Browse Bible Study Resources

Meditation

Go to  

CONTRARY TO HOPE, IN HOPE BELIEVED

Text: Romans 4
9 March 2025

ANOTHER CLASSIC TEXT OF FAITH

We read another classic text about the nature of faith. Abraham was held out as a great example of faith in God. 

16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 

17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 

18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”     Romans 4:16-18

  1. The faith of Abraham 

a) This was cited by the Apostle Paul     Romans 4:16

b) His role in the history of Israel is truly significant

c) He is cited as “the father of us all”

  1. God gave Abraham a promise

a) God would make him “a father of many nations”

b) This would call for a great faith to believe in God’s promise

  1. Things that were contrary to Abraham

a) He was an old man when God gave this to him

b) He did not even have a child from his marriage to Sarah

  1. In Hope believed

a) Abraham had faith in God

b) Because of this faith, Hope was created in him

c) In this Hope, Abraham held fast to God in faith

d) God blessed and rewarded him for his steadfast faith

OUR CHALLENGE

  1. Let us examine our faith in God

a) Does our faith in God create Hope in us?

b) Can we hold fast to our Hope in God through faith?

  1. Let us seek to cultivate our faith in God

a) We have nothing to lose

b) We have everything to gain