NEW THINGS OUT OF NOTHING

“God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” — Romans 4:17 

The Bible calls Abraham “the father of our faith.” In this verse, Romans 4:17, we look to Abraham as our example of faith.  Notice the two things God does here: 1) He calls the dead back to life (resurrection power), and 2) He causes things that did not previously exist to come into being in this natural realm, or as the New Living Translation says, He “creates new things out of nothing.”

Concerning Romans 4:17, Matthew Poole says, “Abraham believed in him as omnipotent. His omnipotency is described by two great effects of it. The one in making that to have a being again, which had ceased to be, as in the resurrection. The other, in causing that to be which never was; or to make all things of nothing, as in the creation: he expresseth this by calling things, to intimate the great facility of this work to God: he only spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and all was created. And as Abraham thus generally believed the power of God, so it is likely he made a particular application of it to his own state at present; as he believed that God could raise the dead, so, that he could raise him seed out of his own dead body, and Sarah’s dead womb. And as he believed that God could create things out of nothing, so, that he could give him seed that had none.”

For Abraham, this wasn’t some theory.  It was very practical.   Abraham was holding onto a promise from God, and the promise was that he would be the father of many nations. But there was a real problem… actually, two problems: His wife was barren, and he was a hundred years old.  The couple were not exactly the most likely candidates to have a child.  So in other words, the way their life was working out seemed to contradict everything God had said.   In the end, they received the promise and saw the goodness of God.  

We are called to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).  All of us live by faith everyday.  We simply have to decide if we are going to live by faith in the natural world or faith in a supernatural God.  In other words, we have to ask ourselves the question, “Am I going to put my faith what I see, or am I going to put my faith in what God says?”

God is faithful.  You can trust Him. No matter what you’re facing in the natural realm, He is able to create something you’re lacking or restore something you lost.  He gives life to the dead and gives into our hands good gifts that were previously only seen through the eyes of our faith.