Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

1 August 2025

Reading From Romans 4

“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”—Romans 4:20-25

While it is true that when we see the over-arching continuum of Abram’s life, he consistently believed God and His promises, there were times when his faith was shaky. One instance is when he and his wife Sarai were in Egypt. He was afraid that powerful Egyptian men would see her beauty and kill him in order to take her, so he and Sarai told a white lie that she was his sister. This deceit showed a lack of confidence in God’s ability to protect. Was their faith perfect? No. But by and large, Abram and Sarai believed God and it was credited to them as righteousness.

We share in and become part of their inheritance by grace through faith in Jesus. What is explain in this passage of Romans and in Hebrews 11 is that justification, being made right with God, has always been through faith, even in the Old Covenant and before. The Old Testament saints looked forward in faith to the coming atonement of the Messiah and they followed Yahweh based on what had been revealed to them at that point in history.

Today we have the benefit of hindsight. We look to Jesus back in time and are blessed with the written revelation of the Word of God the Bible. The intention in both the Old and New Covenants is that God’s people have relationship based on trusting the One who is unseen and obeying Him as their primary expression of love. It is through faith from first to last.

“Lord God, strengthen and increase the faith of Your children. Through the blessing of faith we have Abraham and Sarah as our spiritual ancestors, but You are the Perfect Parent of our eternal family and we are so grateful for Your protection, provision and presence in our lives. We love You Lord, Amen.”

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.—Romans 4:16-17