Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I ask that you search our hearts and see if there be anything wicked in them. We ask that your Holy Spirit show us what you are saying to us today. I ask that the words on this page would jump out to us as you speak to our hearts and minds truth and life. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Romans 4: 18-25 (NASB).
“In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” 19Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25He who was delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was raised because of our justification.”
The Apostle Paul here is reminding us of what made Abraham the father of many nations, namely his faith. He did not consider anything that God promised to be anything but yes and Amen. If God promised it, it would come to pass. The fact that he was old, and Sarah were beyond the years of childbirth did not faze him. He knew that God would accomplish what He said He would do.
I think what gets lost in this is that Abraham’s faith in God and His promises did not mean he was patient in waiting for them to happen. He was already old and as time went on Sarah and Abraham devised man made plans to bring to pass what God had promised. This led to Abraham taking Sarah’s bondservant Hagar as his concubine to fulfill the promises of God (Genesis 16:3). Of course, Ishmael would go on to produce the people who were constantly at war with Isaac’s offspring who was the child born to Sarah in her old age. Abraham’s faith was in the fact that God’s promises would be made real. This was credited to him as righteousness or right standing with God. However, this did not necessarily transfer into Abraham trusting that God would do it without his help and in God’s timing.
I think it's important to notice that although Abraham was a man of faith and was credited with righteousness because of it, he was not without fault. This applies to us as well. As Paul points out it is the belief in Jesus and His resurrection from the dead that credits us with righteousness before God. This is not changed by the actions we take or fail to make after we believe and confess Him as Lord. We are already credited with righteousness and are God’s Sons and Daughters through Him who died for us. Though life will certainly go much better if we wait patiently for God to bring those promises He made come to pass. We do not thwart the plan of God in stepping out in front of Him. Certainly, we suffer consequences outside of the will of God. But His will, will be done in His time.
If you have not yet given your life to Jesus, you do not have that assurance of where you will go in eternity. That is easily fixed; I implore you now to answer His prompting and surrender your life to Him. Pray this prayer aloud with me right now where you are: “Jesus, I confess you are Lord of all. I believe you came to this earth and lived a sinless life. I believe you suffered and died on a cross for my sins. I believe you were buried in a tomb, and I believe on the third day you rose from the dead. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me. I ask you to send me your Holy Spirit to give me the Power to live for you and lead me into all truth.” If you prayed that prayer, I ask that you contact us. We would love to stand beside you and hold you up as you begin your journey with Jesus. I also encourage you to find a church that preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that the Holy Spirit will even now quicken your thoughts as to where that might be and direct your steps to it. We have all been where you are, and the journey is mad easier when we support each other.
Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying. I pray that God will send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us. So that we can fulfill the mission He left us in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” lockman.org.
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