God’s Promise, Not Our Performance
Genesis 12:1–3 · Genesis 15:1–21 · Romans 4
INTRODUCTION: Redemption rests on God’s promise, not our performance.
I. The Problem After the Flood
Humanity was preserved, but not transformed.
Babel shows pride, fear, and self-reliance still remain.
God begins redemption not with human achievement, but with promise.
II. God Initiates the Relationship
God calls Abram before Abram proves himself.
Grace begins with God’s initiative.
God says, “I will bless you,” before Abram has anything to offer.
III. Faith Comes Before Law
“Abram believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
Righteousness was credited before Sinai, circumcision, or the Law.
Obedience is the fruit of faith, not the foundation of acceptance.
IV. God Takes Responsibility
In Genesis 15, Abram does not walk through the covenant pieces — God does.
The covenant rests on divine faithfulness, not human strength.
God binds himself to fulfil what he has promised.
V. Fulfilled in Christ
The promise to Abraham finds its fulfilment in Jesus.
At the cross, God bears the cost of human failure.
Through Christ, blessing comes to the nations by faith.
VI. Our Response
Rest your faith not in your performance, but in God’s promise.
Trust the God who initiates, covenants, bears the cost, and fulfils his word in Christ.
VII. Conclusion
Bring him your weakness, waiting, questions, failures, and need.