God appeared to Abram and established a covenant with him, promising that he would become a great nation and be the father of many. God changed Abram's name to Abraham and told him that his wife Sarai, whose name was changed to Sarah, would bear him a son despite their old age. Abraham believed God's promise, demonstrating his faith, and he and all the males in his household were circumcised as a sign of the covenant. The covenant was established through Abraham's faith and would be fulfilled by God raising Jesus from the dead.

1. Change is the
Only Constant
Genesis 17

2. Big Idea
And if you are Christ’s, then
you are Abraham’s offspring,
heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:29 2

3. Change is the
Only Constant
Genesis 17

4. Progressive Revelation
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the
LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am
God Almighty; walk before me, and be
blameless, that I may make my covenant
between me and you and may multiply you
greatly.”
Genesis 17:1–3 4

5. Timeline
Mesopotamia- Go to a land I’ll show you, leave kin
Haran- repeats, Great nation, bless you, great name,
you will be a blessing. He left
Shechem- I’ll give your offspring this land
Canaan- all this land, a great number of offspring
Rescued Lot- I’m your protector, great reward, You’ll
have a son. Prophecy of slavery. Long life.
5

6. Abram’s reaction
And he believed the LORD, and he
counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 6

7. Worshipped
Believed
Moved
Afraid
Messed up
Doubt
Man of faith
7

8. Covenant Counsel
Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be
the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall
your name be called Abram, but your name shall be
Abraham, for I have made you the father of a
multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly
fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings
shall come from you.
Genesis 17:4–6 8

9. Sacred Kinship Bond
Ratified by an oath
God’s covenants are prominent in every period of
salvation history. Divine covenants reveal the
saving plan of God for establishing communion
with Israel and the nations, ultimately fulfilled by
the death and resurrection of Christ.
9
Covenant

10. Established By God
And I will establish my covenant between me
and you and your offspring after you throughout
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to
be God to you and to your offspring after you.
Genesis 17:7 10

11. God doesn’t mind repeating Himself
And I will give to you and to your offspring after
you the land of your sojournings, all the land of
Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will
be their God.
Genesis 17:8 11

12. Galatians 3:16–17 Now the promises were made
to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say,
“And to offsprings,” referring to many, but
referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is
Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came
430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant
previously ratified by God, so as to make the
promise void.
Faith Covenant
12

13. The sign of Circumcision
As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and
your offspring after you throughout their
generations. This is my covenant, which you shall
keep, between me and you and your offspring after
you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Genesis 17:9–10 13

14. Important to us as well
Romans 4:9–12 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or
also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to
Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him?
Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after,
but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of
circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith
while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him
the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that
righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make
him the father of the circumcised who are not merely
circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that
our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
14

15. Warning
Any uncircumcised male who is not
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin
shall be cut off from his people; he has
broken my covenant.
Genesis 17:14 15

16. God Continues
As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her
name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will
bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by
her. I will bless her, and she shall become
nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.
Genesis 17:15–16 16

17. Name Changes
Abram to Abraham
Sarai to Sarah
17

18. Quite the reaction
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said
to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a
hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years
old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh
that Ishmael might live before you!”
Genesis 17:17–18 18

19. Wow
Laughed
Old man
Old woman
I’ve got a child
19

20. God sets the record straight
No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son,
and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish
my covenant with him as an everlasting
covenant for his offspring after him. As for
Genesis 17:19–20 20

21. God sets the record straight
Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have
blessed him and will make him fruitful and
multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve
princes, and I will make him into a great nation.
Genesis 17:19–20 21

22. Calling it!
But I will establish my covenant
with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear
to you at this time next year.
Genesis 17:21 22

23. Mentioned in Romans
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise
may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—
not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one
who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us
all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many
nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he
believed,
Romans 4:16–25 23

24. New Testament
Salvation by faith
Promises by grace
Abraham is our father
24

25. Mentioned in Romans
who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the
things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope,
that he should become the father of many nations, as he
had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Romans 4:16–25 25

26. Our promise
Life to the dead
Call things into being
Hope because of God
26

27. Mentioned in Romans
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own
body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a
hundred years old), or when he considered the
barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
Romans 4:16–25 27

28. Remember the encounter
Circumstances don’t matter
Momentary lapse doesn’t define
28

29. Mentioned in Romans
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of
God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to
God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had
promised.
Romans 4:16–25 29

30. Finish strong
Not how you start
Faith grows
God provides
30

31. Mentioned in Romans
That is why his faith was “counted to him as
righteousness.” But 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, who was delivered up for our
trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4:16–25 31

32. What his faith means
Justification by faith
32

33. Because of Faith he acted
Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all
those born in his house or bought with his
money, every male among the men of
Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh
of their foreskins that very day, as God had said
to him.
Genesis 17:23 33

34. Our Take-Away
1. God’s promises don’t have expiration dates
2. God will let you exhaust yourself
3. God is waiting
4. Put your faith into action
34

35. Change is the
Only Constant
Genesis 17