Romans 4:13-25 | Romans, Part 6: God's Impossible Promises
The Second Sunday after Pentecost | June 11, 2023
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Have you even been encouraged to believe in the impossible? I remember that when I was in elementary school, I was told that I could do anything I put my mind to. I heard a lot about dreaming big, that nothing was off limits, everything was possible, if you want to be an astronaut, then go for it. For our world, believing the impossible is something that is encouraged. I even know a song about how “Impossible is not a word” [What Faith Can Do, by Kutless].
There are many people in the Bible who believed the impossible. Abraham is a good example - but when this story starts, his name was actually Abram.
You see, God made Abram an impossible promise. He came to Abram in a vision and said, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me? I don’t have any children. When I die, everything I have is going to go to my distant relative Eliezer of Damascus.
But God told Abram: “Eliezer won’t get your inheritance; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And then God brought Abram outside. He said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” God said to Abraham, “So shall your offspring be. You will have more children than there are stars in the sky.” Abram believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness [Genesis 15:1-6].
Can you imagine what Abram must have been thinking? Look up at the stars in the sky and think – there are more descendants of Abram than there are stars.
Maybe it seems possible to you because you know the end of the story. But imagine if God came and said that to you. Can you imagine having that many children? There would be billions and billions of them. Some would have the same name or the same birthday. They would live across the earth, speak different languages, and they would all call you “father” or “mother.” Abram believed it. Abram believed the impossible.
But now imagine that you and your spouse are very old, and your spouse is infertile. Would you still believe?
Abram did. But he thought he would help God out a little. His wife Sarai actually had the idea. She told him, “Abram, you should have a child with my servant Hagar. Maybe that’s how God’s promise is going to be fulfilled.” And so Abram did. He had a son with Hagar and named him Ishmael.
But God appeared to Abram again. This time he said, “Abram, you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. This promise is so certain that I’m going to change your name. No longer shall your name be called Abram – the Abram just means “exalted father.” I’m changing your name to Abraham. Abraham means “Father of many people”- for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations [Genesis 17:4-5]. And as a seal of this promise, God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.
And for Abraham, here was the surprising part – it wouldn’t be through Ishmael. God told Abraham that he would give him a son through his wife Sarah. “I will bless her,” God said, “and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac [Genesis 17:16-19].
The name Isaac means “he laughs.” Abraham laughed at God’s word because it seemed crazy. Surely this isn’t how God would keep his promise – he would keep his promise through Ishmael. There’s no hope for Sarah, she’s 90 years old.
But guess what Abraham did? After God went up from Abraham, … Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. … That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him [Genesis 17:22-23, 26-27].
Abraham hoped against all hope. Normal hope wouldn’t hope that far. Normal hope would just say, “There’s no hope here, just give up, God can’t fulfill that promise to you.” But Abraham hoped against all normal hope. He believed the impossible.
Abraham did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Abraham believed God. If he didn’t believe God, he wouldn’t have had his family circumcised. Just as before, Abraham believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness [Genesis 15:6].
Abraham believed the impossible. But there’s something I want you to notice. Abraham did not believe in the impossible the same way our world believes in the impossible. Abraham did not believe the impossible because he was dreaming big about what he could do, or because his third-grade teacher told him that he could do anything if he put his mind to it. When our world tells us to believe that nothing is impossible, it’s telling us to believe that nothing is impossible for humans to achieve.
Now, we certainly don’t want to raise lazy kids who don’t try to create new things because they don’t think they’re able to. But it is not true that you can do everything you put your mind to.
Maybe the best example is following God’s law. Have you ever told yourself, “I’m going to please God today? I am going to recommit my life to God – this time, I am going to live a good life.” You’re a Christian, so you can certainly cut down on some foul language or some angry words, you can certainly begin to take every thought captive to obey Christ [2 Corinthians 10:5] but can you really rid yourself of every evil thought? Have you succeeded in living a life that pleases God? Or have you just needed to recommit yourself again?
No matter how hard you try, you will never go a week keeping all of the Ten Commandments. You will not even go one day or one hour. God’s law brings wrath, because you cannot keep it.
It is impossible to become righteous by the law. But God doesn’t want you to believe in the impossible. He wants you to believe in him and his promises.
Abraham didn’t believe the impossible because he thought he could achieve anything. He believed the impossible because God had promised the impossible. For nothing is impossible with God [Luke 1:37].
That’s why God credited Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness. If Abrahams faith was in his ability, that wouldn’t count as righteousness. But his faith was in God’s ability.
And this is so important. God did not just promise Abraham he would have a son. God did not simply promise Abraham that Abraham would give his inheritance to his son, Look at what Romans says, God promised that Abraham himself would receive an inheritance.
God could promise that because from Abraham’s son would come Jesus, the one whose death and resurrection won Abraham’s righteousness. Abraham’s son would inherit the promised land of Israel. This was a picture of Jesus, who would inherit the nations, all the way to the ends of the earth [Psalm 2:8]. And because Abraham was in Jesus through faith, he would also receive Jesus’ inheritance. He too would receive God’s kingdom.
That was really the promise Abraham believed. It was not just about a son. It was about the one who would win his righteousness so that Abraham would not be judged by the law.
That’s why God credited Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness. Abraham’s faith wasn’t just that God would give him a son – it was also faith that God would send a redeemer.
And so the promise Abraham believed was not just for Abraham. God’s promises to Abraham are also God’s promises to you. He promises to save you. He promises to forgive you for Jesus’ sake. He promises that that nothing can snatch you out of his hand.
He doesn’t promise to keep you from all troubles, but he does promise that he will keep you in the faith until the end of your life. He doesn’t promise that you’ll feel close to him every second of the day. But he does promise that no matter what happens to you, he will stay by you. He doesn’t promise that you’ll see a miracle. But he does promise that he has sealed you [Romans 4:11] as his own.
When we believe God’s promises, it is credited to us as righteousness. [W]ithout faith it is impossible to please God [Hebrews 11:6], but with faith, you receive the righteousness that comes by faith. The righteousness Jesus earned for you with his perfect life. The righteousness Jesus gave you with his sacrificial death.
How can you believe this? The same way Abraham could.
Abraham believed God’s promises because he knew two things about who God is. God is the one who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
For all the talk of believing the impossible, those are two things our world still seems to think are absolutely impossible. Dead people can’t rise – at least not somebody dead for a long time. We can’t call into existence things that don’t exist. We can create, but we need materials. It’s impossible to create something out of nothing.
But that is who your God is. Your God is able to give life to the dead. We’ve all lost someone dear to us, but our hope is that God gives life to the dead. We know that on the last day, he will raise that person.
Your God is able to call into existence the things that do not exist. Your God created the entire universe out of nothing – he didn’t build the world out of wood or stone. He created the wood and stone. And he’s still doing it. He calls newly conceived babies into existence every day. He called your faith into existence out of nothing.
Abraham knew who God was from these two facts. But you have a fuller picture. Abraham knew Jesus would win his righteousness and forgive his sins – he just didn’t know how. You have heard how did it. You know that your God is the God who took Jesus and delivered him up for our trespasses. You believe in the God who raised him from the dead… for our justification.
If God can bring the dead to life, if God can call things into existence, if God delivered and raised Jesus – then he is God, and he can do the impossible.
You serve a God who does the impossible. That doesn’t mean he’ll do every impossible thing you want him to. But it does mean you can trust him when he promises the impossible.
You might say, “I believe these things, but they have not always been my hope. I’ve doubted. I’ve laughed at some of the things God promises.” Do you know what God says to that? He says you must believe his promises anyways, and your doubts will not be counted against you. After all, God did not count Abraham’s laughter against him.
Do you want a strong faith like Abraham’s? Your faith is strong when you are fully convinced that God is able to do what he has promised. Just as Abraham’s faith was strengthened when he heard God’s promises, so your faith is strengthened when you hear God’s promises.
Do you want a strong faith? You must first of all listen to God’s promises. You must come hear his word preached at church. You must read and recite the Bible at home so that it is on your lips at all times, especially when you feel temptation. You cannot trust what you do not take the time to know. You cannot believe what you don’t take the time to care about.
But if you believe that Jesus was sent for you too, then Abraham is your father. You may not have a drop of his blood in you, but if you believe God’s promises, then you are his child. You are one of the many nations he is the father of.
Maybe one night, you can look up at the stars in the sky and think – there are more Christians than there are stars. God promised Abraham that he would have more children than the stars – and his children are all Christians. If you are ever discouraged in your faith, if you ever feel alone at night – go outside and look at the stars. There are more Christians in heaven and on earth than there are stars. It might seem impossible, but it is true. You are not alone. You will inherit the world with every one of them.