That is the title of a missions sermon preached by John Piper in 1987. Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:17 and Matthew 19:26 all address this question. “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”……. ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you…….. But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Piper comments:
God waits until it is humanly impossible for the child of the covenant to be born in order to show that it is not by human effort that the covenant people will be created. It is a work of divine and sovereign grace. The formation of a people of God for the sake of his name from all the families of the earth is not a human creation. That is why Ishmael would not qualify as the covenant child. Symbolically he stood for the work of the flesh, the product of Abraham’s presumption and unbelief.
So the question, “Is anything too hard for God?” is a question about God’s ability to create for himself a covenant people against impossible human odds. It is the great missionary question! And the answer of this story is, Yes he can, and, Yes he will. He glorifies his freedom and power by calling into being things that are not, as though they were (Romans 4:17; 1 Corinthians 1:28).
© Desiring God
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 