Romans 4: 13 - 25

13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ ²³ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Patience and Trust in God’s Promises.

In Genesis 15, Abram was given an amazing promise – and I commented on it yesterday. God promised him that his offspring would be as uncountable as the stars in the sky. But at the time when God made this promise Abram and Sarai had no children, and they were getting on in age. They were in their seventies, and they were regarded as childless and too old for that to change. But God had made a promise, and they believed him. Abram believed, and because of his belief, God ‘credited it to him as righteousness.’

They received the promise, and then they waited for it to be fulfilled. And they waited. And they waited. At the beginning of Genesis 15, Abram was already saying to God that the person who would inherit his estate would be his servant, Eliezer of Damascus. But God corrected him and assured him that his heir would come from his own body. So Abram and Sarai waited.

As we know, as time went on, they began to doubt and together they took things into their own hands, and Abram slept with Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar, and she gave birth to Abram’s first son, Ishmael. But that wasn’t God’s plan, and Ishmael was not the fulfilment of the promise.

Finally, in Genesis 21, Isaac was born. Abram and Sarai were now called Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah was in her nineties, and Abraham was one hundred! Paul writes, ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him.’ (v. 18)

How are we at believing the promises of God? Do we struggle with the fact that God’s timing, although perfect, is often not the same as our timing? God had promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, and it took over twenty years for him to see the fulfilment of that promise, by which time it was, humanly speaking, impossible. Do you sometimes find your faith stretched? Are there things in your life, or in the church or your family where you believe God has promised something, but it was a very long time ago and you are still waiting? How strong is your faith to believe the promises of God? In verses 20 and 21, Paul writes this about Abraham: ‘Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.’ In this regard, Abraham is a great example to all of us.

 

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that Abraham held on to your promise. His faith kept him going for many years. Please help me to be patient, to be trusting, and always to put my faith in you and in your Word. Lord, we thank you for answered prayers concerning the development of a covid-19 vaccine, and we ask that you will give us patience and trust in you, to see an end to the pandemic. Amen.