The God Who Calls Things That Are Not

Abraham believed “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17). This is a portrait of God and a testament to his power.

Nothing is impossible with God. Omnipotence means no real thing lies beyond His power when it accords with His holy will. No circumstance can veto Him. No promise is too large. “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” God asked at Sarah’s tent (Genesis 18:14). Jeremiah answered from a city under siege: “Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). Job confessed, “no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Gabriel said to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). Jesus told the stunned disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

That power first appears in creation. God did not rearrange leftover material. He spoke, and what was not became what is. The same voice later named a childless man “father of many nations” while Sarah’s womb was still dead. When God calls a thing that is not as though it were, he is not pretending. He is creating.

That same Lord still governs the world he made. History groans. Nations rage. Providence does not call every event good, but it does confess that nothing slips outside His reach. “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Psalm 115:3). “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:10).

Most of all, this God is enough for the human condition. Our deepest need is not merely food or safety, though he is also present there. We are dead in sin and cannot raise ourselves. The law can diagnose, but it cannot create life. So God does what only God can do. He gives life to the dead. He calls the ungodly, “righteous”. He raised Jesus “for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:21). Power and promise belong together.

What does that mean when the world looks too far gone, when your own needs feel overwhelming, when your sin feels final, and when forgiveness itself seems too much to ask? That is where this truth comes home. The God who spoke a world into being still speaks life where there is none. Trust the God who can.