Good morning,
The free gift for everyone!
Last week I wrote about God’s promise to Abraham about the land that God was giving to him and his descendants as a permanent possession. But God told him even more than that. God said, And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted!(Gen.13:16) What God was telling Abraham then, has been important to everyone that has ever or will ever live here on earth. Paul tells us that, Clearly, God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God's law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.(Rom.4:13) It is true that God has a special group of people that we know as Jews, but that doesn’t mean that they have a special right to God’s family and God’s gifts to his world. What God was telling Abraham was something that was true from the time of Adam and Eve to the last person who will live on the earth.
What Abraham did was that he genuinely believed what God told him to believe and obey. So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift.(Rom.4:16) Again Paul tells us, The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. (Gal.3:7) Even though Abraham was about 100 years old, Abraham kept hoping–believing that he would become the father of many nations.(Rom.4:18) You see, He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous (vs.21,22)
What God did for Abraham, 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.(vs.23,24) Since all of us are sinners, what Jesus did for us was something no one else could do. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.(v.25) This incredible free gift from God is available to anyone who has been given life and who has reached the state of mind that they know the difference between good and evil. The Bible is very clear that He longs for the Jews to live by faith in God, but What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith.(Gal.3:8) Long before time began The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit knew what they would do when they created people in their own image who would rebel against them. The proof that we really would be a part of God’s eternal family was our willingness to trust in the God we could not see but still give him our hearts and our genuine trust no matter what challenges we face in our sin filled world and our own sin nature. Those in the Old Testament time were looking forward to a promised Redeemer and those of us who have lived on this side of the empty cross, who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. (Gal.3:9) Dear Lord, may that be true of us as well.
Romans 4:16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
Roy Wisner
