"Calling Things That
Are Not As Though They Were"
13)
For
the promise, that he should 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 they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made
of none effect:
15)
Because
the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is
no transgression.
16)
Therefore
it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure
to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which
is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17)
(As
it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he
believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18)
Who
against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations,
according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed
be.
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we will make it in this walk, we will have no choice but to go beyond what we
are able to understand in the natural. It is no "revelation" that
some of us are "stuck" on what we think that we know. Thinking one
knows something when one is really "clueless" causes serious
difficulties.
The
error that we frequently make is in trying to "make sense" of too
many things. You see, when we say that something makes no sense to us, what we
are really saying is that we have failed to be able to process it in the
natural.
In
verse 17 of our text, we read a promise originally given to an aged, childless
man of the old testament. This was a man whose very
name meant "Father of Many." No doubt, being childless, he would have
suffered ridicule. And yet, the Lord expected him to simply accept this promise
and count it as done? He most certainly did! Abraham was expected to do just as
we are: see what the scripture is saying to us and stand on it! How
could the Lord not have been intending to fulfill the promise, anyway, since He
is the One Who bestowed the name?
You
see, it really is as simple as that. Step one involves the Lord making us a
promise. What we must always remember about this is that a promise made by the
Lord is fulfillment. When He promises
it, it is done. Secondly, we must conduct ourselves in the acceptance of the promise. Then, finally, we will see that for
which we have longed.
There
is nothing spiritual that we cannot access through the Spirit and
nothing spiritual that can be accessed through human understanding. Neither the
principles of salvation nor the secrets of God are open to one who is not
willing to simply accept God at His word.
There are so many things for which Man is looking. Yet, he is unwilling to turn himself over to the Lord so that He can take the little of nothing that we have and turn it into the "something" of God.
We
are viewed by the World as living "pie-in-the-sky" lives. After all,
who else would be willing to act as if something that has not happened as yet has happened but "desperate"
people? You know who? The type of people willing to do this
are the people who intend to be blessed of, and triumphant in, God. n