for the promise to abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. — [romans 4:13]
the promise to abraham
God always keeps his promises, even when his promises seem outrageous. His promises to abraham seemed utterly impossible, but in faith he believed God was capable of fulfilling them.
it is likely that most of us will not live to see 100 – few of us do! yet God promised abraham, even at the age of 100, that he would have a child! genesis 17:17 tells us, “then abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, ‘shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? shall sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’”
abraham asks a valid question. God had promised years before that abraham would be a father of a great nation, and that through his all the earth would be blessed: “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” – genesis 22:18.
yet approaching 100, abraham had not yet seen that promise fulfilled.
his prime years were well behind him, as they were for sarah his wife. it would have been easy to think that perhaps he misunderstood the word of God, that God had simply chosen not to fulfill it, or abraham somehow did or didn’t do something he was supposed to do to ‘earn’ the promise.
none of these were true. God was intent on fulfilling his promise in a way that only he could, in a way that would ensure that he alone received the glory. abraham didn’t do anything to earn the promise, he simply believed God. in faith, he trusted what he had heard.
and the promise was fulfilled, not in abraham’s timing, but in God’s.
that promise indeed continues to bless all the earth. as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we are reminded that Jesus coming to earth is a result of the promise God made to abraham.
God always keeps his promises, and when we trust in faith that God is true to his word, we are free to live without doubt, without fear, knowing that, like abraham, God’s promises are not reliant on what we do or do not do. we merely need to trust in faith and believe that God’s word is true.
~jason soroski