Genesis 17:5 (NKJV) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
Abraham had a calling to be the father of many nations, but he and Sarah didn’t even have a son yet. Sarah was beyond childbearing age and Abraham was really old, so in the natural, it was impossible for it to happen, and how foolish it would sound to their neighbours and friends when they knew the meaning of “Abraham” while he was still childless. However, that is how God works because He calls it by faith that Gideon is a mighty man of valour and Abraham is the father of many nations. God will be the one who will bring to pass whatever He has called them to do. Likewise, God is addressing you and I very differently despite the fact that we are not perfect.
Ephesians 1:3-6 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
This is the positional truth that belongs to us even though we are not perfect and still subject to the work of the flesh. You might not feel like it, but this is how God looks at you and addresses you now. God has chosen to call us children of God, accepted in the Beloved by God and seen as holy and blameless before Him. We have the imputed righteousness of Christ the moment we chose to accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. Jesus is the lifter of our heads, and He has taken us out of the miry clay and set us on the Rock! He believes in His creation, especially when we are a new creation in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in righteousness and holiness. He has given us everything including a measure of faith (Romans 12:3), and we are able to grow our faith by listening to the Word, acknowledging all the good things that belong to us In Christ and rest in His perfect love for us!
In fact, we should be able to do more exploits and overcome more challenges because of these new redemption realities that have been made available to us, and that Jesus is interceding for us right now at the right hand of the Father.
Sermon Series: You Are in the Hall of Faith! (Part 1)
上帝的呼召不凭当下
创世纪 17:5 从此以后，你的名不再叫亚伯兰，要叫亚伯拉罕，因为我已立你作多国的父。
亚伯拉罕蒙召要成为多国之父，可当时他与妻子撒拉根本还没有儿子。撒拉已过了生育的岁数，亚伯拉罕也已非常老迈，所以在自然条件下，这是不可能发生的；当他们周遭的人和朋友知道 “亚伯拉罕”这名字的意思， 而亚伯拉罕却仍然膝下无子，对那些人而言这听起来是多么的荒谬。然而，神 的作为就是如此，祂凭着信 称基甸为大能的勇士，称亚伯拉罕为多国的父。神 必成就 祂 所召他们去行的一切。照样，虽然事实上我们并不完全， 神 却赐你我以与众不同的称呼。
以弗所书 1:3-6 愿颂赞归与我们主耶稣基督的父 神，他在基督里，曾赐给我们天上各样属灵的福气，就如 神从创立世界以前，在基督里拣选了我们，使我们在他面前成为圣洁，无有瑕疵，又因爱我们，就按着自己意旨所喜悦的，预定我们，借着耶稣基督得儿子的名分，使他荣耀的恩典得着称赞，这恩典是他在爱子里所赐给我们的。
这位份的真理是属于我们的，虽然我们并不完全，仍受制于肉体的情欲。你也许不觉得是如此，但这确实是 神 现在对你的看法和称呼。神选择称我们为神的儿女，我们在爱子里得蒙悦纳，在祂面前被视为圣洁无有瑕疵。在我们选择接受 基督 成为我们生命的主和救赎主那刻起，我们就因着信基督称义。耶稣 叫我们抬起头来，从淤泥中 把我们拉上来， 使我们的脚立在磐石上！神 相信 祂 所造之物，尤其当我们在基督里成为新造的人，圣灵赋予能力，帮助我们行在公义和圣洁之中。神 赐给了我们一切，包括分给个人信心的大小 （罗马书12:3），我们能够藉着听道增长我们的信心，晓得在基督里属于我们的一切美善，并安息在 祂 对我们的完全的爱里。
事实上，我们应该能成就更多的丰功伟绩，战胜更多的挑战，因为这些新救赎事实已经预备好了供我们取用，而耶稣正在父神的右边为我们切切祈求。
讲章系列：你在信心的殿中 （第一部分）