God Always Keeps His Promises

GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES

(2nd Sunday in Advent)

Warsaw Christian Church, Richard Bowman, Pastor

Text: God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then won’t act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19); 2nd Corinthians 1:20: For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ.” and various.

Human promises are easily made and easily broken. Nations made promises to one another through treaties, but those promises are often broken. Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with Soviet Russia, but when the promise had served its purpose, it was violated. The German army rolled into the USSR, and no words on paper could stop them. The history of the world is virtually a history of broken pharmacies. Young couples promise to live together after God’s Holy ordinance “till death do us part.” However, the divorce rate continues to climb. I have heard many couples swear their eternal love to each other in the pastor’s study before the marriage, only to hear them say a few years later, “I made a big mistake.”

In our day, human promises are almost meaningless. We may have good intentions when we make the promise, but circumstances change, and we break our word. Today, a person who keeps their word is greatly admired but difficult to find.

How thankful we are in this world of broken promises; we have a God who always keeps his word. Where would we be if we could not count on the promises of God? Moses expresses it this way. “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then won’t act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19, NIV). We are told here that God always keeps his promises. Whatever he has said, he will do. God never speaks rashly, thoughtlessly, or deceitfully. Those who embrace and live by his promises will experience the absolute reliability of God’s word.

But wait a minute. How can we say that God always keeps his word when we have all asked Him for things we have not received? If you need to be healed and are not healed, the problem is your lack of faith. Is that true? I must confess I have prayed for healing numerous times, only to be disappointed when the healing did not come. I suppose I could conclude that my feeble faith is inadequate to claim such a wonderful blessing. That would probably be accurate. The Bible speaks of those weak in faith, and I feel I fit that description. Perhaps that is why God won’t give me what I want him to give me. That is one possibility. Let’s look at this situation from a different perspective.

The Apostle Paul makes a very astonishing statement. He says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:20). This is a radical statement worthy of our close attention. Consider for a moment some of the things God has promised. The promise to Israel was that they would possess the promised land forever. But they did not possess the land for many years, even centuries. We might be tempted to say that this is an example of one of God’s failed promises. However, consider what God did give to them. He gave them the Messiah, Jesus. By faith in Jesus, they would inherit the kingdom of God forever. The land promises are swallowed up in the greater gift of Jesus Christ. Jesus was God’s “yes” to the land promise He made to Israel. What happened was that God gave them something far better than land, namely Jesus and eternal life.

Perhaps an example will help us to grasp this radical idea of Paul. Suppose you promised your wife to give her a box of Valentine’s candy every Valentine’s Day. One year, you received a bonus at work and decided to give her a $500 necklace instead of the box of candy. Will she scream at you and say, “You liar! You are an undependable scoundrel. This is not the candy you promised. How can I trust you if you continue to break your word like this?” no, we suspect she would be through with the gift. She would realize that she received something better than a box of candy. That does not constitute the breaking of a promise. The lesser gift is included and swallowed up by the more excellent gift free. This is what Paul means when he says that Christ is the Yes that fulfills all the promises of God. The gift of Christ for the world's salvation was the greatest thing God could ever do for us. Those who receive Christ receive in him everything God has ever promised to His people. Paul put it this way in Colossians 2:10: “You have everything when you have Christ.” (Taylor’s paraphrase). A Jewish Christian who has Christ but does not possess the promised land will not call God a liar. He will rather say God’s promise of the land has been realized, fulfilled, and transcended in his gift of his Son. Jesus is the yes to that divine promise.