GODSmessenger
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Excerpts From:
[u]THE PROMISES OF GOD[/u]
(by Martin R. De Haan II, president of RBC Ministries)
HOW DOES GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES?
What if we have done our part by "believing," but we haven't seen any results? Is there something we don't understand? Is there something else we need to do to see God's promises fulfilled?
BUT YOU PROMISED!
Have people ever let you down? That question belongs in the same category as: Do birds have wings? Do fish have fins? Is the sun hot? Is water wet?
But what about this question: Has God ever let you down? What if we rephrase it: Have you ever felt that God didn't keep His word? Think about it for a minute. Have you wondered, even complained, that He didn't come through the way you thought He said He would?
We know, for instance, that God has promised to protect and care for His children in this world. He has promised to make them strong, to fill their hearts with joy and a peace that passes all understanding. We know that God has promised to answer our prayers.
Yet at times those promises seem empty. Our prayers for a rebellious child or an unsaved spouse seem to go unanswered. A friend dies of cancer. Inflation chews at our paycheck. Neighborhood crime gets worse. Terrorists plague the world. And Jesus hasn't come back yet.
What happened to all the promises? Has God failed to keep His word? Have our expectations exceeded God's promises?
What is a promise? The way some people use the term, a promise is nothing more than a good intention--easily discarded if it gets in the way. They see a promise as something that is made to be broken. But when God makes a promise, He's doing more than just expressing wishful thinking. He is giving His absolutely trustworthy word!
The promises of God are the heart of the Bible. Everything God has spoken, every announcement, every message, is really a promise based on God's perfect, good, and trustworthy character.
Why is there confusion about the way God keeps His promises? At times, a gap develops between what we think God has said He would do and what we see happening in our everyday experience. This gap, however, says more about our failure to understand than about God's ability to remain true. Our confusion can be due to any one (or several) of the following factors.
1. Faulty expectations. At times we may fall into the trap of thinking that God will keep His promises in the way we expect. We might assume that He will do it in ways that are immediately obvious rather than in a manner that becomes apparent only in time. We may expect Him to change our external circumstances and environment when what He really wants us to see is that His promises can be fulfilled through inner changes in us.
We tend to be shortsighted. God is into long-range planning. We see only the surface, here-and-now events, and we do not know how God is working behind the scenes to fit the pieces together to form an overall pattern. The ways God has acted in the past, though, show that He fulfills some promises in stages or in unexpected ways.
2. Faulty interpretations and applications. We may simply miss the point of what God has said. Or we may understand a biblical promise accurately but fail to see that God gave the promise to someone else in a particular situation.
A small book of collected biblical promises states in the introduction: "Take each promise to mean just exactly what it says. Don't try to interpret it or add to it or read between the lines." That may sound good. We certainly must avoid reading "between the lines" of Scripture, but it is dangerous to say that we should not try to interpret the promises. That can be a huge mistake. Failure to understand a promise in its context can lead to some very bad conclusions. Too many people go around quoting Bible verses as promises to them as individuals when in fact the promises were given to specific biblical characters, a nation, or only to people of a certain time period.
3. Faulty feelings. Our emotions have a way of taking over the driver's seat of our lives. Wrong emotions can overrule right thinking. As a result, if we have been hurt, we blame God for not doing what we think He promised. The death of a loved one can cause us to lose perspective if we allow our feelings to override the truth about God. A failed romance or a marriage on the rocks can trigger doubts. Personal rejection, failure, loss of a job, physical pain, or injustice can stir up feelings against God that become stronger than any force of reason.
4. Faulty memory. When it comes to remembering, we can all be like an absent-minded professor who forgets how to get home. We can get so wrapped up in the details of everyday life that we forget more than just anniversaries, birthdays, phone calls, groceries, and appointments. We even forget what should mean the most to us--the evidence of God's faithfulness in our lives and how He has fulfilled His promises to us in the past. As a result, we lose confidence in His ability to be faithful in the future.
So now what do we do? How do we bring our expectations and feelings in line with God's plans and truths? How do we live a fulfilling life by faith in God's promises?
Every political campaign seems to be the same. Promises and platitudes pollute the air. (Maybe that's what is depleting the earth's ozone layer!) Each candidate tries to out-promise the other. And after every election, the results are predictably the same.
Some promises are quickly broken because the candidate never intended to fulfill them. Other promises, while well-intentioned, were beyond the candidate's power and ability to fulfill. Maybe an unforeseen string of events or new information changed the politician's mind about the wisdom of his original statement. Powerful special-interest groups may exert pressure, making sure that they get what was promised, while less influential people seem to get lost in the crowd.
God, though, is not like a politician, a corporate executive, a supervisor, a teacher, a student, an employee, a coach, a player, a father, a mother, or a child. Everybody--not just the politician--has a problem with keeping promises. We all have difficulty following through on our word. God, however, does not. He has all the power and wisdom in the universe at His disposal. He will never have to make an excuse for failing to fulfill what He has promised, and we have no excuse for not believing Him.
We've already mentioned some possible reasons for the seeming gap between our perceptions of God's promises and how life actually is played out. Together, let us search for answers that will help us correct our view of God and His promises. We will discover that God keeps His promises (1) on His terms, (2) to His intended audience, (3) by His methods, and (4) in His time.
HOW DOES GOD DELAY IN KEEPING HIS PROMISES?
Hebrews 11 gives us a sampling of Old Testament saints who came to realize that God fulfills His promises according to His time plan. They lived by faith, believing that God would eventually do all He promised, even if they did not understand why the Lord delayed action for several years or beyond their lifetime.
Abraham is the preeminent example in Hebrews 11. When God told him to pack his bags and travel to the land of promise, Abraham went, though he didn't know where he was going. The Lord told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a child, yet the Lord waited until their old age to fulfill His word. And Abraham had to imagine the future when his descendants would inherit the Promised Land.
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph knew of God's promise for their descendants, but they did not see fulfillment (vv.20-22). Moses knew that the Lord would rescue His people, but he had to wait until he was 80 years old before the Lord used him to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses even chose mistreatment in the short run so that later He would be rewarded by God (vv.25,26).
The writer of Hebrews 11 also lists Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Their lives were a combination of immediate blessing and delayed fulfillment. Verses 33 through 35 list several ways in which they saw God's blessings. But verses 35 through 38 list the terrible torture, imprisonment, and death that many faced. And then the chapter ends with these words: "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (vv.39,40).
The writer of Hebrews saw how all the promises were ultimately fulfilled in Christ--in what He has done to provide salvation and what He will do to bring God's plan for earth to fulfillment. Faith is being able to wait and trust the Lord to fulfill all He has said He will do, even if life is hard for us now.
HOW HAVE PEOPLE RESPONDED TO GOD'S DELAYS?
The people of the past have responded like you and I might have. Some grew impatient. Others kept the faith. Still others mocked those who looked to the future.
Abraham had his moments of doubt even though he was a man of faith. When his wife Sarah grew old without bearing a child, Abraham and Sarah began to get creative about fulfilling God's promise. The birth of Ishmael by Hagar was the result (Gen. 16). But God, in His time, brought about the miraculous birth of Isaac (Gen. 21:1-7).
The Hebrews who came out of Egypt complained and griped against Moses and against God because everything didn't turn out just as they expected after they escaped slavery in Egypt. As a result, they ended up wandering around in the desert for 40 years--and a whole generation of people missed out on the promise of entering Palestine (Num. 14).
David was anointed king while Saul was still on the throne. Yet David was a fugitive from Saul's "hit men" for many years. When he did become king, David saw much evidence of the Lord's goodness to him. But David's kingship was far from tranquil, with betrayals and turmoil (1 Sam. 16-31; 2 Sam. 1-24).
Job came to realize that perfect justice was not to be experienced during our lifetime. He learned that God's timing and God's program are perfect and wise (Job 42).
The disciples had to learn that Jesus was not immediately going to reestablish the nation of Israel and inaugurate the millennial kingdom (Acts 1:6-8). They had to learn that there was going to be a period of time between His first coming and His second coming (Matt. 24,25). Because Jesus was not the conquering king that many people expected, they rejected Him, and only a few believed in Him until after the resurrection.
Paul wrote encouraging words to believers who were in danger of despair in the face of persecution and the prospect of not seeing immediate relief (1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 4).
Unbelievers in the last days will ridicule the promise of Christ's second coming. The apostle Peter said that these scoffers would say, "Where is the promise of His coming?" (2 Pet. 3:4). Peter responded with these words:
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:8,9).
Believers, those who profess faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, have a life that can be far from glorious. We can be plagued with impatience and doubts. Like the psalmist, we may wonder why God allows the wicked to prosper and why He doesn't fulfill His promise by bringing judgment right now (Ps. 73). We too can become so distracted by the present world that we lose sight of the world to come.
We can also benefit from what the apostle Paul wrote at the close of his first letter to Timothy. He warned about a preoccupation with the present--the riches and the pleasure of life. Paul encouraged Timothy to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness," and to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:11,12). The apostle then said about Christ's second coming: "He will manifest [it] in His own time" (v.15).
Thinking It Over. What promises of God would encourage a follower of Christ to keep on living for Him? How do people in the world mock the hope of Christians? What fulfillment of biblical promises can give you and me confidence that God will keep His promises to us now and in the life to come?
PROMISE CHECKLIST
If you want to follow the advice of the great hymn "Standing on the Promises," you need to be sure you are on solid footing. As we've seen in this study of God's promises, our spiritual lives must be founded on what God has said--not merely on what we wish He had said or what we think He might have said. We need to be sure we are not misquoting the Lord when we claim a biblical promise for ourselves.
The basic rules of proper interpretation that apply to the whole Bible also form the starting point for our interpretation of biblical promises. The rules of interpretation can be summed up in one word--context.
1. The context of immediate setting: Look at the verses that immediately precede and follow the promise. Does your interpretation fit the context?
2. The context of the whole Bible: Consider the passage in its relation to the whole Bible. God does not contradict Himself. The interpretation of the promise must be in keeping with all of Scripture. This step requires a growing knowledge of God's Word and a dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide your understanding of the Bible.
In this booklet we have examined the promises of God in four categories. As we read the Scriptures, we can learn how to interpret and apply those promises. Use the questions listed on the next page as guidelines.
1. The terms of the promise.
Does the promise have conditions to fulfill?
Do you meet the conditions?
What will happen if you fail to measure up?
What characteristics of God can increase your confidence in His promises?
2. The people of the promise.
Is the promise given to all people of all time?
Is a specific individual mentioned?
Are only believers in view?
Is the promise to obedient believers only?
Are you included?
3. The method of the promise.
Does the Scripture imply obvious fulfillment?
Could the promise be fulfilled spiritually?
Could the promise be fulfilled physically?
How is God's faithfulness demonstrated?
What are some of the options in your situation?
4. The time of the promise.
Can fulfillment be expected soon?
Will it be fulfilled in heaven?
Can God fulfill this promise a number of times?
Why would God possibly delay fulfillment?
Are you willing to trust God's timing?
Could the promise be only partially fulfilled?
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
In the world of shopping, if the product sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Whether it's a vegetable chopper, a weed whacker, or the latest automobile, the advertised image is more likely to be a mirage than reality. What you think is a bargain can turn out to be a major disappointment.
God never advertises more than He delivers. He's not out to deceive us. He wants us to have the best He has to offer--the joy of a close relationship with Him now, and heaven later.
To enjoy God's best, though, you and I first need to take Jesus at His word. He said, "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" (John 5:24).
His offer is conditioned only on our acceptance of His free gift. Does it sound too easy? Too good to be true? It's not. Jesus has proven that He can be trusted. He came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross in our place, and rose from the dead. If He can't be trusted, nobody can.
If you've never done so, choose now to take God at His word. Admit that you deserve God's judgment for sin, believe Jesus died for you and rose from the dead, accept His offer of new life, and then build your life on the promises of God.
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Yours In Our LORD'S Service:
GOD'S Messenger
Make A Difference Ministries
Posts: 19 | From: California | Registered: Dec 2004
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