The Way: Promised (Part B)
When I was a child I, like many others, received promises from multitudes of people. Mothers promised good dinners, coaches promised winning seasons, friends promised they would never forget you, and RAID insect spray promised it could kill roaches.
Many of those promises were fulfilled, many were broken and many, by their very nature, remain as yet unfulfilled. And, we still have roaches, by the way.
Our lives are built on promises. We promise to work 8-12 hours a day and our employers promise to pay us for our work. We make the promise of marriage [do you promise to love…] and we make the promise of friendship. Some kids even pricked their fingers or gave necklace or bracelet charms that had a split heart, one for each recipient.
We call the cable TV and make the promise that we will pay for our cable if they install it. They, in turn, promise to install it correctly and to deliver the programming they said they would.
Promises! Promises! “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Where would we be if we hadn’t the capacity for promises? What would we do without the ability or the method of promising? What if up to this point we’ve never had in us the desire to follow through on any promise?
The tax office calls you up and tells you they want to see you tomorrow. You say, “Okay.” But, you don’t go and nothing happens, why? Because promises don’t exist anymore, because there is no promises! Employers don’t give you your weekly or monthly salary because there are no promises. They don’t mean anything.
The world revolves around promises. Without promises, without assurance, without guarantees, without warranties, without pledges, there is no hope…
The world has no hope. The world holds no promises for anything but what you can get in this world. The world holds no promise for your future, your eternal future. The world cannot solve your eternal destiny. The world cannot solve our innate passion to know a god. That hole in your heart is reserved only for HIM and can only be filled by HIM.
Last week we talked about the first part of The Way: Promised. Most of our discussion dealt with promises that had been fulfilled.
In way of review let’s look at some of the promises that were made and fulfilled that we covered last week.
-Noah’s Faith
-The record of the Flood demonstrates that few will be saved.
-God made great promises to Abraham because of his faith
· -Jesus Christ can save from eternal death all those who, like Abraham, believe and obey God.
This week we will discuss more promises that have been fulfilled and finish with those that are yet to be fulfilled. Today we will look at:
A promise of a new way
A promise of a new life
A promise of a new kingdom.
A promise of a new earth
A promise of a new way
Since before the Garden of Eden, God devised a plan to reconcile the people of the world to Him. It began with The Preparation for the Cross (Old Testament) and The Cross (New Testament)
The Preparation for the Cross
The People
Beginning with Genesis 3:15, we are able to see God starting His redemptive work, though [according to scripture], we know that it was all worked out before the creation of the world. The people are easy to distinguish. Those that fear God and those that do not fear God. Right away, from Cain and Abel we are able to detect the sin nature that is beginning to manifest itself in Human beings. Cain made an offering to God, but because of his heart condition, God rejected it. Rather than getting his heart right with God, he becomes jealous of his brother Abel, because Abel’s sacrifice was accepted. We see Cain becoming the first murderer. He didn’t kill his brother because he was threatened with bodily harm. He killed his brother because of what goes hand in hand with the sin nature, selfishness.
With the mistake made in the Garden of Eden, self entered our relationship with God. We became aware of sinful desires such as pride, jealousy, and power over people. From the very moment of this awareness, God began His work of reconciliation. His goal was to bring man back into fellowship with Him. The Bible is all about God reaching out to man. Many people confuse this and say that the Bible was written to show man’s pursuit of God. There is nothing further from the truth.
There was a problem, however. He needed to start somewhere and He chose to start with Abraham. He took Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans and moved him to Canaan.
The Nation
This began the Hebrew nation. It grew under the shadow of God. It prospered, then God introduced the Law.
The Law
The Law was introduced to point to the wickedness of man’s heart. Consequently, without the Law there is no sin. Through Moses, God set his plan of redemption to work, by showing, through the law, that man needed to follow and to rely on God. The first five books of the Bible from Genesis 11 to Deuteronomy 34, specifically details how man is to live, his hygiene, his marital life, his worship, how to treat his neighbors and how to get along when he does something wrong.
The Prophets
Now that the Law was set into motion man was able to look at himself in comparison to the law and know that he was indeed a wicked creature. But, God wasn’t through. He brought prophets along to make sure that people understood that they:
-Needed God
-Relied on God
-Followed the law
And, that God was coming back to save man from himself.
The Cross
The cross can be seen in Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac. God led Abraham to the very same mountain that Jesus was to be crucified on and asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son. However, God intervened and prevented Abraham from carrying through the sacrifice, with Abraham commenting that God Himself would provide a sacrifice. And, He did, through His only son, Jesus Christ.
The sacrifice of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, is a promise of a new life.
A promise of a new life
A life that promises:
-Abundant blessings and provisions
-Protection
-Rewards in Heaven that we lay at Jesus’ feet.
And, Eternity with our Creator
A promise of a new kingdom.
The prophets spoke of one that would come and set up His kingdom on this earth.
12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me ; your throne will be established forever.’" 2 Samuel 7 v 12-13 & 16.).
· The promise did not refer to Solomon, David’s son, because God said that the ’throne of his kingdom’ would be established forever. Although Solomon was noted for his riches and for his wisdom, he certainly did not reign forever. In verse 14 Nathan the prophet tells David that God would be the father of this great king who would come in his line. We read God says: ’I will be his father, and he shall be my son’ (2 Samuel 7 v 14).
-The king would rule on David’s throne (2 Samuel 7 v 12).
-God declares that He will bring it to pass (2 Samuel 7 v 12).
There is no doubt as to who the great king in the line of David will be. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Luke 1 v 32-33).
Notice the same three points again:
The kingdom would be established forever. He would rule on David’s throne.
God would bring it to pass.’
There can be no doubt that the kingdom which Jesus came to proclaim was a real kingdom on the earth. He would be the king and his followers would also have positions of ruler-ship. Jesus told his disciples
28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19 v 28).
It was the purpose of God in the beginning to fill the earth with His glory and with peace:
’As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord’ (Numbers 14 v 21).
This will happen when Jesus returns to the earth as King.
One of the main points that Peter made on the Day of Pentecost was that Jesus was the great descendant of David that God had promised. Peter quoted a Psalm to show that David looked forward to the establishment of the Kingdom with Christ as king:
29 "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.
30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. (Acts 2 v 29-30).
The apostle also explained that the resurrection of Jesus was a sure sign that the promise God had made to David would be fulfilled.
32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (Acts 2 v 32).
Peter said that David understood that the time would come when the Almighty would say to the Lord Jesus Christ, ’Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.’ The apostle then said, 36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36).
A promise of a new earth
Isaiah 65:17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Isaiah 66:22 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure.
2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
SUMMARY
GOD’S GUARANTEE
Paul summed up the wonderful hope, which the Bible offers when he was speaking to the people of Athens:
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17 v 31).
A promise of a new way
A promise of a new life
A promise of a new kingdom.
A promise of a new earth
