Joint Heirs in the Promise
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Romans 4:13-25.
In the tapestry of human history, there's a golden thread that weaves through time, connecting us to a promise made long ago.
This thread is faith – not just any faith, but the kind that defies logic, transcends circumstances, and links us directly to the heart of God.
Let's journey back to a pivotal moment in history, where an elderly man named Abraham received an extraordinary promise from God.
Picture this: Abraham, nearly 100 years old, is told he will become the father of many nations.
His wife Sarah, well into her 90s, is to bear a child. In the natural world, this scenario seems absurd, even impossible.
Yet, Abraham believed.
This belief wasn't just a fleeting thought or a desperate hope. It was a deep-seated faith that God counted as righteousness.
Abraham's faith became the cornerstone of a covenant that would extend far beyond his immediate family, reaching across millennia to touch our lives today.
But why is Abraham's story so crucial for us? It reveals a fundamental truth about our relationship with God: it's built on promises, not rules.
Faith in Christ is the connective tissue that brings all believers into right relationship with God ...
Completing the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham of having heirs that out number the stars in the sky.
In Christ we become Joint Heirs with Christ, connecting our journey of faith, by extension, to the promises related to Abraham.
The concept in view here is that it is our in our Faith in God that we are justified, or made right, with God.
Being in a proper relationship with God is based on our belief in Him and not on being in compliance with the OT Law.
The faith that Abraham exhibits, even in his failings, is a true example for us to model in our lives, daily.
Which brings us to our first point:
1- Promises, not Rules
1- Promises, not Rules
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.
For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
A Foundational truth of the Christian faith is the Promise God made to Abraham.
This promise, kept and fulfilled by God many times over, down through time...
Highlights the very nature of God’s grace, and the fact that God is still willing and wanting to share this Gift of Grace to anyone who would simply believe and accept God’s will for their lives.
So what is this “Promise” or, Covenant that God made with Abraham?
And he (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he (God) counted it to him as righteousness.
What Abraham believed was God’s promise to him...
1- Gen 12:2-3
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
And God brought Abraham outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.”
Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Even though it is not expressed in detail in the OT, the threefold promise of God of Abraham included:
1- Abraham would have many descendants
2- He would possess the land of Canaan
3- He would be the focal point or medium of Godly blessing to all the people groups of the world.
... in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Abraham believed what God told him, without any further proof, and God accounted Abraham as righteous because of his belief.
In ancient times, when a patriarch like Abraham made a covenant, it wasn't just about himself but about his descendants.
Abraham was promised that he would become a great nation, and this promise was not limited to his immediate family but extended to all who share his faith.
Just as an inheritance in a wealthy family was given to all heirs, so too, through faith in Christ, we become joint heirs in the promises God made to Abraham.
This serious notion emphasizes our responsibility as heirs to live in a manner worthy of those promises.
This is the cornerstone of our Christian faith, today.
The promise God made to Abraham shows us that we are woven into a larger tapestry of faith.
Just as a thread is part of a beautiful design, our lives, as joint heirs with Abraham, contribute to God's glorious promise.
This illustration serves as a reminder of the weighty significance of our inheritance.
It is serious work to reflect God's love and promises in our daily lives, as we fulfill the calling linked to our heritage, ensuring that the tapestry of faith remains vibrant and strong.
As Paul points out- If living by the Law made the Jews the only heirs to the promises of God...
Then the Promises made to Abraham were pointless and worthless.
Common sense has to ask the question-
If God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, based on Abrahams FAITH...
Why would God then make a promise to the Israelites, some four hundred years later, that was conditioned on obedience of Laws and sacrifices?
The answer is simple-
The law brought the Ancient Israelites to recognize they sinful nature...
But it could not bring Blessings or Righteousness...
As verse 15 clearly states, The Law could only bring Wrath.
Wrath is an old word and in the context of Scripture, wrath was the consequences for not living by the Law
Since God created mankind with the ability to make our own choices- Free Will...
He also had to outline the Responsibilities involved and Consequences for not following the Law.
Paul highlights the fact that without the Law there can be no violation.
If there is no defined Right or Wrong- Then no one can be held accountable, therefore there can be no sin.
By focusing on faith, we are freed from the obligation of trying to earn God’s favor.
Life in Christ is much better lived when we can accept and live out the Promises of God- By Faith.
So where does all of this faith get us?
2- Grace to Glory
2- Grace to Glory
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—
Not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—
In the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
All gifts from God come from His Grace and Mercy.
And can only be received by Faith by those that believe in God.
God’s promise to Abraham to inherit the world includes all believers today, because the promise far exceeded what could happen in the natural world-
God’s promise was a Spiritual one that is extended to all believers, today, because of Christ’s ultimate Sacrificial Death and Resurrection.
Bringing all believers back into right fellowship with God.
All of this being possible because Abraham pleased God through his faith.
We are saved from our sins in the same way.
It is by faith- Alone. Faith plus NOTHING ELSE.
It is not by loving God or doing good stuff in God’s name.
Nor is it Faith and Love or Faith and other good stuff we might do.
Salvation comes by Faith in Christ, Through Christ-
Believing and Trusting Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
This is a vital point to hold on to, as we are not disqualified from Gods grace by past mistakes or bad deeds on our part.
It is hard for us to grasp but...
Because we can NOT do or every BE good enough on our own to deserve Gods grace-
It also means that we can NEVER be bad enough on our own to be rejected by God- When we cry out to Him.
God s Grace and Mercy are simply beyond what our feeble human minds can comprehend in our finite thinking.
Gods ways are infinitely above and beyond our ways of thinking.
Exactly why it takes Faith to Believe.
Which brings us to our next step:
3- Hope Against Hope
3- Hope Against Hope
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
In verse 18...
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
“Hope against Hope” is to hold onto hope, even when it seems impossible in the natural world to be fulfilled.
Abraham was about One Hundred years old- Even then far to old to father a child...
His wife Sarah, was in her Nineties and barren as well.
Yet Abrahams Faith was so strong, he knew that God would be faithful in keeping His promise
The whole concept of Hope against Hope is the peace of knowing God is in control.
We know that Abraham was not perfect- No human is...
Abraham made some bad choices, yet never recanted his faith in God.
Living in a culture that had idol worship for everything- Paganism, where man created god-like images that they could manipulate...
Abraham chose to follow a God he could not see, nor could he manipulate.
We can be encouraged with the knowledge that even when Abraham didn’t understand or see the way to fulfilling the promise...
He never stopped believing- He never lost hope.
Abraham's faith wasn't just a personal journey; it was the foundation of God's plan for all humanity.
When God established His covenant with Abraham, He included not just his physical descendants but all who would believe.
This deepens our understanding of how we, as believers today, are joint heirs with Abraham.
This truth carries a solemn weight as it calls us to reflect on our commitment to live out the blessings and responsibilities that come with being part of God's everlasting promise.
4- Confidence in Christ
4- Confidence in Christ
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.
It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
The story of Abraham serves as a powerful testament to the idea of faith spanning generations.
When God called Abraham, He not only envisioned him as a father to Isaac but also as a forefather to countless believers.
The seriousness of this covenant is profound, as we are all invited into that lineage through faith in Christ.
This connection challenges us to live authentically as heirs of God's promise, honoring both Abraham's legacy and our role in the unfolding narrative of divine love and grace.
The entire point of this story is to show that, God wasn’t just propping up one man or one family tree....
God accepting Abraham by his faith, opens the door for all believers to grab hold of what Abraham was promised.
God made His covenant promise to Abraham, some 430 years before Moses appeared in Scripture.
We lose sight of the fact that God ordained righteousness by Faith, long before He established the Law with Moses and the Israelites.
It has always been about God’s grace and mercy towards humanity.
Paul, continually, here and in his other letters, consistently calls the readers to, see for themselves, “What the Scripture says...”
Paul’s emphasis is that the promise of Abraham was not just a inheritance to be held to or revered by one single group of people.
It was not a list or function of religious trappings or traditions.
Our becoming righteous before God, has nothing to do with our own works.
But it has everything to do with exercising the same kind of Faith that Abraham exhibited.
Christ’s resurrection is the final and lasting sign of God’s faithfulness to us in fulfilling His promise.
It is key to remember that, although God blessed Abraham many times over for his faithfulness...
Abraham died in his old age without seeing or even completely understanding how God would make him the Father of all nations.
As Hebrews 11:13 puts it: The great Faith Chapter in the Bible speaks of all the OT Patriarchs in the same way:
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Paul closes this section of the letter with the ultimate example-
And for that we quote Martin Luther:
Romans Abraham Was Justified by Faith / 4:1-25
Christ’s death is the
According to God’s plan, Jesus was crucified for our sins. Taking on, Himself, the penalty we deserved.
So, in closing:
When we put our faith in Christ, an exchange takes place.
We give Christ our sins, and he gives us his righteousness and forgiveness.
There is nothing we can do to earn this. Only through Christ can we receive God’s righteousness.
What an incredible bargain! But sadly, many still choose to pass up this gift to continue enjoying their sin.
I encourage everyone, if you havent made that choice for Christ yet, to do so today.
Why would you want to live another minute without God has your guiding Light through Life.
