Sermon: “Life to the Dead”

TEXT:  Romans 4:13-22

REVIEW

1.  This Blessedness: For the last two weeks we have been basking in the beauty of what David calls “this blessedness.”  This blessedness is something that Abraham knew, and it is something that we all need to know and live in.  It is the gift of forgiveness from God and righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.  It makes all the difference in life.

2.  The Steps of Faith for Father Abraham: Last week we considered the pathway of someone who knows this blessedness.  We called it the “steps of faith.”  The steps of faith that Abraham experienced went something like this: In Genesis 12 God called Abraham to a life of faith.  In Genesis 15 God spoke again of his promise to Abraham, and Abraham was credited with righteousness from God by faith.  In Genesis 17 God gave Abraham and his descendants the sign of circumcision, a seal of this righteousness by faith.  In Genesis 22 Abraham confirmed the reality of his faith through a special work of trusting God.  The normal pathway for generations of Israelites would be 1) receiving the sacramental sign of faith, 2) hearing the call of faith, 3) exercising faith, and 4) confirming faith through life.  That was how it was supposed to happen then, and that is how it is supposed to happen now.  The sign has changed, but the reality is the same: Righteousness by faith.

What makes this difficult is that along this road of life we experience a world of death, decay, and disappointment. The question for us today is this: How can we know life when there are so many signs of death all around us?  How do we find fresh resources of life every day?  My question is not merely how we can find comfort in our sadness.  We can find comfort through the sympathy of others, through distraction from our sorrows, or through seeing someone who has suffered more than us. Comfort can come in many other ways.  But my question is this.  How do we find LIFE in a world of death?

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

¹³ For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law,

but through the righteousness of faith. 

¹⁴ For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 

¹⁵ because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. 

¹⁶ Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure

[to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham,

who is the father of us all  ¹⁷ (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations")]

in the presence of Him whom he believed – God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 

¹⁸ who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken,

"So shall your descendants be." 

¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old),

and the deadness of Sarah's womb. 

²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 

²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 

²² And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."

1.  Heirs according to “the Promise” through faith

This passage refers to something called “the promise” four times.  There are books that you can buy that are collections of promises from the Bible.  These are interesting and helpful, but I think that it is possible to focus on specific verses in the Bible and end up missing the big picture of “The Promise” that the Bible speaks of.  This passage is about more than the special promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child.  That individual promise, which I will call the “Isaac” promise, fit into a much bigger picture that we all need to see and live by.  When we see “the Promise” we can then make the connection back to the “Isaac” promises of our daily lives.

            Let’s first look at what these verses say about the big promise.  The promise is about the future, since it says that it was about Abraham being “heir of the world.”  In his earthly life he would seem to have no blessing of that size, though he was a great man.  The promise stretches way beyond his earthly life.  The promise is also not only for Abraham.  It is for “all the seed” that is “those who are of the faith of Abraham.”  Therefore it is not merely one heir who is mentioned, but others with him that are also heirs according to the promise.  The promise is of faith according to grace.  It does not come through the law, but as a gift from God to the one who believes.  Finally, the promise is not just for people from one nation or from one background.  It is bigger than that.  All these points come from today’s verses.

            As you might suspect, there are many passages in the Bible that speaks of “the promise.”  Peter in Acts 2 says to those who hear his preaching at Pentecost that “the promise is to you and to your children.”  The promise is identified with the specifics of the coming of the Messiah, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately the resurrection of the righteous to eternal life.  It is a big promise.  It is often connected to Abraham and his son and grandson, but it goes way beyond them to all of the elect.

There is an extended passage in Paul’s letter to the Galatians that helps us understand this promise as a system.  Let me read to you two verses from that passage:

Galatians 3:17-18 ¹⁷ And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.  ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The Apostle Paul distinguishes here between the law and the promise.  He says that the law was given 430 years after the promise, and that it did not destroy or end the promise.  What is this all about?  Paul is talking here about a system of promise, where great blessings are announced, and the obtaining of these blessings are not based upon our obedience to the law.  These blessings were announced to Abraham 430 years before God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.  It is this system of promise that is the key to the question that I asked earlier: How do we find life in a world of death? 

2.  That the Promise might be sure

One other thing that Paul says in this morning’s passage about this system of Promise is that the promise is sure.  Things that are based on a system of law are not sure.  For instance Israel being able to stay in the land and avoid exile was based on their obedience to the system of law.  But the promise to Abraham of a land made by God – Heaven – was not based on the law.  It was a promise.  Heaven is not won or lost based on our keeping the law of God.  Heaven is a promise to Abraham, and to all the elect seed from many nations.  That seed is first singular in the Messiah.  Heaven is His first.  But the seed of Abraham is also plural.  All the elect are recipients of the promise in Him.

Paul wants us to know that the promise is sure.  He emphasizes that here. Consider the nature of a system of divine promise.  It is sure.  Any promise is as good as the integrity of the One who makes the promise. God is good on His word to His Son and in Him, to Abraham and to you.

3.  The Promise: God brings life to the dead.

What then is this promise?  At root, the promise of God is a promise to bring life to the dead.  That is what makes the “Isaac” promise to Abraham such a great example for us.  Paul says that these prospective parents were as good as dead in terms of their ability.  The promise was to have life given to the dead.  When the baby Isaac was born, that was a gift of life, and the gift came through promise.

Isaac would be the father of Jacob.  Jacob would be the father of Judah.  Judah would one day have a descendant who would be the key to this system of promise.  That descendant was Jesus Christ.  Without the righteousness of Jesus, there could have been no promise to Abraham, no blessedness for David, and no hope for you in a world full of sin and death.  But the promised Messiah did come.  He did give his life as a ransom for us.  He did rise from the dead and ascend into heaven.  He did send forth the promised Holy Spirit.  He has gone to prepare a place for us – one specific promise in a bigger system of promise.  By His promise we find life, receive life, and live.

APPLICATION:

If you have faith in Christ, you have life.  But how can you know life day by day? What is the practical theology of LIFE in your life?  If someone were to consider based on the way that you live your life, what would they say is your belief concerning how LIFE comes to you?  How do you try to get life?  Does life come through LAW, or through your own good CHOICES?  Or does life come through believing the PROMISE of God given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord, and then seeing the connection between that resurrection promise system of God and the “Isaac” promises of daily life?

For the adults here today: God knows your true practical theology of LIFE.  But there are also other eyes watching you.  The next generation is watching.  We call them the heirs of the covenant, and they are observing your lives.  What are you passing on to them?  The law is a burden that neither you nor your fathers could bear.  Your children cannot bear that burden either.  LIFE comes to you through the PROMISE of God.  Let’s let the young of this church community see that.  Let us speak according to the promise of God, and live according to the promise of God.  To do this we must hear the promise of God in His Word, and live as those who believe that God is more than faithful.  Our God brings life to the dead.  The promise says that there is life even beyond wretched choices and many a broken law. 

To the young heirs of the covenant: God has not promised you everything you might want.  You can only know what God has promised from what He has said, and you can only know what He has said from the Bible.  Allow us to speak to you about all of life from His Word and listen for the promise of life from God for You.  There is a life that comes to us only by promise.  Enjoy it as the gift of God to you through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.  Amen.