Gen.15:5,6 – And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness.
These verses becomes a very important part of Paul’s revelation that was the critical build block in Paul’s theological masterpiece called Romans. Paul’s preaching of being declared righteous by faith was was the centerpiece of the Christian faith that birthed the church in the first century. Fast forward 1500 years to the time of Martin Luther and Luther was also transformed by Paul’s message of justification by faith that comes from this passage in Genesis. The power of this verse is that it brings us to a place of absolute total dependency on the Lord. For Abraham he was in a place where there was not a chance for him to realize the promise of nations coming from him. In his impossible circumstance Abraham believed God. Here is how Henry describes this passage.
“He believed in the LORD, that is, he believed the truth of the promise which God had just made to him, depending on the irresistible power and the absolute faithfulness of him that made it. Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Those who want to know the comfort of the promises must combine faith with the promises. See how the apostle magnifies this faith of Abram, and makes it an outstanding example. He was not weak in faith; he staggered not at the promise; he was strong in faith; he was fully persuaded. May the LORD work such a faith in every one of us! Some think that his believing in the LORD was, not only in the LORD who was promising, but also in the LORD who was promised, the LORD Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant. He believed in him, that is, received and accepted wholeheartedly the divine revelation concerning him, and rejoiced to see his day, though at so great a distance.”
All of us find ourselves in impossible situations in our volatile world. Looking to Abraham we see the way into the blessing of God. Abraham believed God, Abraham believed what God had promised. This is how we initially are born again, we believe God’s promise of salvation through the name of Jesus and we are declared righteous. In every arena of life; salvation for our family, healing for our body, and provision in our time of need we can find His supernatural work through faith in the promise of God.
