Someone has asked:
What did Paul meant in Romans 4:17 "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." This refers to the following point of your Dial Daily Bread on Ten Great Truths No. 10: "(d) The Lord can do something that we can't do--He 'calleth those things which be not as though they were' (Romans 4:17)."
Note: God did not say that "I WILL make you to be the father of many nations."
He said: "I have made thee a father of many nations" (present PERFECT tense), when as yet Abraham did not have even baby number one! The magnificent much more abounding grace of the Lord Jesus!
The wonderful future that the Lord has predicted He considers is already past or is present truth already. To the Lord, the past, present, and future are all one: the here and now.
The lesson we must learn is to believe as Abraham believed--when he and Sarah could have no child (she was unable to become pregnant), Abraham believed the Lord that He had already made him to become not merely a father of babies but of "many nations."
Great faith!
This is the kind of faith that the 144,000 in Revelation 14:1-5 have; we must remember that the 144,000 have a sinful nature just like all humans have had all through history; but they have CHOSEN to "follow the Lamb [the crucified Jesus] whithersoever He goes."
And what stirs our souls is to realize that NOW is the time for those 144,000 to make themselves manifest; and you and I are invited to join them!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
