COVENANT PROMISES
So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. Joshua 21:43-45
God made a covenant and gave promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised them the land. He promised them rest and peace. He promised them victory over their enemies. And after hundreds of years, the promises, every one of them, were fulfilled. God proved himself to be faithful to his covenant. His faithfulness did not depend on the faithfulness of the Israel. Israel was not faithful. They broke covenant many times. Yet God is a God of his word and even the failure of his people could not hinder his fulfillment of the covenant.
What an encouraging truth this is for us! God has made covenant with us. His Son became one of us and announced the covenant to us. He brought the kingdom to us and proclaimed the good news that we could have citizenship in that kingdom. We would have possession of that kingdom. His body would be broken and his blood would be shed, yet he would rise from the grave in victory over all of our enemies. No enemy would be able to stand against the citizens of the kingdom of heaven because God’s Spirit would live within us and would win the victory. Whoever would repent and believe the good news would receive the blessings of the covenant.
And here we are today, recipients of the covenant. We had no hand in making the covenant any more than Abraham participated in the covenant God made with him. God sealed his covenant with us with the blood of his Son and conquered the enemies of sin and death when he raised Jesus from the dead. He gave us his Spirit. He gave us his promises. He will be with us always, even until the end of the world. Those who trust in Christ will have abundant and eternal life. He will always be present among us when we gather in his name. He will continue the work of righteousness in us which he began when we first believed. Jesus will never lose one person whom the Father has entrusted to him. Jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Whoever trusts in Christ will live even though he dies.
We could go on and on. What assurance we have in our God who always keeps every one of his promises. What promises are dearest to you? What does it mean to you to be able to be confident that those promises cannot fail? How should we, as children of the covenant, respond to our faithful Heavenly Father? I look forward to gathering with my brothers and sisters for worship in the morning.
God made a covenant and gave promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised them the land. He promised them rest and peace. He promised them victory over their enemies. And after hundreds of years, the promises, every one of them, were fulfilled. God proved himself to be faithful to his covenant. His faithfulness did not depend on the faithfulness of the Israel. Israel was not faithful. They broke covenant many times. Yet God is a God of his word and even the failure of his people could not hinder his fulfillment of the covenant.
What an encouraging truth this is for us! God has made covenant with us. His Son became one of us and announced the covenant to us. He brought the kingdom to us and proclaimed the good news that we could have citizenship in that kingdom. We would have possession of that kingdom. His body would be broken and his blood would be shed, yet he would rise from the grave in victory over all of our enemies. No enemy would be able to stand against the citizens of the kingdom of heaven because God’s Spirit would live within us and would win the victory. Whoever would repent and believe the good news would receive the blessings of the covenant.
And here we are today, recipients of the covenant. We had no hand in making the covenant any more than Abraham participated in the covenant God made with him. God sealed his covenant with us with the blood of his Son and conquered the enemies of sin and death when he raised Jesus from the dead. He gave us his Spirit. He gave us his promises. He will be with us always, even until the end of the world. Those who trust in Christ will have abundant and eternal life. He will always be present among us when we gather in his name. He will continue the work of righteousness in us which he began when we first believed. Jesus will never lose one person whom the Father has entrusted to him. Jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Whoever trusts in Christ will live even though he dies.
We could go on and on. What assurance we have in our God who always keeps every one of his promises. What promises are dearest to you? What does it mean to you to be able to be confident that those promises cannot fail? How should we, as children of the covenant, respond to our faithful Heavenly Father? I look forward to gathering with my brothers and sisters for worship in the morning.
posted by Shiloh Guy @ Saturday, September 19, 2009
2 comments
2 Comments:
Great post Dave. After Sundays sermon, here at Calvary PT, I have to ask myself if I really believe all the promises he has made to me through Jesus. Do I ACT like I believe? Why am I wallowing in the slough of despond again? Am I living within the freedom of those promises? How does this inform my growing faith? How am I building up the body in any of this?
So yes, I do believe ALL the promises. Today I will choose to act on those promises. I pray the Lord gird my loins. As I write, they quiver greatly.
Gregory
Thanks, Gregory, for your comment and for your honesty. I think we all forget God's promises and his faithfulness at times. But they MUST be the rock upon which we build the foundations of our daily lives. We need to learn to pray the promises of God back to him (and I DON'T mean the Pocket Promise Book! I mean the promises that he has given to us as children of the Kingdom!)
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