The story of Abraham is a record of both faith and doubt. While we’re told in Genesis 15 that “Abraham believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness,” in the very next chapter we find him agreeing with his wife Sarah to attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promises by impregnating her maidservant Hagar. Later in the story, Abraham actually falls on his face and laughs at God as he reiterates the promise that his wife Sarah, even in her advanced age, would conceive and bear a son. What is the point of this narrative, and how does it help us to better understand both the complexity of sin and the grandeur of God’s grace? Shane Rosenthal discusses this with Mike Brown, co-author of Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored.
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One of my favorite passages in Scripture is that scene in Acts 12 when Peter is in prison and a number of saints are praying for his release. But when their prayers are answered and he shows up at the front gate, they don’t believe it’s really him. They actually found it hard to believe that God would bring to pass the very thing they were praying about. When we see this sort of thing happen to Bible characters, it gives us hope because we can identify with it.
Mike Brown
Recommended:
The Gospel in Genesis
Authors: Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Gospel in Genesis starts with the fall of man and ends with the call of Abram as it examines portions of chapters 3-12. Along the way Lloyd-Jones talks of serpents and sin, of the Word of God and the Babel of man. But the destination of The Gospel in Genesis is clear: readers will be moved from fig leaves in the garden to faith in the gospel. Thus Lloyd-Jones preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ from the pages of Genesis. These nine sermons will snap non believers out of their apathy toward God and will embolden believers to share the only gospel that offers answers to life’s biggest questions.
Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored
Authors: Michael Brown & Zach Keele
Sacred Bond is an introduction to covenant theology geared to the lay reader. “People often ask me for a basic or introductory book on covenant theology. Now we’ve got one–Sacred Bond. Brown and Keele explain covenant theology in basic and readable terms. Better yet, they do so without succumbing to the tendency to talk down to the reader or make the complicated too simplistic–a common problem with introductory texts. This book does many things well, but perhaps the most important thing it does is that it will help people to better understand their Bibles.
Introducing Covenant Theology
Author: Michael Horton
Since biblical times, history is replete with promises made and promises broken. Pastors and teachers know the power of the covenant, and they know that understanding the concept of covenant is crucial to understanding Scripture. They also know that covenant theology provides the foundation for core Christian beliefs and that covenants in their historical context hold significance even today. But to laypeople and new Christians, the eternal implications of “cutting” a covenant with God can be complicating.
