Hope in the Resurrection

Introduction:

This morning, I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to the Book of Romans, chapter 4. While you are turning there, how many of you remember singing the song, “Father Abraham?” Many of us learned that song as one of the first songs we learned when we were little.

You know the one that goes like this,

“Father Abraham, had many sons.

Many sons had Father Abraham.

I am one of them, and so are you.

So let’s just praise the Lord”

Anyways, have you ever wondered why we call him Father Abraham? He’s not our dad, though I suppose if you traced back the family trees far enough, maybe some of us could claim to be descendants of him. And based on the biblical account, he didn’t really have a bunch of sons. He had Ishmael, Isaac, and a couple others late in his life.

Well, this morning, we are going to see what Father Abraham, the Resurrection of Jesus, and all of us in this room have in common. Let’s take a look at our text this morning.

Romans 4:16–5:2 ESV

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.” 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.” 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. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 4:

Pray

Before we can begin, we need to do a little groundwork here. The Book of Romans is a letter and we are jumping in to the letter a little ways though. When you receive a letter from someone, you probably start from the beginning. When you read a book, you don’t start midway through or you won’t fully understand what is going on. So let me catch us up for just a minute.

Paul is writing this Book from prison for the sake of preaching Jesus Christ as the way of salvation. He is writing to the church in Rome filled with Jews and Gentiles. He started out by telling us the bad news. That is that every person in this world is born in rebellion against God. We are at war with a perfectly holy and righteous God who cannot allow sin to go unpunished or dwell in His presence. In fact, Paul says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ALL ungodliness.

To make things more clear, this is not a Jew or Gentile problem. This is a problem for all of us, because as Paul makes clear in , everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That means we all fail to measure up to the perfect standard of God’s law that is required for us to dwell with God and have peace with God.

Paul then begins to show the Jews that the Law, while good, could never save them. He explains that we wouldn’t know sin apart from the Law, but the Law is not something that can be kept.

Think about it. Can you keep perfectly the commandment: don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t kill (and Jesus said don’t get angry at your brother or you’ve committed murder in your heart), don’t commit adultery (Jesus said don’t look lustfully at a woman or you have committed sin), don’t covet, honor your father and mother, and so on? The answer is no! We are going to break God’s commandments.

So if the Law won’t save us, then why worry with it. Why not live as the Gentiles do and just accept that we live the best life on this earth we can and either we die and are no more or we accept that we are doomed to face God’s wrath?

Well the answer is hope! It isn’t a blind hope, but a real hope! We have hope in the resurrection of Jesus.

Now let’s turn to Abraham to see an example of the type of hope we are to have this Easter Sunday and every other day of our lives.

1. The Source of Our Faith 4:16-22)

Abraham’s faith was based on a Person. It wasn’t wishful thinking or a blind faith.

Abraham based his faith on the One who created this world out of nothing. Some people mistakenly believe that God and matter existed before the creation of the world and that God took some of that “primordial stuff” and made everything that exists. The Bible says that God existed in the beginning. That is it!

You may wonder why this is important for an Easter message that normally is focused on the resurrection. Well, think about it. If God can bring into existence what is not; if God can form and fashion you in your mothers womb, in the secret places; do you suppose it is a difficult thing for God to raise the dead back to life?

We live with a tame version in our minds of Who God is. He is far more powerful than our minds can fathom. He is the source of all life from the creation of the world to the resurrection of the dead.

So the source of Abraham’s faith was God.

2. The Hope of Our Faith (4:18-21)

Have you ever hoped something would come true? There are two types of hope. Hope that doubts something will happen, but is wishful thinking. Some of you have this kind of hope when you play the lottery or when Georgia plays Alabama in a Championship Game! The second kind of hope is a hope that is more sure of something you want. It’s like sneaking into the room where your parents keep your birthday presents and finding out that what you wanted for your birthday was there. You haven’t received it yet, but you are pretty sure that you will get it when you open your presents.

Abraham’s faith was not rational based on human wisdom and ability. Let’s be clear, Abraham and Sarah’s bodies were essentially dead when it came to their ability to produce life. They were way beyond childbearing age.

Notice the Bible says that rather than having his faith weaken, Abraham’s faith grew! He didn’t have a man-centered faith. He had a God-centered faith.

When you die and stand before God on the day of Judgment, in whom will you place your trust. Every world religion out there has a list of things you have to do in order to get to heaven and be right with God. However, in Christ we have had a list of things God did for us to make it possible for us to be right with God. We enter heaven not based on our human merit, but based on Christ’s. Our hope is built on our faith in Jesus.

It’s like getting a preview of our birthday presents, only we know for sure that God will give them to us if we ask Him in faith.

Today, if you want to receive eternal life and peace with God, you have to have hope against hope in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to save you from your sins. And let me be clear, those who do not have faith WILL MOCK YOU! They mocked Noah as he built the ark. They mocked Abraham for believing in a son in his old age. They mocked Jesus as He hung on the cross. They will also mock you for believing in dead men that live. But remember, the source of our hope is not in man, but in God who creates from nothing life and raises the dead back to life.

3. The Righteousness of Our Faith (4:22-24a)

Abraham wanted a son. There is no question about that. But Abraham wasn’t a fool. He knew that a son would bring him joy, but in the end he would die and his son would die and none of them would last forever. When we read the story of Abraham, we might be tempted to think that this story was just about God honoring Abraham with a name and a heritage. That would be wrong!

Here is where the story of Abraham and the story of Jesus and His resurrection intersect. Up to this point, you might have been thinking that this was a weird text to choose for an Easter message. Well, here is the lynch pin that holds these two accounts together. Abraham’s faith was not in his own lineage, but in One particular person that would come from his line of descendants.

tells us why Abraham could be said to have righteousness by faith.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 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.”

He was trusting in the One that had been promised from the beginning. He was trusting in the Seed that would come from .

Genesis 3:15 ESV

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

He was trusting in the One that had been promised from the beginning. He was trusting in the Seed that would come from . He was trusting in the Messiah that would save us from the curse of sin and death.The entire rest of the Bible is about the promise of this one who would come. God would form a nation with weird sacrifices and practices that would point to Him. He would eventually send Jesus, the promised one that the leaders would not recognize and would cut off and sacrifice. He would also raise Him up again and exalt Him so that anyone who would believe on the Son would be saved and would also have their faith counted as righteousness, just like the people of the Old Testament. Just like Abraham. No one was saved because of religious ritual. They were saved because they had faith in Christ. Their faith was counted to them as righteousness.You might think this has nothing to do with us today, but you would be wrong. Paul tells us both here and in that these accounts in the Bible were written down for our example. Abraham is an example for us today of how our faith in the resurrection of Jesus is credited to us as righteousness.

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He was trusting in the Messiah that would save us from the curse of sin and death.

He was trusting in the One that had been promised from the beginning. He was trusting in the Seed that would come from . He was trusting in the Messiah that would save us from the curse of sin and death.The entire rest of the Bible is about the promise of this one who would come. God would form a nation with weird sacrifices and practices that would point to Him. He would eventually send Jesus, the promised one that the leaders would not recognize and would cut off and sacrifice. He would also raise Him up again and exalt Him so that anyone who would believe on the Son would be saved and would also have their faith counted as righteousness, just like the people of the Old Testament. Just like Abraham. No one was saved because of religious ritual. They were saved because they had faith in Christ. Their faith was counted to them as righteousness.You might think this has nothing to do with us today, but you would be wrong. Paul tells us both here and in that these accounts in the Bible were written down for our example. Abraham is an example for us today of how our faith in the resurrection of Jesus is credited to us as righteousness.

He was trusting in the Messiah that would save us from the curse of sin and death.The entire rest of the Bible is about the promise of this one who would come. God would form a nation with weird sacrifices and practices that would point to Him. He would eventually send Jesus, the promised one that the leaders would not recognize and would cut off and sacrifice. He would also raise Him up again and exalt Him so that anyone who would believe on the Son would be saved and would also have their faith counted as righteousness, just like the people of the Old Testament. Just like Abraham. No one was saved because of religious ritual. They were saved because they had faith in Christ. Their faith was counted to them as righteousness.You might think this has nothing to do with us today, but you would be wrong. Paul tells us both here and in that these accounts in the Bible were written down for our example. Abraham is an example for us today of how our faith in the resurrection of Jesus is credited to us as righteousness.

The entire rest of the Bible is about the promise of this one who would come. God would form a nation with weird sacrifices and practices that would point to Him. He would eventually send Jesus, the promised one that the leaders would not recognize and would cut off and sacrifice. He would also raise Him up again and exalt Him so that anyone who would believe on the Son would be saved and would also have their faith counted as righteousness, just like the people of the Old Testament. Just like Abraham.

No one was saved because of religious ritual. They were saved because they had faith in Christ. Their faith was counted to them as righteousness.

You might think this has nothing to do with us today, but you would be wrong. Paul tells us both here and in that these accounts in the Bible were written down for our example.

1 Corinthians 10:11 ESV

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

Abraham is an example for us today of how our faith in the resurrection of Jesus is credited to us as righteousness.

Abraham is an example for us today of how our faith in the resurrection of Jesus is credited to us as righteousness.

4. The Savior of Our Faith (4:24b-25)

This is why Jesus is the Savior of our faith.

The Bible says that we must believe in God. We must believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus.

We must believe not just that he was raised from the dead, but also that he was crucified and died for a particular reason.

We have to learn our ABCs

We have to Admit that we have sinned and we miss the mark of God’s requirement for perfect holiness. God is holy and perfect. We may think He has too high an expectation, and I would say that if we believe that we have too tame a view of God. You see, God’s holiness is so perfect that if we were not completely holy as He is, we would not be able to stand in His presence

Example of the High Priest and the Holy to the Lord engraved headband

We have to come in Jesus because we can’t come in our own righteousness

We have to admit we are not okay with God. We are at war with God and His righteous and holy wrath abides on us.

2nd Step is to believe by faith that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that can take away our sin. That is what Abraham was hoping in. It was counted as Righteousness to him and it will be to us as well.

Then we must confess Him as our savior and Lord. We have to confess that we belong to Him. You cannot do this secretly. You can’t be a closet Christian. He is either your sovereign that you pledge allegiance to or he is not your king.

5. The Outcome of Our Faith (5:1-2)

What happens when you do this? You have peace.

Romans was originally written as a letter. Chapters and verse division came later to help us find our place. is connected to the previous discussion by the word “therefore”

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Since we have been justified by faith. That word justified means to be made right. Our debt has been satisfied. Since we have our debt satisfied with God, we have peace with Him

Since we have been justified by faith. That word justified means to be made right. Our debt has been satisfied. Since we have our debt satisfied with God, we have peace with HimThat peace is only through one Person, Jesus. Through Him we have access by faith into HIs grace, and in which we standWe are only able to stand before God so long as we stand in His grace by faith in Jesus.We can now rejoice in our hope. The Hope of the resurrc

That peace is only through one Person, Jesus. Through Him we have access by faith into HIs grace, and in which we stand

We are only able to stand before God so long as we stand in His grace by faith in Jesus.We can now rejoice in our hope. The Hope of the resurrection

Conclusion:

This morning, you may have come here for a variety of different reasons, but I hope you will leave here with hope. Hope is not a feeling or a good wish. Hope is a Person. It is Jesus. And Jesus is our only hope for salvation. He is our only hope to be made right with God, who is so holy that sin cannot dwell in His presence.

You see, we want justice in this world. We want child abusers and sexual offenders to be locked up or worse. We want people who injure us to pay. We want justice when the offense has been committed against us. But we don’t really want justice. Justice is blind. We want partial justice when it works in our favor.

But God is not partial. There is no shadow of turning with Him. He judges fairly. He is impartial to even those who He loves. The law must be carried out or God is not holy. He doesn’t grade on a curve or sweep our sin under the rug because we have done enough penance and good deeds. God must judge our sin.

That is why Jesus came. He came to satisfy the righteous requirement of the Law so that we could be made right with God; so that we could have peace. But God gives us so much more than a blank slate. He gives us eternal life and a future. We have heaven to await us.

Whatever you are going through right now, heaven is around the corner for the believer in Christ. You can make it through a rough marriage. You can make it through the child-parent struggles you face. You can make it through your financial or health woes. Nothing that this world can throw at you, not even cancer or death is going to be able to take away your hope, because God proved that He is the one who raises the dead to life by raising Jesus up from the grave. He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, or died.

All you have to do is believe on Him. Have hope in Christ. Trust Him as your Savior and confess your sin to Him. Believe on Him and follow Him. Turn from your old life and begin living a new life in Christ. You will have joy that you have never experienced, because you will know that there is hope now for you!