Romans 4:18-25
Abraham’s life story is amazing. Genesis 12–25 gives the account of his life, which is packed with tremendous testimonies of the faith he walked in with God. He believed what God told him, and God honored him because of his faith. Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do whatever He promised. It was because of that faith that God counted Abraham as righteous.
Yet, as we continue reading Genesis, we find that God is not only the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the living God for every generation of those who seek after Him.
For Abraham, his walk with God involved leaving his homeland and becoming a sojourner in a foreign land that God eventually promised through covenant to give to him and his descendants. Not only that, God promised him a son through Sarah—an impossibility by earthly standards because of their age. Yet Abraham believed, knowing, as we mentioned yesterday, that God was able to bring the dead back to life, which included their 90- and 99-year-old bodies.
His son Isaac was born, and then the Lord tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son. Abraham didn’t flinch but obeyed, believing God’s promise concerning his descendants through Isaac. However it was going to play out, Abraham trusted God to fulfill His promise through Isaac. And God provided a ram just in the nick of time, after it was obvious that Abraham intended to go through with it.
Consider God’s words to him:
““This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.””
Genesis 22:16-18 NLT
The book of Genesis is filled with incredible stories of faith in the descendants who followed Abraham, each filled with their own challenges and acts of obedience. God continued to speak to each successive generation, giving instructions specific to their time while setting things in motion for the generations that would follow.
And here we are today—and He still speaks.
Throughout the Old Testament, God spoke of His Son who was to come. Now we each have the choice of whether we are going to listen to Him and follow His direction.
Bringing it back to our passage for today, Paul states:
“And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”
Romans 4:23-25 NLT
God has taken humanity on a journey, and we each have an opportunity to follow Him. This is a living relationship, not merely one we read about. Abraham had a living, vibrant relationship with the Lord, and when the Lord spoke, Abraham answered, followed, and obeyed—revealing his faith in the living God.
Why do I say that? Because you don’t follow someone you don’t believe unless you are forced to or have ulterior motives. Mind you, that is the way of the devil, who uses fear and intimidation to try to get us to do his bidding. Learn to recognize the difference.
So what is the Lord speaking to us individually? Are we listening? Are we following His voice? Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.
Are we following the Word of the Lord—not only His written Word, which provides the foundation by which everything else must be measured, but also the leading of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives?
Abraham’s faith was not merely something he professed; it was something he lived. He believed God, and because he believed Him, he followed Him. His obedience did not earn his righteousness—his obedience revealed the faith that was already there.
The same is true for us. Saving faith is more than acknowledging that God exists. It is believing Him enough to entrust our lives to Him. When He says go, we go. When He says wait, we wait. When He asks us to trust Him when circumstances seem impossible, we trust that He is able to do what He has promised.
Abraham was fully convinced.
The question for us is: Are we?
Yet, as we continue reading Genesis, we find that God is not only the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the living God for every generation of those who seek after Him.
For Abraham, his walk with God involved leaving his homeland and becoming a sojourner in a foreign land that God eventually promised through covenant to give to him and his descendants. Not only that, God promised him a son through Sarah—an impossibility by earthly standards because of their age. Yet Abraham believed, knowing, as we mentioned yesterday, that God was able to bring the dead back to life, which included their 90- and 99-year-old bodies.
His son Isaac was born, and then the Lord tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son. Abraham didn’t flinch but obeyed, believing God’s promise concerning his descendants through Isaac. However it was going to play out, Abraham trusted God to fulfill His promise through Isaac. And God provided a ram just in the nick of time, after it was obvious that Abraham intended to go through with it.
Consider God’s words to him:
““This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.””
Genesis 22:16-18 NLT
The book of Genesis is filled with incredible stories of faith in the descendants who followed Abraham, each filled with their own challenges and acts of obedience. God continued to speak to each successive generation, giving instructions specific to their time while setting things in motion for the generations that would follow.
And here we are today—and He still speaks.
Throughout the Old Testament, God spoke of His Son who was to come. Now we each have the choice of whether we are going to listen to Him and follow His direction.
Bringing it back to our passage for today, Paul states:
“And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”
Romans 4:23-25 NLT
God has taken humanity on a journey, and we each have an opportunity to follow Him. This is a living relationship, not merely one we read about. Abraham had a living, vibrant relationship with the Lord, and when the Lord spoke, Abraham answered, followed, and obeyed—revealing his faith in the living God.
Why do I say that? Because you don’t follow someone you don’t believe unless you are forced to or have ulterior motives. Mind you, that is the way of the devil, who uses fear and intimidation to try to get us to do his bidding. Learn to recognize the difference.
So what is the Lord speaking to us individually? Are we listening? Are we following His voice? Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.
Are we following the Word of the Lord—not only His written Word, which provides the foundation by which everything else must be measured, but also the leading of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives?
Abraham’s faith was not merely something he professed; it was something he lived. He believed God, and because he believed Him, he followed Him. His obedience did not earn his righteousness—his obedience revealed the faith that was already there.
The same is true for us. Saving faith is more than acknowledging that God exists. It is believing Him enough to entrust our lives to Him. When He says go, we go. When He says wait, we wait. When He asks us to trust Him when circumstances seem impossible, we trust that He is able to do what He has promised.
Abraham was fully convinced.
The question for us is: Are we?
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