Roughly 4,000 years ago, God made a covenant with Abraham, a sheepherder from Mesopotamia.

The question is, what does that have to do with you?

In an earlier episode of Simply Put, we talked about the word covenant.

A covenant, remember, is a promise, a pact, a vow.

The covenant God makes with Abraham, or Abram, as he's originally known,

is called the Abrahamic covenant. I know. How do they come up with these names? You can read God's

promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 to 3. The Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred and your father's

house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you

and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,

and him who dishonours you I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

So, Abram is promised a great land, a great nation, a great name, and a great blessing that will extend first to him

and then to all the families of the earth. There's only one small problem with this as far as

Abram is concerned. Abram is childless and his wife is barren. Where are Abrams' descendants going to come from?

He mentions this to God in Genesis chapter 15. Behold, he says, you've given me no offspring.

And the Lord responds, your very own son shall be your heir. Well, even though the fulfillment of this promise looks highly unlikely

in human terms, nevertheless, Abram believes God's promise that he would provide a son for him.

And we're told that through belief in the promise of God, Abraham was counted righteous.

That's what Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 means when it says Abraham believed the Lord

and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Now this really is a stunning moment. God's revelation that faith in him is the mechanism by which

people are accepted by him and become heirs of his promises. As Paul says in Romans chapter 4 and

Galatians chapter 3, Abraham was justified by faith alone.

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