What Promise Do You Need To Keep?
Good Morning Friends,
In today’s scripture is an opportunity to lay a foundation that can help us to better experience and understand the events of Holy Week. In the text Jesus makes some amazing claims about himself, life and death and the law and it really upsets the religious leaders. He asserts that the covenant established with Abraham is not just about the land, or circumcision – but it is also about God the Father’s plan of redemption for the nations, through him, the Messiah as a way of glorifying God. The Jewish religious leaders figure Jesus was crazy and possessed and going to die as everyone else and tell him so. In response to the Jews accusations, Jesus answers that his testimony is valid, because he knows where he has come from and where he is going. He is the Son of God. He claims that those who believe in him will listen to his words and obey them. Here our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus reveals God’s promise for sinners to deliver them out of death. Jesus the Son keeps the Father’s promise and helps us through the Holy Spirit to continue in faithful acts that glorify the Trinity and extend the blessings. What Promise Do You Need To Keep?
Scripture: Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Genesis 17:3-9 (NRSV)
Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
John 8:51-59 (NRSV)
Message: God makes covenants and He keeps His promises. We need to do the same in a way that glorifies God. Keeping promises is extremely important in order to keep friends and family close to you. It is about trust. Nothing else in the world hurts as much as a broken promise. It is like turning away from God and God’s word. Not surprisingly then, the Bible speaks about keeping promises quite a lot. Here we learn that God always keeps promises and is incapable of lying or deceiving anyone. God is always true to the Word and always delivers on it. As such, we are to emulate Jesus and strive to maintain that kind of candor and strength in keeping promises…as a way of honoring God. So scripture, speaks of how God is true to His Word and why we ought to be, too. And the amazing thing is that not only did God command us to be people of our word and to keep promises, but He gave us the ultimate example of someone who did it: Jesus! God the Father gives us an example, in this life of Jesus and through the Holy Spirit in us to encourage us as we seek to be people who keep our promises to others. We must not make promises that we do not think we should keep. However we are to make covenants and promises that benefit the generations. We too need to take up the cross of our calling on the winds of God’s purposes even as God empowers our lives to carry out a Holy purpose. And friends, here is the mystery, for our past, present, and future world is filled with the lives of those who grasp the Spirit of Jesus’ words: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
Pray we realize the folly of gaining the whole world but forfeiting our souls. Pray we feel the wind of the Spirit. Pray we too pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Pray we embrace the characteristics of a disciple. Pray we too in the face of life’s storms choose to travel in God’s will…not the path of self will. Pray we not deny Christ. Pray in the name of Jesus, we encourage those in search of a faith in Christ Jesus. Pray God be with us on this journey. Pray God heal our grief, our sorrow, our sadness, our broken-heartedness. Pray we come face to face with the everlasting life of love and faith in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Pray God’s promise are revealed to us in a way to deliver us out of death. Pray we accept the everlasting life in the love and faith of the promise of Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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