Believing The Impossible

                                                                        Sunday School Lesson
                                                                           December 11,2011
Lesson Focus:
Faith sees beyond
what seems possible
Lesson Scripture
Genesis 15:1-6 &12-18

Introduction:

Abram's maturing faith,Abram is included in Hebrews 12, a listing of men and women who believed God for the impossible and exercised faith.However, Abram grew and matured in his faith as a result of personal struggles,not just easy living.God took Abram out and showed him the sky full of billions of stars and said to him "So shall your offspring be".God planned for Abram and Sarai to have children through their bodies even though both were past childbearing years,a miracle.Abram believed the Lord,"and it was credited to him as righteousness".To further convience Abram of this promise,God made a personal covenant with him and sealed it with a cultural ritual.Abram continued to walk confidently,believing God for the impossible.faith comes by hearing,and with an ear of obedience such as Abram had.

God Is Abram's Reward
Genesis15:1-3KJV
  ¹After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
   ²And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
   ³And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Footnotes:

God promised Abram a biological heir,the only problem was that Abram and Sarai had been married for decades,and had no children.Abram wonders out loud how his decendants will become a nation if he is childless.And so Abram offers a solution,he will simply make hisservant his heir.So many times we make suggestions outside of God's will because we can't physically see any other way of accomplishing that which God has called us to to or to be.But we must realize that His ways are not our ways,with man it might be impossible ,but with God all things are possible.

Abram's Biological Heir
Genesis 15:4-6KJV
  ⁴And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
   ⁵And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
   ⁶And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Footnote:

God graciously responded to Abram's doubts and proposed solutions,making it crystal clear that the patriarch's heir would be his biological child,not a servant.Perhaps Abram's fear came from the apparent impossibility of this ever happening because of his age.Abram's responce to God was simple beief.At that moment, he believed that somehow he would have a son,and that son would produce offspring that would produce a great nation.For simply believing what God said was true, righteousness was attributed to Abram.In the same way righteousness was credited to Abram,so Christ's righteousness is credited to us the moment we first believed.

Abram's Dark Vision
Genesis 15:12-18KJV
 ¹²And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
   ¹³And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
   ¹⁴And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
   ¹⁵And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
   ¹⁶But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
   ¹⁷And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
   ¹⁸In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Footnotes:

Despite the darkness of the vision,Abram was still assured he would live out his long years in peace. God was waiting to give the land to Abram's descendants until the sins of the inhabitants of Canaan has "reached its full measure."The implication here is that a nation that ignores God and His guidelines for living may eventually be expelled from what ever land they are currently inhabiting and taking for granted.

    Seeing others' faith in action is a powerful help and inspiration to encourage us in our own experience.But we still must choose for ourselves,when we cannot see,when we cannot understand, when the situation seems hopeless or impossible,to trust in God and act in faith.