ROMANS 4:19

“Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;”

When you hear the phrase, “You’re as good as dead,” what do you think about? I think about as kids when you are out playing and you jokingly say that to a friend who just “one upped you.” Maybe you’re shooting hoops and they just went up on the score. So, you issue that challenge “You’re as good as dead” meaning you are about to take them down. It is never meant that you wish them harm in any way. It’s just a phrase.

But in Abraham’s case, it was true. His chance of siring offspring was pretty much nil. He was “about a hundred years old” and his wife Sarah wasn’t far behind. If he told his buddies he was about to become a father, they would have probably just laughed at him. The Greek word used here is only found two other times in the New Testament (Colossians 3:5 and Hebrews 11:12). The word is nekroó, and it means to view something as a corpse, lifeless. That doesn’t give much hope for a child, does it?

APPLICATION

“The same God who began Israel with a barren couple later raised Jesus Christ from the tomb; in both cases death or deadness only highlights His sovereignty.” (Topical Lexicon) You see, a lifeless corpse doesn’t mean God can’t do something. Think about the miracles in the Bible where someone who was dead was brought back to life. I won’t begin to list them all here. Do a study on your own and you will see that time after time, God intervened and brought life back.

God gave Abraham and Sarah a child, one born from parents who should not have able to be parents. Life belongs to God. He determines who has life. Every breath we take is a gift from God. He gives us life. Don’t ever think someone is without hope if God wants to give them life. Now, He doesn’t always give life here. Sometimes He wants to give life eternal. Isn’t that better anyway? For a believer, it is.

I want you to take a minute and give God thanks for the life He has given you. It may not be the life you had planned for yourself, but it is still life. God has a plan for this life. He has a plan for a future life also, if we will accept it. Have you? Have you taken ahold of the life that is truly life? Only God can give that. One is awaiting you.

Father of life, thank You for giving me life here and the promise of life eternal.

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