Copyright Ó 2015 J. Neely
Romans 4:17
17 (As [kathos] it is written [grapho], [hoti] I have made [tithemi] thee [se] a father [pater] of many [polus] nations [ethnos],) before [katenanti] him
whom [hos] he believed [pisteuo], even God [theos], who
quickeneth [zoopoieo] the dead [nekros], and [kai] calleth [kaleo] those things which be [on]
not [me] as though [hos] they were [on]. KJV-Interlinear
17 as
it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of
the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into
existence the things that do not exist.
ESV
The word for have made, ‘tithemi,’ means to give to,
to grant. to set, to constitute. And,
here it is used in the past tense. But
more significantly, the words for called, ‘kaleo,’ those things which be not, ‘on
me’ as though they were, ‘hos on.’ And these
refer to Gods power to bring things into existence, out of nothing.
And this is a reference to the creation of the angels,
who were not and then were, and the universe, which was not and then was, and
then Adam, who was not and then was life.
And Gods power continues in the ongoing creation of human life which is
imputed to each and every individual who is born alive into this world.
You, for example, did not exist prior to your birth,
and God created your human life and imputed it into your soul.
There was a time when you did not exist, and of course
you know nothing from that time, because you did not exist. It was by Gods grace that you were created
and now exist as a living human being.
But before you existed, God had plans for you and your
life.
Long ago, in eternity past, God laid out the divine
decrees and there are pages within that content, that lay out your life, as
well as everything that has ever or will ever exist.
So, God made Abraham a father of many nation, by means
of the pattern of his faith, which others will follow in suit when they believe
in Christ. And, this will occur with
many peoples from all walks of life, from all cultures, from all races, from
all backgrounds and so forth.
And God had that plan long before time existed, since
eternity past.
God made this comment to Abraham, long before he had a
child. Long before he was obedient in circumcision, long before he himself
believed.
But God knew he would believe, therefore He is able to
say with hindsight certainty, that the things of future, will occur.
God is able to do anything.
God is able to create an entire universe, complete with
all of its attributes, and detail, and governing laws or rules, and size and
such, and do it from nothing.
There was no big bang out of existing material. No assimilation of material into dust and
stars and planets and mush and life over eons of time.
There was God, then there were the angels, then the
universe, and the angels sang when that occurred, then the rebellion of Lucifer
and the fall of the angels. Then the destruction
of planet earth. It became null and
void. The key phrase for that is, ‘And
the earth was.’ God did not create the
earth void, it became that way, and it became that way as a result of Satans
destructive efforts.
And then we have the six day restoration of earth and
then the creation of a new species, called man.
And then Abraham represents yet another and the last created
species, but this time a spiritual species.
And that creation was and is instantaneous, uniting man with a human
spirit, which makes man body, soul and spirit, when faith in Christ is exercised
by the individual.
So, when you believed in Christ, God created in you,
your human spirit. Something that you
knew nothing about at the time and something that you did not feel or sense in
any way. The physical world cannot sense
or detect the spiritual world. We can
only know about it.
God is able to create life out of nothing. That occurs
when any person is born.
God is able to restore life to that which is dead. That occurs in the spiritual sense when one believes
in Christ. We are born again, and made
new.
And God can restore life after physical death, and
that occurs at the resurrection. And
that life will continue forever, never again seeing death.
