Pastor's Column 8/21/22

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“Not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom He believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

Romans 4:16b-17, NIV

“Believing The Unseen!”

These verses speak to the spiritual heritage we have, going back to Abraham, who along with his wife Sarah, “believed” in the promise of God for the salvation of humankind. As we are aware in the faith we have in Jesus Christ, all who “believe” in Him receives the freedom of life and the certainty of eternity. Abraham was 75 years old, and Sarah 65, when God made a promise that he and his wife would bear an offspring whose descendants would greatly populate the earth. The many nations would be believers of the promise who are both of Jewish and Gentile heritage. After the initial promise, Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years for their son Isaac to be born! Although both elders, and presumably beyond the ability to produce a child, the scripture says of Abraham: “…He believed… the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” This verse means, God can “decree” what He wills, regardless of the circumstances. We mortals are not the ones who call things out; only God can do that. We, like Abraham, can “believe” we can see and experience God’s blessings, even when things are moribund or hopeless! We are reminded in the journey of this patriarch and matriarch that faith allows us to see beyond the immediate. George Bernard Shaw said: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and say, why not.” When the late Senator Robert Kennedy saw the devastation of poverty in America, he uttered those same words, shortly before his assassination. What faith causes us to see spiritually will inevitably come to realization, according to God’s timing and plan. Faith is also “assurance about what we do not see.” (Heb.11:1b, NIV).