- A hope which I embrace
- A relationship which I enjoy
- A reality which I live for
- The Scope of Gods promises (4:13-14)
- The Certainty of Gods Promises (4:15-16)
- Our Standing in Gods Promises (4:17)
- The Seed and the Substance of Gods Promises (4:16-18)
- The Strength of Gods Promises (4:19-20)
The Scope of Gods promises (4:13-14)
“Heir of the world” (v13) At a time in Abraham’s life when he did not even possess the land under his tent God promised him everything under the sky! Might say that property was not Abraham’s strong point! Herds and oxen and cattle yes (Gen12:16) but property no By the end of his life all that he owned of the land God had promised was the grave in which he had buried Sarah. Here is a consistent theme of Gods dealings in grace with men:
- When God will choose a man to go before Pharoah He chooses Moses: “10And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. 11And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? 12Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Ex4:10-12)
- When God will choose a man to face the Midianites, he will choose Gideon, a farmer and not a soldier, “15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:15-16)
- When God would choose a man to lead and rule a nation He would choose a Shepherd boy “6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep” (1 Sam 16:6-11)
- When Christ would call 12 disciples He would call fishermen not theologians!
- When God chose an evangelist for the gentile world, who better to chose than a man totally opposed to the gospel, a persecutor of Christ! Run that one past me again! Ah well you say God didn’t really chose him for that calling, he converted him to that calling: “15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace”
The promise of God to Abraham “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13; cf. Gen 22:17-18, massively outstripped the experience of Abraham up until that point. Why is Abraham described as “our Father” (Rom4:1,12,16) and why are believers even today referred to as the “children of Abraham” (Gal3:7) Was he the first man ever to have faith? No, ever before Abraham exercised faith there were men like Abel, Enoch and Noah, all recognised for their faith! What was so distinctive about Abraham? Was it not the quality of the faith which he exercised? “Who against hope believed in hope,” Romans 4:18. Faced with so many obstacles, so much to contradict the convictions of faith, so many problems in opposition to Gods promises Abraham believed and he kept on believing! Abraham allowed his expectation to go beyond his experience! Abraham’s vision extended beyond the horizon of natural experience! “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world” (Romans 4:13) – how much of the world do you have? Well the ground under my tent! “Father of many nations” (4:17) – up until age 86 how many children do you have? Approximately? Give or take 1 or 2? Approximately 0! What about your wife? Aged 76 and never had any children! Then in the next 13 years, up until aged 99 years – 1 son to a slave girl! Do you ever think the Devil whispered in his ear: ‘get real Abraham’ or ‘come on Abraham, face reality,’ or ‘face the facts Abraham’ or ‘is it not about time you started to take things into your own hands Abraham’? On more than one occasion that was precisely what did happen: Consider the tension with Sarah his wife: “And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife” (Gen 16:3) – 10 years she had waited, was that long enough? Had Sarah had enough after 10 years? Had there been tension there between Sarah and Abraham for 10 long years? Consider the temptation presented to Abraham by the King of Sodom (Gen 14:21-23), that would increase Abrahams inheritance a bit wouldn’t it? It would give him a start? Consider the testing of Abraham (Gen 22) – just when he begins to make progress with Gods promises, he has a son, now he is to take that boy and offer him on the altar! Surely God is mocking you now Abraham. Abraham was a man whose faith could not be shaken, whose trust in his God could not be broken. Abraham allowed his expectation to go beyond his experience! By faith Abraham attained the unattainable! Faith takes the handbrake off of God’s inheritance. If works could never have earned the inheritance that Abraham gained what about the believers inheritance in 1 Peter 1:4-5? How could works ever earn an inheritance like this? The believer’s inheritance: “ἄφθαρτος” – incorruptible – used of the character of God: Rom1:23; 1 Tim1:17 “ἀμίαντος” – undefiled “ἀμάραντος” – fadeth not away The believers inheritance in 1 Peter chp 1 is “ready to be revealed” (1:5), that which is revealed in 1 Peter 1:7 is the person of Christ! If a man could never earn the inheritance of the world how could anyone ever earn Christ as his inheritance? Two great truths in 1 Peter chapter 1, the opening chapter of an epistle that has so much to say regarding the trials and testing and turmoil of the Christian experience and the “trial of your faith” to believers going through the fiery furnace of affliction as did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo of old:
- 1 Peter 1:18 – I belong to Christ because He has bought me, He has purchased me, ‘I am redeemed and I know it full well’
- 1 Peter 1:4 – Christ belongs to me! ‘I am His and He is mine forever’! Our inheritance is “in Christ” (Eph1:3,11,14) , our inheritance is an “eternal inheritance” (Heb9:15)
Two great truths in 1 Peter chapter 1, the opening chapter of an epistle that has so much to say If God desires me to enjoy Christ and to have an inheritance in Him, this is truly something that would never be possible by works. Some things you could work for in life: new watch, maybe new car, perhaps eventually pay off the house! There are some things, it doesn’t matter how much I might work for them I could never earn them: Buckingham Palace, the Taj Mahal! When preaching the gospel we often point out that Gods standard is too high to reach (Rom 3:23) and so it is. In chapter 4 we see that Gods salvation is too great to Deserve It was faith and it inly could be faith that would bring Abraham into a salvation of:
- Infinite potential
- Limitless possibility
- Eternal prospect
- Unimaginable power
- Unbreakable promises
Works could never earn a salvation of this magnitude! Gods salvation was too great to earn!
The Certainty of Gods Promises (4:15-16)
The fulfilment of Gods promises are certain – for they rest upon Him and not upon us. Not upon our works but upon faith in Him If the fulfilment of Gods promises in salvation rested upon us neither David nor Abraham would have gained salvation! To gain such an inheritance could only ever be on the basis of faith No amount of good work or self effort could ever have brought Abraham into an inheritance of the world!
Our Standing in Gods Promises (4:17)
The Seed and the Substance of Gods Promises (4:16-18)
The promises given to Abraham did not germinate and come to fulfilment until much later on, many of them, not until after his death. 1st Isaac, then Jacob, then Jacob's 12 boys and then 12 tribes by those 12 boys after 430 years of captivity in Egypt and then about 2000 years after that the birth of the promised seed in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The fufillment and germination of Gods promises went beyond the limit of a lifetime: "many nations" (4:17) "many nations" (4:18)
The Strength of Gods Promises (4:19-20)
The power, not mine, God was able to work even with a dead man (4:19)! God’s strength brings life from the dead! God’s strength brings liberty from our own liability! We can all make excuses, God looks for great expectations rather than great excuses! Because Gods promises are fulfilled by Gods power the Glory is all of God: "giving Glory to God." (4:20)
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