The Co-Signer Who Took It All

In 2019, a single mother named Maria Gonzalez walked into a credit union in San Antonio, Texas, hoping to secure a small loan to start a catering business. She had no collateral, no credit history, and no savings — just a talent for making tamales that drew lines around the block at her church's annual fundraiser. The loan officer shook his head. Then Maria's former employer, a retired restaurant owner named David Chen, walked in. He didn't just vouch for her. He signed every document himself, pledging his own home and retirement account as collateral. Maria sat stunned, pen trembling in her hand. "You don't have to sign anything," David told her. "I've already covered it."

That is exactly what happens in Genesis 15. When God made His covenant with Abram, He followed the ancient Near Eastern ritual where both parties would walk between the halves of slaughtered animals, essentially saying, "May this be done to me if I break this promise." But here is the staggering part — only God passed through. The smoking firepot and flaming torch moved between the pieces while Abram lay in a deep sleep. Abram signed nothing. Abram guaranteed nothing.

The Almighty looked at a childless old man standing under an impossible sky full of stars and said, in effect, "I will bear the full weight of this promise. It all rests on Me."

That is the gospel before the gospel — God binding Himself to us before we could ever bind ourselves to Him.