Resurrection Faith — Sermon by Ralph Roberts

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, come and speak to us this

morning. Open our ears and our hearts to

you. Give us soft hearts to receive your

word. And by your spirit, would you

apply this word to our hearts and to our

lives? Grow our faith in you and our

worship of you this morning. Amen.

>> Amen.

>> Please be seated.

When I started seminary a number of

years ago and I was studying the Bible

in an academic context for the first

time, I got really excited about all the

technical details and esoteric arguments

that I was learning about. digging into

the Greek and Hebrew, reading

commentators from across church history,

learning how the interpretation of

difficult passages had been debated. I

love learning, so studying the Bible in

this way was so much fun for me. But I

would later realize that there was an

immaturity in my approach to scripture.

The Bible had started to become for me

like a puzzle to figure out, and I took

pride in getting the right answers.

I remember times when I would share an

obscure detail about a passage with my

wife or with other friends who weren't

in seminary and they would respond with

some version of, "So what? What does

that actually mean for my life?" This is

why it's so important for anyone in

seminary to have friends outside of the

seminary bubble to keep you grounded.

But I didn't know how to answer that so

what question. I knew that the Bible is

God's word and so learning more about

the Bible was valuable, but I didn't

know how to bridge the gap between real

life down here and these academic

conversations that felt like they were

floating up in the clouds a little bit.

In the years after that, I slowly

realized an immaturity in my approach to

scripture. The Bible isn't fundamentally

a puzzle to figure out. It's the

revelation of God. And if that's the

case, then studying the Bible and

getting to know God better should fuel

our worship. Worship is what was missing

from my approach to scripture. I still

love digging in to the serious study of

scripture, but I've learned that all of

my studying should lead me to worship

God more fully with heart, soul, mind,

and strength. Amen.

>> So this morning as we look at our text

from the book of Romans, the book of the

Bible that some have called the densest

theological text in scripture, I hope

that what we learn draws us into deeper

worship of the God who gives life to the

dead.

Our reading today from Romans chapter 4

Romans 4 · chapter mention

comes from one of my favorite chapters

of the Bible because I think it so

deeply resounds with the gospel of God's

grace. So turn in your Bibles with me to

Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

Now up to this point, Paul has spent the

first few chapters of Romans explaining

the problem that humanity faces. We're

alienated from God due to our sin. We've

exchanged the truth about God for a lie,

and we've worshiped and served created

things rather than the creator.

Paul then explains that both Jews and

Gentiles are in this same position of

alienation from God due to sin. The Jews

were given the law to guide them in the

way that they should live in submission

to God. But they've been unable to keep

the law and attain perfect righteousness

before God. Instead, the law now points

out to them all the ways they are

falling short. Then in chapter 3, Paul

explains how God has acted to bring

humanity back to himself. He says, "But

now the righteousness of God has been

manifested apart from the law, although

the law and prophets bear witness to it,

the righteousness of God through faith

in Jesus Christ for all who believe."

Paul then turns in chapter 4 to talk

about Abraham. And his goal is to show

that yes, God did do a new thing in

Christ, but this new covenant is in

continuity with what came before. And

the old covenant was always pointing

forward to what God would do in Christ.

And we'll see through this that Paul is

using the faith of Abraham as a model

for our own faith. So, we need a little

backstory on Abraham to understand what

Paul is doing in this chapter. Abraham's

story begins in Genesis 12 when God

tells him to leave his home and move

into a new land and God promises to make

him into a great nation. Uh Abraham, who

at this point is called Abram, God will

later rename him Abraham. Uh but Abram

is already 75 years old at this point.

He has no children. So I'm not sure what

he was thinking uh in terms of how God

would fulfill this promise to make him

into a great nation. But he doesn't

object to it. He doesn't ask any

questions. He listens to God and he

goes.

A few chapters later when we get to

Genesis chapter 15, Abram is about 85

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

years old at this point. So about 10

years have passed. And God repeats his

promise. But this time Abram has some

questions.

He still has no child and someone else

from his household will be his heir. But

God promises Abram that he will have a

son and that his descendants will be as

numerous as the stars.

We're then told that Abram believed the

Lord and it was counted to him as

righteousness.

And this is the point that Paul picks up

on in Romans chapter 4. The covenant of

Romans 4 · chapter mention

circumcision or the physical marking out

of the people of God doesn't come until

Genesis chapter 17, which is about

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

another 15 years later after chapter 15.

But when Abram believes God's promise of

a son in Genesis 15, it was counted to

him as righteousness.

In other words, it wasn't the physical

acts of circumcision or following the

law that made Abram right with God. It

was believing God's promise.

This is what Paul says in Romans 4:13.

Romans 4:13

The promise to Abraham didn't come

through the law because the promise was

given before the law. The full Mosaic

law didn't come until much later. And

the covenant of circumcision didn't come

until about 15 years later. Abraham was

considered righteous in God's sight

because of his faith in God's promise.

Paul then continues in verse 14, "For if

it is the adherence of the law who are

to be the heirs, faith is null and the

promise is void."

One of the issues Paul is working out in

the book of Romans is what it means for

the church to be made up of both Jews

and Gentiles.

Do Gentiles need to become Jewish and

adopt the Jewish law in order to be made

right with God? This is a live question

for Paul's audience. And throughout the

book of Romans, he's working out what it

means for this new covenant people to be

made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

He tells us this in Romans 1:1 16, which

Romans 1:1

we could call the thesis statement of

the book. He says, "For I am not ashamed

of the gospel, for it is the power of

God for salvation to everyone who

believes, to the Jew first and also to

the Greek.

So Paul is working out this relationship

between Jews and Gentiles. And one of

the questions is, do gentile Christians

need to adopt the practices of the law

after coming to faith in Christ?

Now with our 21st century lenses, some

of us might look at this question and

think this is kind of a silly question

with an obvious answer. But consider the

place of the law in Israel.

God gave the law to set his people apart

from other nations. And for centuries,

the distinct practices of the law

proclaimed to the world who the people

of God were.

You can understand why there might be

Jewish Christians in the church who

would say things like, "That's great

that you have come to believe in our

Messiah, Jesus. Now, let me show you

what's required to be part of his

people."

But Paul counters this line of thinking

by pointing out that Abraham was made

right with God before the law was given.

If we say that those who follow the law

are the heirs of Abraham, then there's

no place for faith in God's promise.

It's not faith plus following the law

that makes a person right with God.

Abraham was considered righteous because

he believed God's promise.

Paul continues in verse 15, "For the law

brings wrath."

The law explains the just punishment for

sin. Remember that the law was supposed

to point the way for Israel to live, the

way God wanted them to live in

submission to him. So, the law explains

that our rebellion against God earns us

God's wrath.

Paul says that the law brings wrath

because the law shows us God's complete

opposition to evil.

But he says, "Where there is no law,

there is no transgression."

The penalty for sin is removed for those

who are in Christ. We don't depend on

the law for our right standing with God.

We depend on faith in Christ. And

because we aren't depending on following

the law for our right standing with God,

the penalty for transgression

transgressing the law that would

separate us from God has been removed

for those of us in Christ.

Paul goes on in verse 16, "That is why

it depends on faith in order that the

promise may rest on grace and be

guaranteed to all his offspring, not

only to the adherent of the law, but

also to the one who shares the faith of

Abraham, who is the father of us all.

We're made right with God by faith,

which is entirely an act of God's grace.

We don't achieve our standing with God

by following the law. But Paul explains

that the way we become offspring of

Abraham is by sharing the faith of

Abraham. Like Abraham, we're counted

righteous when we hear God's promise and

believe him.

Then Paul explains the God in whom

Abraham believed, the one who gives life

to the dead and calls into existence the

things that do not exist.

Abraham believes in the God of

resurrection.

That's why he believes God will provide

him a child. Paul later says in verse

19, "He did not weaken in faith when he

considered his own body, which was as

good as dead since he was about a

hundred years old, or when he considered

the barrenness of Sarah's womb."

Abraham sees death in his own body and

in the body of his wife Sarah. But he

knows God can give life to the dead.

He sees what's in front of him and he

knows there's no way it would be humanly

possible for him to have a child, but he

also hears God's promise and believes

it.

Abraham isn't weighing the evidence in

front of him and saying something like,

"Okay, you're right, God. As long as we

do X, Y, and Z, we'll be able to have a

child. It'll all work out."

The only way that God's promise to

Abraham makes sense is if he's the God

of resurrection.

And this faith in the God who raises the

dead continued even after his son Isaac

was born. You might remember in Genesis

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22, God instructs Abraham to go

up on a mountain and sacrifice his son

Isaac. and Abraham is about to go

through with it when God stops him and

provides a ram for the sacrifice

instead.

We might wonder how Abraham could

possibly sacrifice his son, especially

the one who had been miraculously

provided to him. But we read in Hebrews

11 that Abraham was able to offer up

Isaac because he believed God would

raise Isaac from the dead.

Abraham's faith is in the resurrecting

God. And just as God brought forth a son

from Abraham's dead body and Sarah's

dead womb, Christ, the promised seed of

Abraham, was raised from the dead to

bring blessing to all nations.

The promised son was put to death, but

then was raised from the dead as he

turned the tomb of his death into the

womb of new life. We believe in the

resurrecting God.

Christ's resurrection is his triumph

over death. The church father Athanasius

put it this way. Death has become like a

tyrant who has been completely conquered

by the legitimate monarch. Bound hand

and foot, the passers by sneer at him,

hitting him and abusing him, no longer

afraid of his cruelty and rage because

of the king who has conquered him. So

has death been conquered and branded for

what it is by the Savior on the cross.

It is bound hand and foot. All who are

in Christ trample it as they pass and as

witnesses to him deride it, scoffing and

saying, "Oh death, where is thy victory?

Oh grave, where is thy sting?"

We believe in the resurrecting God who

has defeated death. And at the last day,

we will be raised with Christ to eternal

life.

But our faith isn't just in the

resurrection of Christ in the first

century. It's also in the resurrection

power of God in the deadness of our own

present life.

As we await Christ's return, we see the

power of death at work every day. Look

around at our world and you will see

death snuffing out truth, goodness, and

beauty.

Like Abraham, we face situations where

there's absolutely no way in our power

that we can overcome the power of death.

If you feel like you're facing the power

of death and you wonder if God has

abandoned you, know that you're in the

company of our Lord who faced death for

our sake and cried out from the cross,

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken

me?"

Sometimes the power of death is

overwhelming.

But Paul says of Abraham, "In hope, he

believed against hope that he should

become the father of many nations."

Abraham saw death at work in his and

Sarah's bodies. And he knew that he

couldn't have an heir to one day be the

father of many nations.

But in the face of death, Abraham

believed God's promise.

Abraham had no earthly reason for hope,

but he had faith in the resurrecting

God.

This is why reason apart from the word

of God chokes out faith. When we deploy

reason apart from the word of God, all

the evidence will tell us that we

shouldn't believe in resurrection

because resurrection isn't reasonable.

Resurrection is God breaking into our

world and defeating death.

We need to continually hear God's word

to counter all the reasons that the

world gives us to not believe in

resurrection.

When I was in my early 20s, I had a

pastor who suffered from a a chronic

migraine. And he described it as

basically one long migraine that at that

point had gone on for about 10 years.

Some days it got better, some days it

got worse, but it never fully went away.

And he tried everything, traditional

medicine, alternative medicines, dietary

stuff, but nothing made any significant

changes for him. And something that

amazed me about this man was that he

would still pray for healing and ask

others to pray for his healing. I think

I would have lost faith in praying for

healing after a couple years of that.

But like Abraham in hope he believed

against hope.

And I know there are some of you in this

congregation who I look up to as people

like that of great faith.

But I imagine there are also some of you

who are more like me who wonder how to

persevere in faith in the resurrecting

God when what you see in front of you is

the power of death.

The answer ultimately doesn't depend on

you.

Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus is the

author and perfector of our faith.

Faith isn't something you need to muster

up in yourself. It's something that God

grows in you as you throw yourself onto

his mercy.

We see this also illustrated in John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6. John 6 is this really

interesting chapter with strong

eukaristic overtones. Jesus begins by

feeding the 5000 at the beginning of the

chapter and then he goes on to tell the

crowd following them him that he is the

bread of life. He explains, "I am the

living bread that came down from heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he will

live forever. And the bread that I will

give him for the life of the world is my

flesh." And when the crowd questions

what it means to eat Jesus's flesh, he

responds to them, "Truly, truly, I say

to you, unless you eat the flesh of the

Son of Man and drink his blood, you will

have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my

flesh and drinks my blood has eternal

life, and I will raise him up on the

last day. For my flesh is true food, and

my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on

my flesh and drinks my blood abides in

me and I in him.

In the sacrament of the eukarist, we

feed on the body and blood of Christ as

a way of abiding in him and receiving

his life. We feed on Christ. so that we

can be united with him.

But then in the middle of this

eukaristic discourse, Jesus tells the

crowd, "No one can come to me unless the

father who sent me draws him."

We know what this means when it comes to

our salvation. Salvation is a work of

God's grace, drawing us to himself, not

a work of human effort.

But in the context of John 6, we should

also apply this statement to the

sacraments and to our ongoing life of

faith.

Our participation in the eukarist is

grounded in God's initiative, not in

what we bring to the table. We receive

grace when we come to the table

depending on him. And that's one of the

ways we grow our faith in the God of

resurrection.

As we faithfully come to the table every

week depending on God's mercy, God will

grow our faith in him.

Our world desperately needs a God who

gives life to the dead and calls into

existence the things that do not exist.

I know some of you, like me, feel that

very acutely in your personal life right

now. But if that's not you, just look at

the world around us and see the power of

death at work.

Our world celebrates death in the forms

of things like abortion and assisted

suicide. We have people working at AI

companies who think that humanity will

go extinct because they're creating some

new species that will be our successor.

Or just think of all the people around

us and in our midst who for one reason

or another are living without hope.

That is the power of death at work in

our world.

Our world desperately needs

resurrection.

The world needs us to be a people full

of faith in the resurrecting God. to be

a people who go into dark places and

proclaim life.

Later this morning, as we come to the

Lord's table, let's pray that God grows

our faith in him and his promise of

resurrection so we can become that

people full of faith in the resurrecting

God.

This week I've been listening to the

classic hymn, It Is Well with my soul.

And I've been thinking a lot about the

line in the last verse, "Oh Lord, haste

the day when my faith shall be sight."

One day our faith in the resurrection

won't just be something we hope for, but

something that we see.

One day we will no longer see death but

only life.

One day as we pray in our communion

liturgy, we will see our Lord face to

face.

And from that day forward, we will spend

eternity with the resurrecting God, who

will bring forth from our broken world a

new creation that is more beautiful and

glorious than we could ever imagine.

That is the God of Abraham in whom we

believe.

The God who gives life to the dead.

In the name of the Father and the Son

and the Holy Spirit. Amen.