Hope Against Hope

Hope is powerful. Perhaps the most powerful thing we have. Sometimes, it is all we have. Martin Luther - Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. No husbandman would sow a grain of corn if he hoped not it would grow up and become seed … Or no tradesman would set himself to work if he did not hope to reap benefit thereby. ‌ Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian Novelist) - Totally without hope one cannot live. To live without hope is to cease to live. When we look around there are so many things that can cause us to be in despair. Rampant corruption in every other subsequent government. Rise of moral perversion in the land and destruction of the strong social fabrics that once held our societies. School fires, accidents etc. The danger of false doctrines that are flying all over. Delays- The JSS teachers, businesses peaking slowly, people that we hoped will change etc. Unstable economy. (So many companies have been closing and people are losing jobs. 📷 What do you do when life totally falls in on you? “Killing from Hopelessness,” With no money, no car, no place to live, and no way to care for her little boy, Tiffany Toribio chose the dark path. She placed her hand over her three-year-old son’s mouth and suffocated him, twice. The first time she performed CPR to restore his breathing, then she suffocated him a second time. She buried him in the playground sand and left. No one would believe you if you made this story up. It shows the evil that comes from hopelessness. Tiffany, having no place to turn, chose the wrong way and little Tyrus paid with his life. Kenyan journalist living on the streets recently (depression, rehabs...) When life is hopeless, we can turn to the Lord. Psalm 42:5-8 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Haiti in January 2010 destroyed buildings and killed or maimed tens of thousands of people. As hope for victims began to fade, the discovery of a survivor in the wreckage of a hotel grocery store renewed the resolve of many. Rescuers pulled Wismond Exantus from the rubble 11 days after the earthquake. Exantus told reporters from his hospital bed that the first thing he wanted to do was find a church to give thanks. He said he spent the time praying, reciting psalms, and sleeping. He summed up his experience saying, “I wasn’t afraid because I knew they were searching and would come for me.”

Romans 4:13-25 The Promise- 13-17 (Implication of Abraham’s fatherhood to all believers.) The Person- Vs 18-19 The Perseverance – Vs 20-22 The Participation- Vs. 23-25 THE PROMISE 13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—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. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] 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. Both Abraham and Sarah had laughed at the absurdity of the promise (Gen 17:17; 18:12) THE PERSON 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. In light of this uncommon faith in God, (against all hope) Abraham faced the dilemma “that his body was as good as dead” and that “Sarah’s womb was also dead,” and he did so “without weakening in his faith.” The connection between God’s raising people to life from the dead (v. 17b) and his giving life to Abraham’s dead loins (as well as bringing life out of Sarah’s dead womb) is a remarkable typological leap (the birth of Isaac as a type of Christ). Paul states that not only Abraham (ninety-nine) but also Sarah (ninety, see Gen 17:1, 17) made just such a leap of faith. The Guinness Book of Records tells us that the oldest woman on record to bear a child was a woman from India who was seventy, but the Guinness people obviously had not considered Genesis 17:17. Both Abraham and Sarah had laughed at the absurdity of the promise (Gen 17:17; 18:12) THE PERSEVERANCE (20-22) In verse 19 Paul elaborates on Abraham’s strong faith, saying he “did not waver through unbelief” but instead “was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” Paul emphasizes the basis of that remarkably triumphant faith was “the promise of God.” In Genesis 17:17–18 Abraham had an initial moment of unbelief (how could he not?), but after that he displayed an ongoing trust in God. Paul centers on the long-term and deep-seated faith he exhibited until Isaac was born, a faith that provides a model for us. “Strengthened” could mean “God strengthened his faith,” but more likely means Abraham grew stronger and stronger in his faith throughout that period. It is not Abraham who grew stronger but his faith. This provides another model for us. As we pass through adversity and the trials of our faith, we must depend all the more on God (Jas 1:2–4; 1 Pet 1:6–7). In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Life’s difficulties are like weights in a gym. The more we struggle against them, the more we are strengthened in our faith. In verses 20b–21 there are two results of Abraham’s growing strength in trusting God: he “gave glory to God,” refusing to depend on his own resources or ability but instead throwing himself entirely into God’s hands and rejoicing that he could do so. Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (v. 21). As his faith grew stronger, so did his certitude that “he who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23). Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

He was completely assured that the covenant God “never leaves or forsakes” his followers (Deut 31:6; Josh 1:5), and thus he fulfilled Hebrews 11:1 with a faith that is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” APPLICATION. Rejoice because God in Christ has made you the true spiritual seed of Abraham, and thus his spiritual blessings in Jesus are your blessings as well. Recall that while the spiritual blessings of Abraham are yours in Jesus, his committed faith in God is to mark your life as well. (Rom 1:17,) Like him, you must have an ever-abiding trust in the Lord who never fails his people regardless of what the situation might be. Remember that like Abraham, trusting in the word of God without wavering is pleasing to the Lord and brings His blessings. Recollect that when your faith is strengthened by God as you go through trials, you, like Abraham are to give glory to God. For the unbelievers, know that the God of the Bible is still the God who “gives life to the dead.” Consequently, He in Christ, can, this very day, quicken and save your never dying soul, as you go to Him for this. Flee, therefore to Him, who is the God of sovereign, life-changing grace. Prayer