There is a song we sing with the same title; Standing on the Promises of God. It’s one of my favorites. Very uplifting and the lyrics are inspiring. When I lead singing, I usually use this song as a closer to give people something to think about when they leave; and that is, you can trust in what God has promised.
A promise can be defined as “a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future”. When we promise something, we’re saying that what we told another, it will happen because we are committing to it. Now, that doesn’t always happen as this world is unpredictable. A lot of variables can get in the way of that commitment, so it’s best to only promise something you know the variables are limited to non-existent.
God on the other hand, knows the future. He knows the beginning from the end and when He promises something, it’s guaranteed to happen. You can “take it to the bank” as they say. Another reason too, is God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). He won’t make a commitment He doesn’t intend to keep.
Look at the First Couple, for example. Adam and Eve were put into a beautiful paradise. They could pretty much do everything except to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). If they did, God said they will die. However, the Deceiver came and tempted Eve and she ate of the fruit and so did her husband and sure enough, they brought death into the world, just as God said. He cursed the universe and Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, unable to partake of the tree of life anymore. God followed through with what He promised.
Another example would be the Flood. In Noah’s time, evil was running ramped in humanity. Moses describes it as “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6). God told Noah that He would destroy the world in a flood. Many believe that people didn’t know what rain was before this event. Even so, Noah believed what God had said and it did indeed come true. Only eight souls were saved (1 Peter 3:20).
And what about Abraham? God told him he would bear a son while he was still known as Abram (Genesis 15:4). He and his wife Sarai, who would be called Sarah, did not believe it at first and even laughed at the thought (17:17; 18:12). Lo and behold, at ninety years old, Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac. This would be the heir that the Lord said would make Abraham a father of many nations (17:4). This would be the start of a much bigger prophecy as well.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob started a lineage that would eventually bring about Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of a virgin and be called the Son of God. This was a promise that God made all the way back in Genesis 3:15 at the fall of man. When we sinned against God, Jesus, thousands of years later, would ultimately pay that price so that we wouldn’t have to. We did nothing to deserve this gift, but over and over, the Bible says God is merciful to forgive us and He is love. Again, we didn’t deserve this act of forgiveness, God simply wants a relationship with us and the only way that could have happened was if our sins were taken away. That’s where Jesus came in.
Jesus came into this world and taught us all how we should live righteously. The Jews of the day didn’t like what Jesus had to say so they had Him put to death by crucifixion. This was God’s plan all along though. See, a sacrifice was needed to show us how bad sin was against God. Shed blood was the means by which God showed us just how a holy God viewed sin. Jesus knew that and took it upon Himself, dying that we might live in Him.
This is what is known as the gospel. The life and ultimate death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He rose from the grave three days after He died to show that He had power even over death, to prove to man He was who He said He was. If you believe that and have had your sins washed away, you are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) in God and are able to have the relationship with Him once again. You live for God now and not for yourself.
That brings us to God’s last promise. He has appointed a time for this world to end and for all of mankind to be judged according to their works. This is known as the Day of Judgment where Jesus Christ will come back and judge the world. It will not be pretty for those who chose the way of destruction, but for God’s faithful ones, He has promised a great reward (Hebrews 5:9; cf. 10:35-36).
Next time we sing this hymn mentioned earlier, let us think on these things. God has been faithful to every promise He has ever made. I don’t see this one being any different.
Comments