He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake, but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. (Romans 4:21-24)
Recently I watched a television program that touted the numerous complications that could occur in women who, after the age of forty, “choose” to have children. For Christians, the very premise of the program is in error. What woman is it that chooses whether an egg will be released, whether it will be viable, whether it will be fertilized, whether it will attach or miscarry, whether it will develop, whether it will remain singular or split into identical twins? Here in America we can legally choose to end a life, but no human being can initiate life. That is the prerogative of God. This is what we believe. As we say in the Nicene Creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life.”
Pastor Richie reminded us that if we don’t understand God’s makeup, we won’t understand His power. And, from time to time, the Lord confounds the world with His power to do the impossible. I know women who have had children at age fifty (for one of them it was her first child), with no complications. But even that does not compare to the life of Sarah, whose prophetic promise of having a child was not fulfilled until she was far past the age of childbearing. Her husband, Abraham, merited this testimony that we read in Romans 4:21: “(Abraham) was fully convinced that what God promised, He was also able to do.”
What a comfort to know that our chronological age is no deterrent to the activity of God in our lives! We can still sing and preach and pray and give. We can still be recipients of miracles. We can still be participants and agents for the cause of Christ in the world. And we can still bear fruit, physically and figuratively, in our old age. God simply asks us to believe Him, and to take Him at His word without backtalk or doubting. God will never run out of time to do what He chooses, using whomever He wants.
Do you understand this?
Showing posts with label Romans 4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romans 4. Show all posts
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Keyed In!
During each of our English-language services this past Sunday, Pastor Richie shared a profound sermon on the greatness of God. As we recognize God’s greatness and power, we are moved into increased levels of faith and trust in His ability to care for us. Pastor Richie encouraged us to maintain focus on the identification of Jesus not as our "homeboy", but as the Living God who supersedes time and space.
This week we’ll reflect on some of the Scripture passages that our pastor referenced during the sermon. For today, I’ve listed two of those passages for us to meditate upon. I pray that our reading (and re-reading) of these will serve as encouragement for our souls.
He says:
“Listen my people! I am speaking!
Listen Israel! I am accusing you!
I am God, your God!
I am not condemning you because of your sacrifices,
or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.
I do not need to take a bull from your household
or goats from your sheepfolds.
For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,
as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.
I keep track of every bird in the hills,
and the insects of the field are mine.
Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all it contains belong to me.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?
Present to God a thank-offering!
Repay your vows to the sovereign One!
Pray to me when you are in trouble!
I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” (Psalm 50:7-15)
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either. For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”).
He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.
But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake, but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification. (Romans 4:13-25)
This week we’ll reflect on some of the Scripture passages that our pastor referenced during the sermon. For today, I’ve listed two of those passages for us to meditate upon. I pray that our reading (and re-reading) of these will serve as encouragement for our souls.
He says:
“Listen my people! I am speaking!
Listen Israel! I am accusing you!
I am God, your God!
I am not condemning you because of your sacrifices,
or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.
I do not need to take a bull from your household
or goats from your sheepfolds.
For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me,
as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.
I keep track of every bird in the hills,
and the insects of the field are mine.
Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all it contains belong to me.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?
Present to God a thank-offering!
Repay your vows to the sovereign One!
Pray to me when you are in trouble!
I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” (Psalm 50:7-15)
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either. For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”).
He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.
But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake, but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification. (Romans 4:13-25)