Power Against all Hope

Power 

Against all Hope

Hope is powerful because when hope is gone death is inevitable

Our hope, our faith is the only thing that God credits righteousness for

When we gain “right standing” with God

We receive “justification” through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

There is no lasting power in wishful thinking

Only hope in what God has promised

Because God has the power to fulfill His promises

Against all Hope

If we were to list in importance the stories

in the Bible, the story of Abraham is

probably only second to the story of Jesus.

Abraham’s life is full of powerful lessons for us.

Abraham was a real man.

A man without the scriptures, without

the church and its weekly meetings.

A man trying to find his way in life.

A man who believed in God and his faith

was used throughout the scriptures to teach us.

The words of Romans 4:18 have become very popular…

“Against all hope”

Many books and movies have the

message of “Against all Hope”.

Hope is powerful because when

 hope is gone death is inevitable.

Abraham’s hope was not wishful thinking.

Abraham’s hope had an anchor.

 

His hope was attached to something that

kept him from despair and shipwreck.

Abraham’s hope was in a

promise that God had made to him.

God promised Abraham He would

make him a “father of many nations”.

His offspring would be

as the stars of the heavens.

       

At about 100 years of age…

 “Without weakening in his faith,

he faced the fact that his body was as

good as dead he is still waiting in hope.”

Romans 4:20 says…

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,

but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God

Many “Against all Hope” stories are about human

endurance and that is true about Abraham.

What gave Abraham the ability to

endure was not his power, but God’s…

Being fully persuaded that God had

power to do what He had promised.

Romans 4:21

Abraham got more than a son,

more than many nations.

Abraham’s steadfast hope in God’s

power got him accredited by God…

 "It was credited to him as righteousness."

Abraham never let go of the anchor rope.

Like a ship at sea, the waves may

toss it; they may even cause it to drift.

But the ship will not get any farther away

from the anchor than the rope tied to it.

No anchor can hold a ship straight above it.

The rope not only has to be strong, but 7 times the

depth of the water, and in foul weather, 10 times the depth.

What does that mean…

 Abraham like you and I get tested by storms.

We may drift around the anchor, but hope never lets go.

We know Abraham tried to fulfill the

promise himself taking Hagar as his

wife in order to fulfill the promise.

He drifted, but did not let go of the anchor rope.

 

When you and I are…

 “Fully persuaded that God had power

to do what he had promised”

We, too, will get more than the promise.

   

The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 4:23-25

Righteousness

Our hope, our faith is the only thing

that God credits righteousness for.

When we gain right standing with God

 we receive “justification” through

the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There is no lasting power in wishful thinking.

Only hope in what God has promised.

Because God has the power to fulfill His promises.

Scripture Reading

Romans 4:18-5:1 NIV

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."   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. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.