The Hope of the Promise. That is not a redundancy
of words. Hope is an unseen expected assurance, not wishful thinking. And a promise
from God is something that can be counted on. As Max Lucado said in his
book Unshakable Hope, God is not just
a Promise Maker, He is a Promise Keeper.
When we think of
promises, perhaps what we most often think of is not promises kept, but
promises broken. Perhaps from our parents, or from what should have been a
trusted friend. Or from a spouse.
Worse yet, you might be
reminded of promises you have made and did not keep. Guilt. Fear. Disappointment.
Anger. Cynical bitterness. Sarcasm...
Stop!
That is not God.
Read this from His Holy
Word.
“God is not a man, that He should
lie.
Nor a son of man that He should
repent
Has He not said, and will He not do?
Has He not spoke and will He not
make it good?”
Numbers 23:19
First Promise Kept at the First Coming.
Christ’s first advent was the greatest to date “promise made, promised kept”
that God fulfilled.
John the Baptist, in his moments
of despair, asked Jesus, “Are You the Expected One, or should we look for
another?” When imprisoned, the baptizer’s hopes were discouraged but not
entirely dashed. He knew that if Jesus was not the promised one, that He could
expect another because God is and was and forever will be faithful and true.
As far back as Genesis
3:15, the Bible teaches that a seed of a woman (literally “sperm” in both Greek
and Hebrew) would crush the head of Satan. That curse against Satan was literally
fulfilled in the virgin birth of Christ, the only literal seed of a woman ever
recorded.
Another 3:15 passage, Galatians
3:15, also teaches about the seed (singular) of man being the promise made long
ago being fulfilled. “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made… the
covenant was confirmed before by God in Christ, and it does not nullify the
promise. If the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise, but God
gave it to Abraham by promise.”
The promise was also made to
Sarah, “The word of promise…Sarah will have a son.” (see Rom. 9:9). Paul
preached in Acts 13:23 that Jesus was the promised Son of God and Seed of David
who would become the Savior of Israel and of the world. “From this man’s seed,
according to the promise, raised up for Israel a Savior, Jesus.”
Isaiah’s promise in Isaiah 1:9 was
reiterated in Romans 9:29 that the Seed of the Lord of Sabaoth would come to
save the world.
A Second Promise Kept: The Holy Spirit.
Another Promise Kept. Perhaps the second
greatest Promise that God has made and Kept came 50 days after the Resurrection.
When the Holy Spirit came down, it was the down payment of the Promise of a future
Advent.
“Wait for the Promise of the
Father” Jesus said in Acts 1:4. “I will send the Promise,” He had previously
stated in Luke 24:49.
Simon Peter and those in the
upper room experienced the fulfillment of that Second Promise kept. The Holy
Spirit which Jesus Himself received was poured out on them all in Acts chapter
2. “The Promise of the Holy Spirit is being poured out today and this is what you
now see and hear,” Peter preached in Acts 2:33, “the Promise is for you and to
your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call.”
Peter never stopped being in awe
of those two promises kept. From a dank and dungy Roman prison cell, the aged
fisherman was not bitter. Not disillusioned. No fist shook toward heaven,
despite the scars on his back, seeing the cruel death of his best friend James,
and perhaps having survivor’s guilt when his own life was spared.
No, from the prison cell Simon
wrote these words of encouragement.
The Third Promise Will Be Kept: Jesus is Coming Again!
“God has given to us exceedingly
great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the
divine nature, and also escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Promise made, Peter Proclaimed,
and Promise Kept. Four more times the imprisoned apostle used the word promise,
finishing up with this defiantly faithful and unquenchable fiery man of God
preached through his pen which echoes in our Scripture readings to this day.
“In keeping with His Promise, we
look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore,
beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
peace, without spot and blameless.”
And then as a nod to fellow
prisoner in Rome, the Apostle Paul, Peter wrote “and consider that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation which also our beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.”
