Rom 4:17-18 (NLT)--That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, "I have made you the father of many nations." [fn] This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, "That's how many descendants you will have!" [fn]
I was reading in the fourth chapter of Romans this morning and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you. In my last couple of blogs, I talked about God's faithfulness to His Word. I talked about the special things He did for Mary, Joseph, and David. All of these people hung on to the Word of God more than they hung on to the circumstances they faced. They all believed that God had something better for them than what they were going through at the moment.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, brings something about these characters to light. All of them had the same beginning. The beginning of their physical lives and their faith began in the patriarch Abraham. Abraham was an old man when God promised him that he would be the father of many nations. Paul makes it plain that Abraham DID NOT receive the promise because he worked for it. All Abraham did was believe God every day that He was able to do whatever He promised He would do. This faith in God carried down through the generations to Mary, Joseph and David.
I realize that that fact has been preached many, many times. However, did it ever dawn on you that your faith or the lack thereof would have an effect on your children down to a thousand generations? You find this promise in Exodus 20:6, Dt 5:10 and Dt 7:9 just to name a few places. Did you realize that when Abraham was believing God for deliverance in his own life to bring Isaac into the world that he was also believing that God would watch over his seed for a thousand generations to come? Did you realize that when Isaac believed that, it was extended for another generation past that? When Jacob was born and he believed God it was extended for another generation past that?
What happened when the children of Israel came into the promised land? They got fat and sassy and fell into sin and became slaves to strange nations. Because of Abraham's faith that in his seed the nations would be blessed, God was obligated to raise up a deliverer to bring them out of bondage. Because they were the good guys? No. They were sinners. But God was obligated because Abraham believed God hundreds of years ago and God was faithful to the promise He made to Abraham.
Saints, it is more and more important for us to strengthen our faith in God instead of just messing around in church. It is vitally important to our children that our faith in Him stay vibrant and not lackadaisical. Don't just barely hold on for yourself, strengthen your faith in God for your children and your grandchildren to come. Be an Abraham and Sarah who "against hope, believed in hope." Give your children and those that follow you a goal of faith to shoot for. Be known among your children as the one who held fast to faith when it looked like it would never work out. Your children and your grandchildren are counting on you.
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