"I am God Almighty"

When Abram was 99 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.

So what exactly is God doing here? He's assuring Abram that he alone by himself will make his covenant. And by himself, he will multiply Abram greatly. God is saying to Abram, you in your own strength are not able to bring forth this promise, but I am a God who is able. Because God holds all wisdom and authority and power, God is entirely unable to fail to keep his promise. And even more so, we have hope because God himself makes promises to us. We see in Romans 4 that this is exactly what Abraham believes.

He did not weaken in his faith when he considered his body, which was as good as dead, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief could make him waver concerning the promises of God

, not because he trusted in himself, but his faith grew strong as he gave glory to God. His faith grew strong as he was fully convinced that God was able to do everything that he had promised. And it's for this reason that Abram was counted blameless before God, not because of anything that he had done, but because he trusted in the promise of God Almighty. And how much more true should this be for us? We don't just have a promise to look upon, but we have the fulfillment of that promise that we can look upon. Ever since the fall in Genesis 3, we've been waiting for the seed of the woman who would finally come and crush the head of the serpent and restore man's relationship to God. The promise to Abraham here and the sign of circumcision given to him point us to look for a son until ultimately God Almighty himself comes to the earth to be born in human vesture. Jesus Christ lives the blameless life that we cannot and he takes all of our blame and all of our guilt upon himself. He is then resurrected from the grave in power and is raised to the right hand of the Father, where he sits to this day, reigning over all things in all authority. And this is how we can walk blamelessly before God, not by anything that we have done, but because God Almighty is able to save wretched sinners like us. His grace is sufficient to forgive even the greatest debt of sin. And if you're here this evening and you're not a Christian, know that the only thing you need to do to have right standing before God is forsake your life of sin and turn and believe, trust in the promise of God fulfilled in Christ. And for us believers, meditate upon God's faithfulness toward us. Let his almighty power change the way you think even. Respond to his ability by growing in humility, confidence, and thankfulness. First, growing in humility, do so seeing how greatly our life depends on God. Take his command to walk blamelessly seriously. Realize that you can't walk blamelessly on your own, and when you see your own weaknesses there, will you see it as a chance to display your own power? or will you see it as an opportunity for the power of Christ to be perfected in you? And we should also grow in confidence, knowing that our God has not failed to keep his promise in any way. Have confidence that God Almighty in all his power and all mightiness and splendor is not distant from us. He is drawn near. So approach his throne boldly in prayer. know that he can and he will answer your pleas. Also know that the spirit of God Almighty dwells within you and by that walk blamelessly. Lastly, grow in thankfulness, reflecting upon everything that God has saved us from and reflecting on everything that he has saved us to and called us to. How could we not grow and respond in joy and thanksgiving when we look upon all that he's done for us? But as much as we can know the almighty power of God, as much as we can see evidences of his faithfulness throughout time, it is not always easy to believe in his promises. As I sat on this passage and prepared, God showed me so many ways that I have failed to trust his power. I ask for strength and deliverance from sin, but I don't fully trust that his strength is sufficient to give me victory over it. And I know this is so easy for us to do in our sin. Our sin makes us feel hopeless. It forces our gaze away from the sufficient power of God, and it fixes our gaze upon our own inability. We think we haven't grown in our sanctification, so how could we be a follower of Christ? We see a sin that has persisted for months or even years, and we begin to question God's ability to deliver us from it. Yet there is no time limit upon the fulfillment of God's promises. Look back at the beginning of verse one again. Abram was 99 years old when the Lord appeared to him. But if we go back a couple of chapters earlier, he was 75 when he first received the promise. And over those 25 years, God was no less willing and no less able to keep his promise. And today, God is no less able and willing to complete the work that He began in us. So some specific steps that have been particularly helpful in turning this knowledge of the Almighty God into a confidence is to know, consider, and then walk. So know that God and His power defeated sin and death on the cross. then consider yourself victorious over sin by the work of God Almighty. And then walk blameless in the assurance of that victory. For as long as we live in this mortal body, sin will continue to plague us. It will continue to try to exercise dominion over us. but no addiction, no broken relationship with a child or parent, no sexual failure, no unending anxiety, no outbursts of anger will see victory over you. For God Almighty has declared victory over sin, and he's invited you to share in that victory through Jesus Christ. Romans 8.39 says that

nothing, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God displayed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Please pray with me. Dear Heavenly Father, you are the Almighty God. Help us to know the completeness of your power and fear you rightly and grow us in confidence that you have kept your promises and you will surely continue to do so. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.