"The Promise"
Romans 4:13-25
Sunday, March 11, 2012

Introduction: There is a story of a family who were sitting down to dinner. The family consisted of a father, a mother, a son Curtis (age 6), and a daughter Clarissa (age 4). As the family is getting ready to say the prayer before the meal, the father could tell that the son was very hungry, so the father says to his son: “Remember son, our rule is that we serve others before we serve ourselves, and I think that you should serve your sister first.” This caused great pain upon the son, because as I said, he was very hungry, and the plate of chicken was right in front of him. After the prayer Curtis picked up the plate and held it for his sister, asking: “Which piece of chicken do you want?” Well, Clarissa being only 4 didn’t know which piece was which, so she said: “I’d like the foot.” “Uh, Clarissa, mommy doesn’t cook the foot!” “Where is it?” she asked. Curtis responded: “I don’t know, but it’s not on this plate!” Then she said: “Okay, just give me the hand.” “A chicken doesn’t have a hand, Clarissa, it has a wing” he says. “I hate the wing, Curtis…Oh, go ahead and give me the head.” At this point Curtis is beside himself with hunger and frustration. She realized at his exasperation that there wasn’t a head on the plate as well, so she says: “Oh, all right! I’ll take the belly button.” At this point Curtis picks up a breast and gives it to her, which was about as close to the belly button as he could get!!! (Swindoll, Come Before Winter, p. 286)

Family. We create some great memories in our families. As we look at our passage this morning, I want us to understand that we are part of a family. We not only belong to a biological family, but we have an ancestral spiritual family of great proportion; a family that is promised to us by God.

I. Not By the Law- (Romans 4:13-15)

a. The need for the law- If you think about laws, you can understand

why there is a need for them. Laws help to keep things ordered and understood. Laws help to determine what is good behavior and what is not. Laws help us to set standards by which to live. But the law can only take you so far. If the law is practiced without love and compassion, it can become hurtful and restraining. If the law becomes too highly thought of, it can replace wisdom and understanding. And sometimes a law serves its time and then must be replaced. Sometimes a law is just foolishness.

FOR EX.- In Arkansas there is a law on the books that states: “It is illegal to mispronounce the name of the state of Arkansas in that state.” Now while it might be rude to mispronounce the state name, I think it is foolishness for it to be illegal.

OR, how about this one? “In Glendale, Arizona, it is against the law for a car to back up.” Now I don’t know how this law came about, but it too is foolishness.

OR this one! “In Massachusetts, it is forbidden to put tomatoes in clam chowder.” Now I am not a cook, but I think it is a bit extreme to make this a law.

Laws have their place, but they can only go so far. That is why it is important to understand that the law helps to determine our place in our biological families. However, there is a family which we belong to, which cannot be dictated to us by any law; and that is the family of God, with Abraham being our father. Let us hear again Romans 4:13…

b. The law brings wrath- “For the promise that he would inherit the

world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Meaning, that those who are heirs, descendants, family by law, are the Jews. With this being true, it would limit who the family of God could be.

The apostle Paul goes on to say in verse 15, “For the law brings wrath…” What does Paul mean by this? Well, if we leave things to the law, then it is all about our doing, our works. We gain merit and acceptance by what we do/ and how well we keep to the law. This then can create anger when we do not live up to the law. Or we can get can get depressed thinking that we can never live up to the law. We might get angry at God for making it so difficult to live up to His standards. Or we might feel like God is angry at us for constantly falling short. It is difficult to feel loved and accepted in these circumstances.

So it is not by the law that we are brought into the family. If it is not by the law, then how do we become a part of God’s family. Well, I think the answer is pretty obvious; it is by faith. And yet, do we really understand what it means to be a part of God’s family by faith? Let’s take some time to understand this thought.

II. A Family By Faith- (Romans 4:16-21)

a. Roots- Ex.- Have you ever seen a tree that leans, but doesn’t fall. It is an

amazing sight. The tree is leaning in a way that seems like it should fall, but it doesn’t. What is it that keeps this tree from falling? It is the roots. Even though the tree is heavier on top than it is on the bottom, it does not fall. This is a great testament to the importance of the roots of a tree. They go down deep into the ground and keep the tree standing strong. They give the tree the nutrients it needs, and keeps the tree from dying. Even if the tree leans too much the wrong way, the roots hold it firm. (Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, p. 171)

Just as a tree is held up, supported, and given strength through its roots, so we too have strong roots that go all the way back to the faith of Abraham. This family we become a part of by faith, is part of the great tradition of God’s faithfulness to His people. So we are a part of this tradition not by the roots of our bloodline, but by the roots of our faith-line. It is not an adoption of law, but an adoption of faith.

This is important for us to understand, because anyone can be a part of God’s family by faith. God has set it up so that more than the nation of Israel can be part of God’s family. That is why it is said of Abraham that he will be the father of many nations, and that his children will outnumber the stars in the sky. All who believe, through faith, become part of God’s family.

God was very specific about doing it this way. By creating a family based on faith it is made determinant on God, in that it is God setting the entrance requirements. Also, by doing it this way it is based on grace, God’s free gift of love, and it is not earned. So by grace we all have access to all that God has for us!

b. His faith did not weaken- In verse 19 we then read, “He did not

weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.”/ Abraham understood that he was old and past the age of what would be reasonable to have a child. And Sarah’s womb had been barren all these years and her being 90 years old at this time. But even in the midst of this, Abraham believed in God being able to give them a child; an heir. He believed that he would be the father of many nations.

This is where Abraham’s faith is most seen. Abraham understood that God had made a promise to him, and that promise was twofold. The first part of it was that he and Sarah would have a son; an heir. The second part was that that son would lead to many descendants, as numerous as the stars. Even though there were times when Abraham doubted God by his actions, in his heart he stilled hoped and believed.

This is good news for us. Faith is not just the initial understanding of who God is/ and that Jesus Christ is our savior. Faith is not just believing that Jesus died for our sins and by believing in who He is and what He did for us on the cross, we can be saved. Faith is living our lives like we believe in God and God’s promises, even though what we see in front of us defies what God has told us He would do.

It is this kind of ongoing faith that connects us to the roots of Abraham’s faith and makes us a part of this wonderful spiritual family. So I ask you: “Where do you need to believe that God will work in your life? How do you need to change the way you live to show your faith in God? Where in our church do we need to believe that God will do what He says?” To have faith in God’s promise, we have to believe beyond what we can see, or reason, or understand.

III. A Family For Us Also- (Romans 4:22-25)

a. The Paper Boy’s Disobedience- Illus. “The Paper Boy’s Disobedience,”

…The Tardy Oxcart, Swindoll, p. 165. There is a story of a paper boy who at the end of his route, after having thrown about 200 papers, he was coming home on his bike, feeling very tired. Instead of riding around this big yard at the corner, he decided to cut across. He thought it would be a quick, easy shortcut. The first time he did it he said he felt a little bit of guilt, riding over the nice, plush grass. The next afternoon, it was late, and he was again tired from his route, and so he cut across the grass a second time. Not as much guilt the second time. Something inside him told him he shouldn’t be doing this, but he rationalized it, and then didn’t feel so bad. This became a daily habit, and after two weeks his tires had begun to wear a narrow path across the yard. By then, he knew in his heart that he really should be going around the corner, but he continued to shove the guilty feelings aside.

By the end of the third week, a small but very obvious sign appeared near the sidewalk, blocking the path. The sign read: “Keep Off the Grass—No Bikes.” Everything but his name was on the sign. Yet, he ignored the sign, going right around it and across the yard. Because of the sign though, the guilty feelings came back. Why? The sign had identified his sin; the sin which he had pushed aside, and yet, the sign still didn’t stop him from committing the wrong!

Righteous living is about living rightly. As we talked about last week, our conscience is there to help us understand what is right, and what is wrong. The law is there to help us understand what is right and what is wrong. When we push these guilty feelings aside, when we start ignoring the “signs” of the law speaking to us, then we are heading down a road of unrighteous living.

b. Reckoned to us- When we think about being a part of Abraham’s

family, we might hear these words describing Abraham, “Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness,’” and think that there is no way we could belong to this family. If we really admit it, we all have areas in our lives where we are outright disobedient. So how could we be a part of this family of the righteous?

Well, if you think this way, then you don’t know who Abraham is. Abraham is one who was disobedient to God many times, and in many ways. He allowed his wife, Sarah, to be taken from him to be married to the king for fear of his life. He slept with and had a son by his wife’s slave Hagar. And on and on the list of sins go. And yet Abraham is considered righteous! How could this be? The scriptures tell us that Abraham is considered righteous because of his faith, not his works.

Verse 23 gives us some great encouragement. “Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him,’ were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also…” Which means that righteousness it reckoned to us also. How? Verse 24 tells us: “…It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”/ By our faith we are made righteous! By our faith we receive the promise of God to be a part of the righteous family of Abraham. The promise is received by faith, not by works and not by the law.

Conclusion: Now I am not trying to say to you to sin all you want and think that you can still be considered righteous. Again, as I said last week, when you sin, the guilt you feel is good thing. That guilt should lead you to God to ask for forgiveness for your sins. And just like guilt, the law should do this for us as well, as the apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 3:24- “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” When we don’t live up to the law, we understand that the law can’t save us, but it should bring us to God so that we might find a way in Christ to be justified before God.

Ex. It’s like this. Let’s say you are working, and in your working you get all

hot and sweaty and dusty. Now you could brush off your clothes with your

hands, and wipe away the sweat with your hands; but you would not be clean. OR,

you could read a dictionary to understand the purpose of sweat; but still you

will not be clean. You have to go to take a shower and let the water and soap

wash away the dirt and clean you!

As we go through this season of Lent, I want us to understand that we have a savior, Jesus Christ, who supercedes the law, and can overcome our sin. We have a savior who leads us into the family of faith. May our faith be more than an initial statement of understanding who Jesus is and what Jesus had done for us. May our faith be something that shows itself in the way we live, and the way we believe, even when the result of our belief cannot be seen. Let us commit ourselves to God through this kind of depth of faith, and receive the promise of God that we are a part of His family, now and forever. Amen.