“Between the Lines: Choosing Your Credit Union”
Romans 4:1-25
When investing or saving our money, we look for an institution that has a good track record, a firm in which we have great confidence. Our hard earned dollars are simply too precious to entrust to someone or something we do not know or that does not have a solid, earned reputation. Whom we trust determines the choices we will make. The same principle is true in regards to other choices we make. Our lives are simply too precious to entrust to someone or something we do not know or that does not have a solid, earned reputation. Consider Abraham – verse 3: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." The foundation of Abraham’s life was that he confidently placed his trust in God. That decision determined all of the choices he made in his life. Since the Bible names him to be the father of our faith, we look to gain instruction this morning from Abraham’s faith.
First we discover THE SUBSTANCE OF FAITH IS THE PROMISES OF GOD. Verse 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 are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” Any solid relationship is based on promises and expectations. Think about a wedding ceremony. Imagine the bride and groom facing each other, holding hands, ready to exchange vows. The bride promises to ”to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death us do part, according to God’s holy law; and thereto I pledge myself, truly with all my heart.” The minister looks at the groom who sputters, “I’m not making any promises. I’m not sure how this will all work out. Right now I feel like I love you, but – hey – nothing’s sure. I’m not making any guarantees – I might feel differently down the road. I’m not saying anything that I might regret later.” What do you think? Will the bride go through with the rest of the ceremony? Hopefully not! A marriage relationship must have promises and trust as its basis or it will not last. Promises and trust provide us with commitments by which we are obligated to live. Without them, there is no strength to the relationship.
So GOD, IN ESTABLISHING A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PEOPLE, THROUGH ABRAHAM, MADE A PROMISE. He told Abraham to look toward heaven and, if he could, to number the stars; the number of the stars would be the number of Abraham’s descendants. God said, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” So with nothing but this promise of a son, Abraham packed up and left everything he knew in order to go to a place he had never been. The promise was the foundation of Abraham’s faith.
Notice that THE PROMISE WAS BASED UPON A COVENANT. As Bruce Shelley has pointed out, there’s a difference between a contract and a covenant. Contracts are broken when one of the parties fails to live up to their end of the bargain. If the goods aren’t delivered, if the job isn’t done, if the conditions are not met, the contract is broken and both parties are relieved of the contractual responsibilities. But a covenant puts no conditions on faithfulness. A covenant is the unconditional commitment to love and serve. God made a covenant with Abraham. God cannot and will not break a covenant.
So GOD HAS PROMISED US SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. For three chapters Paul has been graphically reminding us that salvation only comes though grace, that it comes because of Jesus Christ. God exchanges our account of sin for Jesus’ account of right standing with God. Come to think of it, which is more unbelievable – that God would eventually give a couple of octogenarians a son, or that he would save us? Both are the result of a promise from God. He has promised us that our salvation is sure. Therefore nothing can shake us or destroy us.
Do you believe the promises of God? Do you believe that what God promises He performs? Are you willing to stand on these promises of God, “no matter” – no matter what happens, no matter where He leads, no matter what the cost?
In Abraham’s life we also discover THE SOURCE OF FAITH IS THE CHARACTER OF GOD. The quality of our faith depends on the quality of that in which we place our faith. Abraham’s faith relied on the promises of God because God has the power and wisdom to carry out His word. Specifically, Paul lists three characteristics of God.
First, GOD GIVES LIFE TO THE DEAD: (17) “…the God who gives life to the dead…” As a nation, Israel was a “nobody”; but God chose her to be His chosen people. Abraham and Sarah were well past the childbearing age and capabilities; but God gave them Isaac. If Abraham had been 30 years old when Isaac was born, he could have taken credit for his virility; but at 100 years old, the credit went to God. When God later asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, Abraham was willing because he believed that this life-giving God could resurrect even the dead.
Consider Jesus. Jesus healed; Jesus gave life to the dead. Jesus died. But God gave new life to Jesus. 2 Peter 1:4 informs us that we share the divine nature of Jesus; 1 John 5:12 reminds us that when we have Jesus within us, we have true life; 2 Corinthians 5:17 points out that when we are ‘in Christ’ we are totally new people. If all this is true, can God not also bring life to the dead and dying situations in our lives? When a situation appears dead, God is just beginning to issue new life. DYING SITUATIONS ARE BUT THE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES. So what has died in your life? Where, in your life, is God waiting for you to begin again? In what relationship, what task, what discipline, in what obedience is God waiting for you to come to life? Have you asked Him to infuse you with His life?
Then, too, GOD SEES POSSIBILITIES IN OUR IMPOSSIBILITIES: (17) “…God calls things that are not as though they were.” When there was nothing but chaos, God saw a world and He created the earth. When God saw a need for salvation He prepared the heart and womb of a virgin to bear a Savior; God sees that to which we are blind. OUR IMPOSSIBILITIES ARE BUT THE SEED BED FOR THE ACTIONS OF GOD. When we say, “Impossible!”, God licks His chops and gets to work! We see a sinner but God sees salvation; we see a handicap but God sees wholeness; we see hopelessness but God sees a miracle; we see darkness but God sees light; we see death but God sees life. The disciples once proclaimed defeat as they saw Jesus die – but God saw victory and gave Jesus life! So what roadblocks are you experiencing? What failure is holding you down? What do you want to quit? To what have you said, “That’s impossible!”? Get ready for the action of God!
The third characteristic of God Paul mentions is that GOD HAS THE POWER AND WILL TO DO WHAT HE PROMISES: (21) “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.” The Heidelberg Catechism describes God as “…able to do it, being Almighty God, and is determined to do it, being a faithful Father.” There is no doubt that GOD IS ABLE. God has the power – we’ve just been talking about that. He is the life giver. But that alone is not enough to give us assurance. We have confidence because GOD IS A FAITHFUL FATHER.
A fascinating story came out of the 1989 earthquake which almost flattened Armenia. This deadly tremor killed over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the midst of all the confusion of the earthquake, a father rushed to his son's school. When he arrived there he discovered the building was flat as a pancake. Standing there looking at what was left of the school, the father remembered a promise he made to his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" Tears began to fill his eyes. It looked like a hopeless situation, but he could not take his mind off his promise. Remembering that his son's classroom was in the back right corner of the building, the father rushed there and started digging through the rubble. As he was digging other grieving parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying: "My son! "My daughter!" They tried to pull him off of what was left of the school saying: "It's too late!" "They're dead!" "You can't help!" "Go home!" Even a police officer and a fire-fighter told him he should go home. To everyone who tried to stop him he said, "Are you going to help me now?" They did not answer him and he continued digging for his son stone by stone. He needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead?" This man dug for eight hours and then twelve and then twenty-four and then thirty-six. Finally in the thirty-eighth hour, as he pulled back a boulder, he heard his son's voice. He screamed his son's name, "Armand!" and a voice answered him, "Dad? It's me, Dad!" Then the boy added these priceless words, "I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You promised that, Dad. 'No matter what,' you said, 'I'll always be there for you!' And here you are Dad. You kept your promise!"
So God readily responds when we act upon his promises because we expect Him, our faithful Father, to act. What promise is waiting for action in your life? Where is God waiting for you to trust Him? God is able and willing – give God a chance.
A third element of Abraham’s faith is THE STRENGTH OF OUR FAITH IS THE TRUSTWORTHINESS OF GOD: (18 ff.). We can strengthen our faith because “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." 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.”
WE CAN HOPE AGAINST HOPE. When life is an uphill battle, when everything we do is a struggle, when all our efforts and possibilities fail, when others condemn or mock us, when all human hope is gone, we can hope in God. Think about it. While the world laughed, Noah hoped in God and built the ark. When his servant saw no one but the enemy surrounding the camp, Elisha hoped in God and saw the heavenly army of God take control. When ten spies surveyed the land God had promised Israel, they saw nothing but giants and grasshoppers – but Caleb and Joshua saw God and prepared to enter the land. The English word ‘circumstances’ comes from the Latin word circum, which means ‘around or about’; it is joined to the verb stare, which means ‘to stand.’ Circumstances are the things of life that stand around us; as such, CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NEUTRAL. Every event can either overwhelm us and get on top of us, or we can stand on top of it! We can hope against hope.
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust that never dreams that He will not stand by us.” Missionaries Dick and Margaret Hillis found themselves caught in China during the Japanese invasion. The couple lived with their two children in an inland town. The village was tense with fear, for every day brought terrifying reports of the Japanese advance. At the worst possible time, Dick developed appendicitis, and he knew his life depended on making the long journey by rickshaw to the hospital. On January 15, 1941, with deep foreboding, Margaret watched him leave. Soon the Chinese colonel came with news. The enemy was near and townspeople must evacuate. Margaret shivered, knowing that one-year-old Johnny and two-month-old Margaret Anne would never survive as refugees. So she stayed put. Early next morning she tore the page from the wall calendar and read the new day’s Scripture. It was Psalm 56:3—“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” The town emptied during the day, and next morning Margaret arose, feeling abandoned. The new verse on the calendar was Psalm 9:10—“Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” The next morning she arose to distant sounds of gunfire and worried about food for her children. The calendar verse was Genesis 50:21—“I will nourish you and your little ones.” An old woman suddenly popped in with a pail of steaming goat’s milk, and another straggler arrived with a basket of eggs. Through the day, sounds of warfare grew louder, and during the night Margaret prayed for deliverance. The next morning she tore the page from the calendar to read Psalm 56:9—“When I cry unto Thee, then shall my enemies turn back.” The battle was looming closer, and Margaret didn’t go to bed that night. Invasion seemed imminent. But the next morning, all was quiet. Suddenly, villagers began returning to their homes, and the colonel knocked on her door. For some reason, he told her, the Japanese had withdrawn their troops. No one could understand it, but the danger had passed. They were safe. Margaret glanced at her wall calendar and felt she had been reading the handwriting of God. God is faithful to his promises.
What circumstances in your life are holding you down, keeping you from stepping out in hope and faith? Remember who’s in charge – hope against hope – strengthen your faith.
We can hope against hope when we TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST: (24) “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God… who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” The bedrock of our faith is the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Therefore the focus of our life is the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Maybe life is uphill – but when we look up, the cross is at the top of the hill. And we are reminded that GOD’S TRUSTWORTHINESS ENDURES FOREVER. Through Jesus Christ we are assured that God can be trusted - forever. A reporter once asked Mrs. Einstein if she understood the theory of relativity. She replied, “No, but I know Albert and he can be trusted.” When we know Jesus Christ, we know God can be trusted! Give God room to work in your life. Just believe. Faith is the link that puts us in touch with God. Faith links us with divinity and clothes us with the power of a trustworthy God. Believe in Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him.
In the days of the Blitz, a father – holding his young son by the hand – ran from a building that had just been struck by a bomb. In the front yard there was a huge shell hole. Seeking quick shelter the father let go of his son’s hand and jumped in. He then held up his arms and hollered up for his son to jump. The boy, in fear, cried back, “But I can’t see you!” The father, looking up into the bright sky, could see only the silhouette of his son; but he called up, “But I can see you! Jump!” Because he trusted his father, the young boy jumped. Where is God your Father waiting for you to take a leap and jump into His arms? INVEST YOUR LIFE IN JESUS AND RECEIVE THE ONLY CREDIT THAT COUNTS! “Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. And because of Abraham's faith, God declared him to be righteous. Now this wonderful truth--that God declared him to be righteous--wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.”
