---Genesis
15 relates the important episode in Abraham´s
life when he was declared righteous. The word that God
gave Abraham was relative to his descendance, which
was to be countless like the stars in the heavens.
---To
begin with, Abraham did not have children, and his wife
was sterile; humanly speaking, there was no possible
way for this promise to be fulfilled. And here dwells
the glory of Abraham´s faith. It was a faith placed
entirely in God, empty of any human element. It was
an absolute faith in God.
---Then
after faith came righteousness. Righteousness comes
from believing God, making God truthful. It does not
consist in believing in God but believing God. Righteousness
is revealed right after we believe God; nevertheless,
the fulfillment of the promise does not come right after,
but in the time determined by God. When Abraham believed
God, he did not receive the time of the promise.
---Naturally,
the complete promise was not to be fulfilled in Abraham´s
lifetime, since if refers to a multitude of people,
but al least the son of the promise, he needed to see
with his own eyes.
---It
took Isaac 15 years to arrive, and he came when Abraham
was without strength –"almost dead",
says Hebrews; "like dead", says Romans–.
Not only was it difficult for Issac to be born when
God made him the promise, but it was even more difficult
for him to be born at the time when he was born. Aside
from everthing, Issac arrived.
---Here
we have a precious beginning. All believers are called,
not only to be justified by faith, but to receive the
fulfillment of a promise. To receive it, believers must
wait until their strength is gone and their hopes are
dead. Many righteous in the faith are still waiting
for God´s promise to be fulfilled and to be fathers
of many; meanwhile, others have already received it,
and others are beginning to receive.
---We
know, of course, that the inheritence is Christ, but
we want to emphasize what comes with Christ. In Christ
there are to be children that are to be born of the
Spirit. There is a work that must be done by God. The
children of God should grow to be fathers and have their
own children. Paul tells the Corinthians: "For
though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ,
yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I
have begotten you through the gospel" (1st
Corinthians 4:15). And to the Galatians: "My
little children, of whom I travail in birth pains"
(4:19).
---Before
receiving what was promised, Abraham lived a period
of infertility and tests after being justified. The
same applies to Christians. There might be many righteous,
but maybe not all are fathers. Not all have done God´s
works. God´s will is that by faith and patience,
we all reach what was promised.
---John,
in his first epistile, distinguishes the children, the
youth, and the fathers. The fathers are those who have
known him that is from the beginning. They are mature,
since they have passed through trials, through the failures
of Egypt, and through giving birth to children in the
flesh. They know God´s fidelity, and know that
if there are fruits today, it is through God´s
grace.
(Translation:
Betsy Calvo, USA).
