It was biologically impossible for Abraham, as well as Sarah, to have children at the time the promise of a son was reaffirmed to them with the giving of the covenant of circumcision [Genesis 17]. Abraham was 99 years old, and his bride was 90 [Genesis 17:1, 24]. Sarah’s personal assessment was, “I am worn out and my master is old” [Genesis 18:12]. The assertion that he was “as good as dead” in v. 12 is exactly the same in the Greek as in Romans 4:19, where Paul said that Abraham “faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”
Abraham knew the situation and that it was humanly impossible, but he came to faith. Some people are under the impression that when a person has faith, he inwardly agrees to ignore the facts. They see faith and facts as mutually exclusive. But faith without reason is fideism, and reason without faith is rationalism. In practice, there must be no reduction of faith to reason. And likewise, there must be no reduction of reason to faith. Biblical faith is a composite of the two. Abraham did not take an unreasonable leap of faith. How could Abraham come to such a colossal exercise of faith? He weighed the human impossibility of becoming a father against the divine impossibility of God being able to break His word and decided that since God is God, nothing is impossible. In other words, he believed that “God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” [Hebrews 11:6].
We are not to indulge in fideism – faith without reason – or rationalism – reason without faith. We are to rationally assess all of life. We are to live reasonably. When we are aware that God’s Word says thus-and-so, we are to rationally assess it. Does God’s Word actually say that, or is it man’s fallible interpretation? And if God’s Word does indeed say it, we must then be supremely rational, weighing the human impossibility against the divine impossibility of God being able to break His word. And we must believe.
The last section of our text is introduced by the writer’s statement that Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac finished well. “All these people,” he says, “were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance” [v. 13a]. Death is the final test of faith, and they all passed with flying colors, living by faith right up to the last breath. The beauty of their dying was that they died in faith though never receiving the fullness of the universal blessing that had been promised. The reason they could do this was that they saw the unseen – they were certain of what they did not see. The patriarchs could see through the eye of faith the ultimate fulfillment of the promises, like sailors who become content they can see their final destination as it comes over the horizon. Land ahoy!
Along with this they recognized and accepted the dissonance of being a camper in this world – “And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on this earth” [v. 13b]. They embraced the life of a pilgrim as the only proper way for them to live. The subject of finishing by faith is rounded off by advice for living by faith – specifically setting one’s eyes on a heavenly country. “People who say such things,” he writes, “show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one” [vv.14-16a]. When Abraham and his family admitted they were aliens, they were making it clear they were not in their home country. And so it might be supposed that they longed to go back. And if, in fact, their hearts were still in the old country, they could have returned. But they did not! The reason is, they were “longing for a better country – a heavenly one.” And it is this spiritual longing which enabled them to persevere in faith.
May this example not be wasted on us. Paul tells us in Philippians that “our citizenship is in heaven” [3:20]. In Ephesians he reminds us, “You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” [2:19]. We are supernaturalized citizens, and our citizenship is not only with one another, but is rooted in Heaven! Paul alludes to this reality when he says: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” [Colossians 3:1-4].
And what will be the result? Our text beautifully answers, “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” [v. 16b]. Because the patriarchs believed God’s word with dynamic certitude – because when God called Abram to leave Ur, he believed and obeyed – because aged Abraham believed God when He said he would be a father, “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” In fact, God later proclaimed to Moses, “I am [present tense] … the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” [Exodus 3:6]. No higher tribute could be paid to any mortal. But God proudly claims whoever trusts and obeys Him, and they can humbly insert their name in the divine proclamation, “I am the God of ____________!”
In the early years of the 20th century, pioneer missionary Henry C. Morrison was returning to New York after forty years in Africa. That same boat also bore home the wildly popular President Theodore Roosevelt. As they entered New York harbor, the President was greeted with a huge fanfare and Morrison felt rather dejected. After all, he had spent four decades in the Lord’s service. But then a small voice came to Morrison, saying, “Henry … you’re not home yet.” And was the voice ever right, for God had “prepared a city” far greater than the Big Apple for Henry Morrison. God says, “I am the God of Henry C. Morrison. And here, Henry, are the keys to the city!”
With faith, it IS possible to please God!
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