Today's reading.
God comes and talks to Abram who is starting to wonder if God will actually make good on his promises. He still doesn't have kids. Still doesn't feel like much of a worldwide blessing. Abe is focused on his circumstances; God points his eyes to the stars.
God says, that's how many kids you'll have when I'm done blessing you, Abram. "And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (15:6). Abram believed what God said, put his faith in God's promise, and that faith was the means through which God declared him righteous.
And just in case his words aren't enough to affirm this heavenly promise, God seals the deal by swearing to himself. God swears to God.
He tells Abe to cut a bunch of animals in half and line them up. Then there is a vision of a "smoking fire pot" passing between the pieces of animal carcass. The ceremony is meant to communicate the seriousness of the promise. God is saying, "If I don't make good on my promise, may I share the fate of these animals." God wants his carcass scattered in the dessert for the vultures to he doesn't do what he said he would.
What was the promise? What did Abram put his faith in? Why would God swear on his own grave?
The promise was Christ. Abraham's children would outnumber the stars because "it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7). All those who put their faith in Christ—in the promised blessing that would come through Abraham's offspring—receive the same righteousness that Abraham did. Because Abraham's Son came as God had promised, we can be counted Abraham's sons and daughters by faith in Christ.
God swore on his own grave that he would send Christ. And when Christ came, God still went to the grave for us. This is a completely one-sided deal, and we got the sweet end of the bargain. That kind of grace gets in you. Changes you. Takes hold of you and sets you free all at once. Let grace transform you. That's what being a Christian is.
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