Good Morning Friends,
“When God made his promise to Abraham, since
there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I
will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so after waiting
patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater
than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all
argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very
clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did
this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to
lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly
encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
(Hebrews 6:13-19)
Why did God declare His promise with an oath?
It wasn’t for His benefit. His oath did not
move to compel God to keep His word more than just His promise would. God is a
promise keeper and doesn’t require an oath to make it sure.
He swore with an oath for our benefit. He did
it to put an end to all argument. He did it to make very clear the unchanging
nature of His promise, that nothing could alter it. He did it so that our hope
would be more certain to us and we would be encouraged by it. He did it for us.
Sometimes it is hard to accept God’s promise
because it is slow in being fulfilled. Consider God’s promise to Abraham. God
promised him a great nation of descendants, but he was a very old man (100
years old) before he fathered a son through whom that promise could be
fulfilled. Any reasonable man would have given up hope. Any reasonable man
would have assumed God either lied or was incapable of fulfilling His promise. But
Abraham kept faith and continued to hope for the fulfillment of God’s promise. And
God fulfilled His promise.
And for us, God’s promise may well take a
lifetime and just a moment more before it will be fulfilled. Reasonable men
might give up hope, might think God will not keep His promise. But men of faith
hold on to the promise, because it is God who gave it. He kept His promise to
Abraham. He has kept every promise He has ever made. And He will keep His
promises to you, too.
You can count on it. You can hold on to His
promises with confidence. It requires patience, but there is no doubt about the
outcome. God will keep His promises. He has sworn to!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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