Things That Are Not - But Are

  "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 things that are not as though they were.”   (Romans 4:17)

         Daily, every person believes. Even one who scorns the idea of faith in the eternal God daily leans on faith.  He believes the floor will support him as he steps from his bed.  He trusts the light will come on as he touches the switch.  He is confident the water is safe as he brushes his teeth.  He is convinced that his eyes accurately assess reality that he sees.  No person lives without faith in something, or in someone.

         Abraham was 75 years old when God promised him a son by his 65 year-old wife, Sarah. (Genesis 12:1ff.) Twenty four years later, the 99 year old Abraham and 89 year-old Sarah were yet childless.  “…his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and…Sarah’s womb was also dead.” (Romans 4:19.)  A gambling spirit could sooner win the Texas Lotto than this couple in history could have had a son – and through him, beget “many nations”.              

        The Bible is not recording some boondoggling myth.  The Jews you know meet on the street today came – ultimately, from Abraham’s body, “…as good as dead…and from Sarah’s womb…also dead”!  Such is the reality of the history of God’s promise to them, and of its fulfillment in the lives of today’s Jews we see with our very own eyes.  Yet, we wonder, “How?”

       “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 seed be’…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.” (Vs. 18-21.)

         Therein lies the lesson, and encouragement, for us.  God has power to do what He promises.  The Bible records such power at work in his raising his Son from the grave, and in his fulfilling the promises He has since made to countless servants of Jesus our Lord.  No wonder we indeed profit from daily Bible reading, and meditation.  Such reasonable faith “comes from hearing the word of God.”. (Romans 10:17.)

                                                                                                                                                                --Ted Kell

Brownwood, Texas