the promise [which] rest[s] on grace
[is] guaranteed to all …
who share the faith of Abraham …
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.”
Romans 4:16-17
Yesterday, I said that we would focus -- for the next three days -- on the final three lines of today’s verse. It is one of the Apostle Paul’s “pictures” of …
· the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
· the God of the Old Testament and of the Jews (of which Paul was well-credentialled member from birth).
· the God of Jesus, who himself came as a Jew
· the only true God, the creator who “calls into existence the things that do not exist.”
In one poetic phrase, Paul describes God by summarizing Genesis 1.
In the beginning, the world was formless and void. “Things” did not exist. “All things” did not exist. There was nothingness. In terms of material substance, everything was a void.
And then suddenly – in the whoosh of thirty-one, Genesis 1 verses – everything did exist.
How?
That’s the question. Did God use hammer and nails? Did he use test-tubes and Bunsen burners? Did he assemble masses of organic material and shock with electricity to bring it to life?
No, says Paul. No, says Genesis 1. No, says God, consistently through Scripture. He simply spoke it into being. “Let there be …” As Paul says, he “call[ed it] into existence.” Whoosh!
· The point of today’s glimpse of God should first be awe. God is not only more powerful than we are; he is infinitely more powerful than we are!
· The second point is that the God who calls all things into existence calls you! He’s huge and vast. He’s also gentle and personal. And he as a purpose for you. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who wonders how each of us
is being called today!
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