Promises

Providence

The Almighty God revealed in the Bible is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. He is over all things and His will cannot be stopped or thwarted. Nothing can stop or hinder God from accomplishing all His will. 

It is also true that God cannot lie. He is the truth! Since truth is essential to His character, we can say that God does not lie, will not lie, and cannot lie. This is not a contradiction because the reason that God cannot lie is not because of a lack of ability, but rather because of God's perfection. God is perfectly truthful.

Since both of these things are true, we can conclude that God always keeps His promises. He never binds Himself to an oath or a covenant in which He does not entirely fulfill His responsibility. However, oftentimes we overlook the gracious fulfillment of both prophecy and promises. In doing so, we end up holding onto future hopes of fulfillment about things that should instead fill us with confidence concerning the promises that God has made.

Sworn

When God says something, that thing will happen. When He gives us a promise we can be sure that it will come true. For example, God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would surely give them the land of Canaan. The piece of real estate is even called the promised land. Many believers look at the embattled history of the people of Israel and conclude that those promises have not been fulfilled. However, since these folks genuinely trust the Lord, they are sure that this must be a future prophecy for Israel in the end times.

But what if the Scripture clearly and emphatically told us that God had kept those promises? What if the Bible said that God had given the land to Israel just as He had promised? What if the Bible said that Israel had taken possession of the land and settled there? What if the Bible said that God had given Israel rest from all their enemies? What if the Bible said that not one word of all the good promises of God had failed to come to pass?

Joshua 21:43-45 Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Now read that passage again! Notice that God has kept every promise that He has made for His people. Not one of them was unfulfilled. Shouldn’t we believe God not only when He makes a promise, but also when He tells us that He kept it!

Warnings
We also should believe God when He gives warnings about the judgment and destruction that will come on those who continue in unbelief and disobedience. In Luke 21, the Lord Jesus Christ clearly tells about the destruction that will happen to that temple, that city and that generation. Again people often conclude that this hasn’t happened yet even though that temple, that city, and those people of that generation were judged and destroyed in 70 A.D.

God doesn’t make threats, He makes promises. Promises to bless and promises to destroy. And He keeps those promises, EVERY TIME!

Salvation

But let us not forget that God also promises to save His people. And He always keeps this promise also. Consider the promise of Christ in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” In this text, Jesus is making a promise to save all those who come to Him. He goes on to explain in verse 38-39 that He will not lose any of those who have been given to Him and that He will raise them up on the last day! Jesus gave us His sure word and promise. Will you trust Him to save you? To give you everlasting life? To keep you and not lose you? To ultimately raise you up on the last day?

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