has become a bondage to you, Do you need power to break any habit that you tried several times to break but you were unable to do so?

Come to Jesus. He will Set You Free!!! Tell him you want him to free you from your addiction and He will because He is the ALMIGHTY GOD. Nothing is impossible with God!!

Pray this prayer with Me:

“Lord Jesus, you who revealed yourself to Abram as the ALMIGHTY GOD, 

I come to you today, asking you to deliver me from the habit of sin, addiction to _____(name your particular addiction, or bondage)!

Set me free from this bondage and fill me with your power to enable me live the life of freedom and a willing service to you and to other mankind.

I thank you that Nothing is impossible to you and by faith I declare that I am free from sin, from addiction and from any bondage in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen”

If you prayed this prayer and you meant it in your heart, you are now a completely changed person, You are free from any sin or addiction or bondage. God has made you free and blameless from any guilt, enjoy your freedom and look for a bible-believing church to help you grow in your faith.

To be continued.