Mensa Otabil - Faith to Become
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This morning, I am going to share a two-part message; I will start this week and continue next week. I have titled it «Faith to Become.» Many times, we associate faith with praying to receive answers from God. When we talk about faith, we often think about receiving something from God. And it’s true; faith can be used in prayer to receive something from God. However, faith can also be used in another way—not just to receive something from God, but to become something. That is what I will focus on this week and next week. My primary text is from the book of Romans, chapter 4, verses 16 to 21. Romans chapter 4 references the life of Abraham and indicates how his faith worked. I want you to pay attention to the reading of God’s Word: Romans chapter 4, verses 16 to 21:
«Therefore, it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, 'I have made you a father of many nations, ' in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations according to what was spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' And being not weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead since he was about one hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what He had promised, He was also able to perform.»
Abraham did not simply pray to receive something from God; he prayed to become something for God. Verse 18 says, «He believed so that he became.» He believed to become, not just to receive. This is an interesting observation: we can have faith to receive something from God, but we can also have faith to become something for God. The word «become» comes from a root word that means «to be made» or «to turn into something.» So when we say that somebody has faith to become, it means they have faith to be turned into something else or to be made into something else. Abraham used his faith to be made into another person; he was transformed from one state to another.
There is a big difference between using your faith to receive something from God and using your faith to become something. There is a difference between using your faith to receive forgiveness of sins and using your faith to become the righteousness of God—two different things. There is a difference between using your faith to receive healing from sickness and using your faith to become healthy. Many times, when people use their faith, they use it for God to heal them from a sickness—that’s receiving something. But we can also use our faith to become healthy, meaning we do not get sick—two different things.
There is a difference between using your faith to prosper and using your faith to become prosperous. A person who uses faith to prosper will prosper on and off, but the person who becomes prosperous does not prosper on and off and is in a constant state of prosperity. Faith is not just about receiving; it is also about becoming. Somebody say, «I will become.» When we use our faith to receive, we receive something, but I am talking about becoming something.
When you look at Abraham and his faith, your mind tells you that Abraham was believing God for a child, Isaac. Yet the passage states Abraham was not merely believing God for a child; he was believing God to become a father of many nations. It is two different things. If you believe in God for Isaac, you only get Isaac. If you believe in God to become a father of many nations, you get more than Isaac.
Today, I want you to know that God does not just want to give you something; He wants you to become somebody. Somebody say, «I will become.» Abraham’s eyes were not just on receiving a son; he wanted to become a father. No wonder, if you read the story of Abraham after Sarah died in Genesis chapter 25, Abraham married again. At this time, he would have been over 100 years old, about 125 years, and he had six additional sons. Why? Because his eye was not just on receiving one son; his eye was on becoming a father of many nations. All he believed God, and his faith made him become. Somebody say, «I will become.»
Each of us has a prayer point, and I don’t know what your prayer is. Maybe you are praying that God will heal you because you are sick. Perhaps you are believing that God will prosper you because you are broke. Maybe you are believing God will give you a husband or a wife because you are single. For a moment, I want you to think that the God who can give you can also make you become. He does not just want to give you healing; He wants you to be healthy. He doesn’t just want to give you money; He wants you to be prosperous. He doesn’t just want to give you a breakthrough; He wants you to be mighty. He wants you to become. Somebody say, «I will become.»
Let’s look closely at the life of Abraham. First, look at who Abraham was at the time that God appeared to him and spoke to him. This is what Abraham was; this is what life had made him; this is what his experiences had made him. Each of us has something that life has made us into. Life can be very brutal; it can make you something that you don’t want to be. In Abraham’s case, life had made him old. That’s the first thing—he was old. Time was against him. It seemed as if the window of opportunity for life had been shut on him. It is a scary thing to wake up one day and realize that time is against you, to realize that time has passed you by, and you don’t have time, especially when you think, «Oh, I can do something,» and then you look back and see you are 70. Forty has gone 30 years ago, and what you wanted to do at 40 you haven’t done at 70. At that time, you say time is against you—that was Abraham’s case. He was old; time was against him.
The second thing the passage says is that Abraham’s body was dead—dead, in inverted commas. That means although he was physically alive, he was not energetic. He didn’t have the same strength, vigor, or energy he had when younger. He had not fathered a child. So this is what life had made him.
I don’t know what life has made you. If you are listening to me, perhaps you feel you are old, that time has run out for you. When you were 23, you were very hopeful for life, and now you’re looking at yourself, and you are 67 or 65 or 55, wondering when time has passed you by. I remember talking to someone who was 80 years old, and I said, «How do you feel at 80?» He said, «Pastor, you know, one day you are young, and then they tell you you are 80.» It’s almost as though you don’t notice it, and time catches up.
Abraham was in this situation where he suddenly realized, «I’m old.» Maybe you feel that way. Maybe for some of you life has made you bitter. You’re angry with yourself and with people you believe haven’t treated you well or have cheated you. You feel weak, like Abraham. You feel dead, unenergetic, uninspired, and nothing is coming out of you. Life is becoming almost a regret. You feel insecure; you are scared about the future. You feel sick, sad, failed, or poor. Life has a way of damaging all of us; it hits us. Time goes against us, and things don’t work out well.
This was where Abraham was. In the midst of what life had made Abraham, God came to him and gave him a promise. The promise that God gave to him was, «I have made you the father of many nations.» God didn’t say, «Abraham, I’m going to give you a son.» That’s not what He said. We think that’s what He said, but God didn’t say that. He said, «I have made you the father of many nations.»
Now, when God says «made» in the original language, it means «to set in place» or «to arrange for something to happen.» So, you are old, time is against you, nothing is working for you, but I have set things in motion for you to become a father of many nations. I don’t know about you, but I believe that God has made you. He has set things in motion; He has put plans in place for you to become. Somebody say, «I will become.»
In essence, what God is saying to Abraham is, «I have put in place all that is required for you to become a father of many nations.» He didn’t say, «I will do it simply for you,» but «I have made you; I have set it in place; I have put everything required in place for you.»
Now, Abraham is going to play a role. If you read the original promise that Romans chapter 4 quotes, if you read it in Genesis chapter 17, verses 4 to 6, I want you to listen carefully to what God says. There are three verses, and each verse contains a different message.
Verse 4: «As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.»
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Verse 6: «I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come of you.»
I want you to note the sequence of the message he received. In verse 4, God says, «You shall be"—future tense. «You shall be a father of many nations.» This is God’s plan; He says, «Abraham, this is what you will be.» God wanted Abraham to be somebody, to be something. Somebody say, «I will be.»
Then, in verse 5, in verse 6, He says, «You shall be"—future tense. In verse 5, in verse 4, «You shall be"—future tense. In verse 6, «I have made you"—past tense. I have made you. It is past. In other words, you will be because I have made you. Your destiny is in the future, but my assignment has already occurred in the past: «I have made you the father of many nations,» and you shall be in the future.
In verse 6, «I will make you"—it is a continuous stance. So there are three tenses that Abraham is living in: First, God says, «I have made you"—past. «You will be"—in your future. From now until your future, «I will make you.»
So, there’s a process God is going to take you through. There is something He has established in the past, and there’s something you’re going to be in the future. There is a future for you; it is settled in the past, and God is taking you through the process. You shall be. Somebody say, «I shall be.» I don’t know whether that’s good English or not, but that is good faith. Say, «I shall be because I have been made.» That’s what God says: «I have made you,» so you shall be. «I will make you exceedingly fruitful.»
How are you going to be the father of many nations? «I will make you exceedingly fruitful.» So, there is a process of becoming exceedingly fruitful that will lead to Abraham becoming the father of many nations. But it’s all based on the fact that God has already made him. «I have made you the father of many nations.» God doesn’t just want to give you trickles of blessing; He wants to make you a blessing. He doesn’t just want you to receive a blessing; He wants to make you blessed. He doesn’t want to just promote you; He wants to make you the head. He doesn’t just want to give you healing; He wants to make you healthy. «I have made you, and because of that, you shall be.»
Now, Abraham has two things he must deal with: what life has made him—he’s old, time has passed, time is against him, his body is dead, and he has no child. That’s scenario number one. Scenario number two: «I have made you, and you shall be, and I will continuously make you fruitful.»
Abraham has two options. He can either say, «I’ve heard what you are saying, but look at me! I still have no child. I’m still old. I’m going nowhere.» But that’s not what he did. Between the two options, he chose one. So let’s look at whom Abraham believed—either he believed himself or he believed God. At every point, you have to choose whom to believe. You either believe what life has made you or you believe what God has made you. The passage says Abraham believed God; he fixed his faith on God as the one who revives what is dead. He gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they exist. He brings non-existent things into existence. He believed God.
There is something God has made you that you must become. Maybe all your thoughts are about «Oh God give me this, oh God give me that,» and you’re looking at items when God is looking at your personality. He wants to make you something. When God makes you the head, nobody can bring you down. When God makes you prosperous, poverty will be afraid of you. When God makes you healthy, sickness runs away from you. But if all you’re doing is believing God for one item at a time, one child at a time, it’s going to take you a long time on your journey. When you believe in God to be a father, then having children becomes normal.
That’s what God is saying to Abraham: «I don’t want you to just believe at every point for one item at a time. I want you to believe to become something, so that out of what you have become, you will produce everything that is needed at every phase.» Abraham believed God, and let’s look at what Abraham did. The Bible states, «Who, contrary to hope, believed in hope.» Contrary to hope simply means when it was hopeless, he had hope. When it was hopeless, he had hope. When it was hopeless, she had hope. Can you say, «When it was hopeless, I had hope»?
In other words, when the case was bad, Abraham decided, «I still trust God; I will be the father of many nations. I will be.» He didn’t have a child now, but he knew he would be. By some method, he had the first one, Ishmael. He thought, «Well, maybe I’m the father of many nations now.» But God said, «No, no; that’s not it. Sarah is going to produce one.»
I thought, «You know, hey guys, young—that’s an easier miracle.» But God says, «No, Sarah, the old lady.» When you are old, and your miracle involves an old person, you must have hope contrary to hope.
Sarah has a child, but God didn’t say, «I will give you two children.» He says, «I will make you the father of many nations.» Two children do not equal nations. Sarah dies, and Abraham said, «Well, I am still—I have become the father of many nations.» He went on to marry again, Keturah. I’m sure she was younger—six additional sons. «Abraham, what happened? You couldn’t even believe for one, and now you’re producing six!»
Why? Because he had become. When you become, what you couldn’t receive as an individual becomes attainable. You are capable of producing in sequence. May God cause you to become—not just to receive prosperity, not just to receive abundance, not just to receive healing, but to become healthy. Abraham became the father of many nations according to the word of the Lord.
I don’t know about you, but I feel compelled to encourage someone that God wants you to become. You must become great. You must become mighty. You must become strong. You must become blessed—so that the blessing will follow you. You must be the head. You must be highly favored. You must be abundant so that you can receive abundance.
There is faith to receive one thing from God, and there is also faith to become something for God. If you trust God to make you become, then it becomes very easy for you to receive. So today, I ask you, what do you want to become? What do you want to become? Not what you want God to do for you, but what you want to become. Do you want to be a blessing to your generation? Do you want to be influential? For Abraham, he became the father of many nations—the nations that came from his children and grandchildren, Ishmael’s descendants, many nations, Isaac’s descendants, and we know them as Israel.
But the six other boys also became nations, and for your information, most of them became African nations. For all you know, you are one of them because Keturah was a black woman, and she produced those children—six. So, from Abraham, you had nations—from Ishmael, from Isaac, and from Keturah, and their children and grandchildren. If you look at the sequence, he truly became the father of many nations—not only physical nations but spiritual nations as well. The Bible says those who have faith in Christ are children of Abraham. So, if you look at it, in every nation of this world, there is a child of Abraham.
In every continent, on every island, and in every place, there is a descendant of Abraham—either a physical descendant or a spiritual descendant—and all because he moved from believing God for a thing to believing God to become. And when he became, things started flowing out of him. Blessings flowed out of him; abundance flowed out of him; children flowed out of him. It touches children’s children for generations after him because he became.
When you become, nobody can change your status any longer; you become that for the glory of God. So, I don’t know what you want to become today. Maybe you want to become the mother or father of many nations. What do you want to become? Think about this as we go to prayer.
As we prepare to pray, there is something else you must become. A man came to Jesus Christ, and though he came to Jesus at night, he was called Nicodemus. He started talking to Jesus, saying, «Jesus, you are a great man and a great teacher. Nobody can do the things you do.» Jesus replied, «Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.»
So this morning, some of you need to become children of God. You need to be born again—not just have your sins forgiven, not just go to church, not just love God, not just for God to love you—but you must be, in actuality, a child of God. While we’re praying and talking to God, if you want to give your life to Jesus Christ and be born again, just talk to God and say, «Lord, I want to be your child. Not just forgive me my sins, but I want to be your child.» And we trust God that this morning you will become born again. And if you are believing God for anything else, may the Lord cause you to become in Jesus' name.
Let’s say this prayer together. Wherever you are—watching me, listening to me, in the hall, on the TV set, on the radio, online—just say with me: «Heavenly Father, I thank you that Jesus died for me. He is the Son of God, and I believe in Him as my Savior and my Redeemer to become a child of God. I believe in Christ for total salvation. I believe in Christ for healing and health. Let me be healthy. Let me prosper. Let me be prosperous. Let me go ahead. Let me be the head. I declare today I am blessed of God. I am favored of God. I am the head and not the tail. I am the apple of God’s eye, and I receive today to be whom God says I am in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.»
If you truly believe you received that, why don’t you give God some praise, wherever you are, and thank Him that you are who He says you are? You haven’t just received something; you have become! I am blessed, and nobody can change it! I am favored, and nobody can change it! They may hate you, fight you, or criticize you, but when you are blessed, it is irrevocable; it is immutable because it is your nature for blessings to flow out of you! You are one of those people—you are blessed, and you can’t help it, but blessing will flow out of you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.