March 15, 2014

Just What Did Abraham Discover?

2nd Sunday in Lent, 3/16/14
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17


Just What Did Abraham Discover?
I. God’s law brings wrath.
II. Faith in Jesus brings righteousness.


What would you consider to be included in the world’s greatest discoveries? I would imagine electricity is among them. Can you imagine your world without electricity? No matter which modern gadget you last held in your hand—most likely a cell phone—it wouldn’t be possible without electricity.

With this being the Dayton area, surely you consider manned flight in a heavier-than-air vehicle another one of the world’s greatest discoveries. Imagine what our world would be like if we were limited to travel on land and sea. Are we even aware how much of our lives is dependent on the operation of satellites? And it’s because two brothers named Wright refused to give up on their dream to fly.

Here’s another one: the discovery of penicillin. Imagine a world without antibiotics. Scary, isn’t it? Our life-expectancy might be half of what it is today if we weren’t able to see a doctor, receive a prescription and begin treating the infection.

I spent the first 20 years of my life without touching a computer. Now I can hardly go 20 minutes. What a discovery! It makes me wonder what the next similar discovery will be.

In today’s sermon text, the Apostle Paul speaks about another discovery. But you probably won’t find it among the lists of the world’s great discoveries such as just mentioned. I wouldn’t expect our world to recognize it as such. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. In fact, I can’t think of anything more important than what Abraham discovered.

But that makes us wonder just what we’re talking about. Just what did Abraham discover? That’s a good question—good enough for us to keep in front of us for a brief time this morning as we focus on this portion of our God’s word. Just what did Abraham discover? May the Holy Spirit bless our efforts to answer that question on the basis of his word.

Part I.

Did you listen to rock music in the late 1960s and early 1970s? More than half of you are probably rolling your eyes or smirking. You weren’t even born yet. But if you did listen to rock music at that time, you’re probably familiar with hit song “Signs” from the Five Man Electrical Band. Some of you are smiling and nodding. Remember it? Among other things, the song bemoans a society that is oppressively regulated. Everywhere you look, there are signs telling you what you can and can’t do.

But can you imagine a society which is not regulated? In which there are no rules to follow, no laws that require obedience? It sounds good at first, until someone violates your space or your property. But since there are no laws, there’s no infraction. That’s precisely what Paul meant when he wrote, “And where there is no law there is no transgression.”

So, why am I telling you this? What does it have to do with Abraham? Recall the Jewish impression of Abraham. Without a doubt, he was and is the most important person in Jewish history. The prevailing opinion about Abraham, especially during the time Jesus was here on earth, was that Abraham was enjoying the glory of heaven because of who he was and what he did. In Jewish opinion, the account of Abraham obeying the Lord’s directive to sacrifice his son Isaac is the pinnacle of biblical events. There isn’t even a close second. Look at the way he obeyed! Of course he’s in heaven. He earned it!

But that’s not what Abraham discovered. God never told Abraham anything even remotely close to that. God never informed Abraham that he would be the father of many nations because he was such a stellar person. He never told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky because he had done such a good job of obeying God’s commandments. God never assured him, “I’ve got a special place in heaven for you, Abe my boy, because you’re as good as they get.” As Paul wrote, “If Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about.” But that’s not what Abraham discovered.

So, just what did Abraham discover? It’s right here. “It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise. The law brings wrath.” There you have it. God’s law brings wrath, it doesn’t bring blessings, especially not the great blessings that God intended for Abraham. As we noted before, only where there are no laws do you have no transgressions. The minute laws are imposed, you get transgressions, you have law-breakers. Sin and sinners. Condemnation and punishment.

Just what did Abraham discover? Just this: God’s law brings wrath.

I assume you know that. Maybe you wouldn’t say it just like that, but you know that God doesn’t welcome you into heaven because you’ve done such a good job of obeying his commandments. We know that. But if we didn’t need the reminder, God wouldn’t have caused Paul to write these words and he wouldn’t have preserved them for us to ponder this morning. We forget that the law brings wrath. It happens when we look at our lives and we conclude we have a rough lot in life and we wonder why. We wonder why because we’re the ones in worship. We’re the ones trying our best to bring our children up in a Christian home. We’re the ones who are honest at our places of employment and considerate of others. We’re not the ones doing the things we hear and read about in the news every day. So why aren’t our lives easier? Why don’t more blessings come our way? We’re not asking for much; just a little consideration of what we’ve done. The law brings wrath. The law brings wrath. This is not a “I did what you said, now you owe me” situation. If we’re going to try to stand on our record before God, we’re going to fall. Guaranteed. That’s what Abraham discovered.


Part II.

I mentioned earlier that Abraham ranks No. 1 among the Jews. Christians, too, consider him to be a great figure.

What is it that causes us to consider people to be great? Isn’t it almost exclusively what they do that makes them great? Think about it. Whether you’re talking about a great musician or actor or athlete or business executive, they’re great because of what they can do. Even brilliant people are considered to be great because of what they can do with their minds.

And we might think that same way about Abraham. God tells him to leave his homeland and move to a place he will show him and Abraham goes even though he doesn’t know where he’ll end up. Abraham’s nephew Lot and the people of the cities near which Lot lives are captured by a group of enemy kings. So Abraham musters 300 of his servants, pursues the kings, and attacks. He rescued all the people and their possessions. And then there was the event I referenced earlier. God directs Abraham to take his only son and sacrifice him. And he would have if God hadn’t stopped him at the last second. What a great man! I don’t think I could have done any of those things. How about you?

But those accomplishments are not what made Abraham great. Well, then what did? What made him great?

“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” God had promised to give him descendants as numerous as the stars and to bless all people through Abraham. Those two promises are closely tied together. God would make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation of people and he one of his descendants would be the Savior of all people. That’s how all people would be blessed through Abraham.

The only problem? Abraham and his wife Sarah were childless. But since God promised it, Abraham believed it. He believed that one of his offspring would be the Savior of the world.

That’s what made Abraham great. It was his faith. When God promised it, Abraham believed it. He believed in the Savior who would come. We believe in the Savior who has come. That’s why Paul calls him “the father of us all. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” Isaac was a miracle child in the literal sense of the term. In a much greater way, so was Abraham’s greatest descendant, Jesus Christ.

Abraham was great because he had a great faith. But don’t think that was to Abraham’s credit. That was all God’s doing. God the Holy Spirit worked a great faith in Abraham, a faith that believed in the coming Savior. A faith in Jesus.

And on the basis of that faith Abraham was justified. It works the same way with us. Paul writes, “Now to the man who does not work but trusts God to justify the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” That’s you. That’s me. By God’s grace we trust in Jesus for our forgiveness. We trust in Jesus to make us right with God.

Just what did Abraham discover? The same thing we have. Faith in Jesus brings righteousness. That’s what every sinner desperately needs—the righteousness of Jesus.

Remember that the next time the gloom of sin and guilt creep into your life. You have the righteousness that Jesus won for you. Remember that the next time you’re wondering if you measure up to anyone, let alone God. He thinks so much of you that he has given you the holiness of Jesus. Remember that the next time you’re wondering what your purpose or your goal in life is. You have already attained the righteousness of Jesus. It’s all yours by faith. That’s what Abraham discovered. That’s what we know because our gracious God reveals it to us. Amen.