2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
It is my hope that staying on the subject of keeping promises this long isn’t boring you. God has led me to so many wonderful citations and is leading me to share His wonderful revelations and His glorious example to us. Looking at these promises, made and kept, gives me hope. Perhaps they will do the same for you.
MT 1: 21 [an angel of the Lord speaking to Joseph about Mary] “She will have a son, and you will name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
MT 1: 23 “A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and He will be called Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
We know this promise came true, because of our faith, the effect of His teachings on our lives, and the historical accounts of His life, death, and resurrection. During Christ’s ministry, He and the disciples were exposed to the controversy over the existence of an afterlife that was going on between two sects of Judaism. The Pharisees believed in the afterlife, and the Saducees rejected this notion. This led the disciples to ask Jesus to clarify this issue and our Lord’s response is discussed in Mark 12: 27 and Luke 20: 34-37.
LK 20: 34-37 “Jesus answered them, ‘The men and women of this age marry, but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry. They will be like angels and cannot die. They are the children of God, because they have risen from death. And Moses clearly proves that the dead are raised to life. In the passage [EX 3: 6] about the burning bush he speaks of the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to Him all are alive.”
Although the disciples may not have understood the full implications of what Christ was teaching them at the time, it is clear to us that the Son was revealing here the existence of a life eternal for those who live in faith. What greater promise could there be?
JN 14: 6 Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
We can see the extent of the love our Abba has for us in that He not only reveals through His Son’s words in Luke that there is eternal life available to us, but He shows us the way to it. Let me borrow a very important equation that I learned from my dear friend, Les Feldick, one I hope you will commit to memory:
FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION
In Luke 18: 31-34, Christ tells the disciples about His impeding death, but they don’t understand. We all know the story from the Gospels about the events leading up to and including Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. In John 20: 19-20, He appears to the disciples afterward and shows them the nail marks in His hands and the wound in his side. I hope you will read this and every citation I share, so that you can enjoy the full impact of it on your faith. Take God’s words over mine. Read 1 COR 15: 1-8 for the most concise statement of the Gospel in the Scriptures. This passage includes the witnesses who attested to seeing with their own eyes that what Christ prophesied earlier came true. It has been a precious gift in my life.
In Acts 1: 8-9, we see the resurrected Christ’s promise to the disciples that they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s Ascension. This is followed in AC 2: 2-4 by the Pentecost, the actual coming of the Holy Spirit!
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus found in AC 9: 3-6. This passage contains Christ’s promise to him, “you will be told what you must do.” Here, the Son reveals to us for the first time that this man, who will later be known as Paul, will have an important ministry. We know that it is Paul who becomes “a bondservant of Christ set apart by God to teach the Gospel.” (RO 1: 1). Later on in AC 9: 22, we learn that Saul’s preaching was so powerful and his proofs so convincing that the Jews in Damascus couldn’t answer him. God commissions and then equips the commissioned to carry out his commands!
Another example of this principle is shown in AC 10: 44-45 in which the Holy Spirit comes down on those listening to a message Peter was giving. There were both Jews and Gentiles in that group. The Jews were amazed to see that the gift of the Holy Spirit was coming to the Gentiles as well as themselves.
RO 6: 4 “By our baptism, we were buried with Him, and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.
What a great promise this is! It is backed up in RO 8: 29-30 making it clear that when we are “in Christ,” we have the hope of the resurrection. The opportunity is there for believers to be joint heirs with Christ to the Kingdom of God.
Tomorrow, I will finish up this series of messages with the hope that these wonderful citations are blessing your life as they are mine. It is my sincerest desire that they are bringing you the hope that they bring me. No matter what your situation is, we can be encouraged that even if we are being sorely tempted by our circumstances to lose our faith, we should hold on to it for dear life! God really does keep His promises. He really does love each and every one of us. Peter and I send our love to you and our prayers that you are feeling God’s presence in your lives today and always.
Love and Grace Be With You,
Lynn