THE GOD WHO BLEEDS

Tomorrow at Sardinia Baptist, we are doing it all: singing, praying, preaching, communing, and baptizing.

We've been looking at the major themes of the Old Testament and how they deepen our understanding of the gospel and what faith and discipleship is all about. 

Last week we were looking at the Lord's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. The fascinating part of that story is the way God puts Abraham into a deep sleep before the actual ratification of the covenant. 

Only God - in the form of a smoking stove - passes between the halves of the animals which Abraham butchered. Typically in these ancient covenants, both parties walked between the halves of the animals. The agreement was in effect: "You can trust me. If I ever betray you or this promise, may what happened to these animals be done to me."

It seems that God spared Abraham from making such a promise, knowing full well that Abraham - and his descendants - would never be able to uphold their end of a proper covenant.

OR perhaps we are to understand the scene in this way: God passes through the slaughtered animals on behalf of Himself AND Abraham. 

Perhaps there is a foreshadowing here of God the Son, living the perfect and sinless human life but paying the price of all the human betrayal throughout history - His body broken and His blood poured out. 

The God who bleeds and dies on behalf of His creation. 

This is the New Covenant.