Romans 4:17

Paul described God as he did here in harmony with the promise he cited. God gave the ability to father many nations to Abraham when his reproductive powers were dead. God summoned yet uncreated nations as He had summoned the yet uncreated cosmos, namely, with a word, in this case a promise (cf. Hebrews 11:3; 2 Peter 3:5). [Note: Cranfield, 1:246.] Another view is that God named or addressed these uncreated nations even though they did not yet exist. The interpretation hinges on the meaning of "calls," which is not clear.