If you have been a believer for some time, you have probably heard about the wonderful promises of God… and even if you have not believed for very long (or at all) you probably still know that such promises exist at-least – or have some level of awareness of them. It’s impossible to keep a secret on such an amazing truth as the promises of God. Promises of blessing of every kind. Starting first and foremost with salvation, and touch absolutely every area of life from health, wholeness, healing, provision, wisdom, peace and every thing named or unnamed… regardless of what it is, there is a promise from God about it.
However simply knowing that such promises exist, does very little good if we do not believe that they are for us, or know how to receive them. You may be surprised to learn that there is a growing number of believers who think that the promises either aren’t for them, or that it’s wrong to receive them. You see, the enemy knows that the promises of God are too big to keep secret, so instead he just keeps people in confusion about them. So that’s why in this study today, we will be taking a look at how Jesus is our legal right to the promises of God, and how we can receive them without any doubt.
Now you have at some time in your life probably had someone promise you something. It may have been big or small, and if it was something really good, you have probably felt the excitement and anticipation of receiving it. Imagine then the excitement and anticipation of the promises that God has made to His dearly beloved – everyone who believes on Him. There actually should be overwhelming, overflowing excitement regarding such promises… but you won’t see much of that within the body of believers today. Why? Because most believers are living in ignorance regarding the truth of the promises of God. And the reasons for that are varied. Let’s examine some of the common misconceptions that believers today have about God’s promises:
The first is that some people believe that God can fail to deliver what He has promised. Just as when we are promised something, the person making the promise can break it. You may have had that happen before (or been the one breaking it!) – and you know the disappointment felt when a promise is broken. All that excitement of receiving what was promised is suddenly turned to sadness. And because we as humans behave that way, we tend to project those same failure onto God. Now as believers, it’s safe to say that most of us do not believe that God is unable to deliver, but we tend to think that God is unwilling to deliver for us. We see God blessing everyone else, and then we look at our own life and say “But that’s them, God won’t do that for me!” – however Psalms 84:11 states that God will not withhold any good thing from those that “walk uprightly”, which as we learned previously means to believe the truth of Jesus.
Well then, perhaps God is just delaying the good until a later time. Take a look at Proverbs 3:27-28:
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
Say not to your neighbor, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when you have it by you.”
This is the way that God instructs people to behave towards their neighbor. Not only does He say not to withhold good to whom it is due, but He also says not to delay giving it either. He says don’t tell them to go away and come back tomorrow, when you have the thing to give them now.
So if this is the way that God tells us to deal with our neighbor, how much more will God Himself also behave this way towards us, His beloved children!
Now many people have doubt start to creep in when they read these verses… it says “withhold not good from whom it is due.” – so they start to wonder if any good is actually due to them. And this leads us to our second misconception about the promises of God: Do we need to actually work for them or earn them? 2nd Corinthians 1:19-20 has the answer:
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yes and no, but in him was yes.
For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us.”
This verse tells us two main things… that first of all Jesus Christ, God’s One and Only Son, is not “yes and no” there is no uncertainty with Him. He is not a maybe, He is not a “Gee, I hope so”, and He is not sometimes yes and sometimes no depending on His mood. You are not on a teeter-totter with Him, and He doesn’t take you on a roller-coaster ride hoping that He will come through for you. The same Jesus that was preached in the Bible, the same one that fed the five-thousand, the same one that uncovered blind eyes and unstopped deaf ears, the same one that made the lame walk and raised the dead, the same one that caused Peter to walk on water and give him a net-breaking boat-sinking load of fish, the same one who cast out demons with a single word… This same Jesus has given you an unchanging answer of yes when it comes to every single promise of God.
The second thing that verse 20 tells us specifically is that the promises of God are in Him yes, and in Him amen. It is in Christ Jesus that the promises are given a yes, and it is in Christ Jesus that the promises are amen – which means “so be it, truly!” The is the amazing grace and generosity of God; this is the reality of what Jesus has done for you! And what does God get from this? Look at the second-part of verse 20… it says, to the glory of God by us.
By you receiving all of the blessings and promises of God in Christ Jesus today, God gets the glory because it is a testimony of the finished work of Christ. Whenever you receive through Christ the promises and blessings which you have not earned and do not deserve within yourself, then it is a testimony to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. He did all of the work, you reap all of the benefits and He gets all of the glory. It’s as simple and wonderful as that!
In closing today, I want to address one more misconception about the promises of God, because there is a growing movement within Christianity which says that believers should not claim the promises of God, because they are “telling God what to do.” They confuse the sovereignty of God, with His faithfulness. However surely you must understand that when a promise is made, the one who makes the promise obligates themselves to fulfill it. If I were to promise you something and then not fulfill it, then I would be a liar and an unreliable, untrustworthy person. Qualities which certainly do not fit the perfect, sinless character of God. (Joshua 21:45, Luke 1:37)
Standing on the promises of God is not telling God what to do – In-fact He has already told us what He is doing and we are simply relying on and trusting in what He has said! And praise God for it! David said in Psalms 119:140 that God’s word is “very pure” which the Hebrew defines as thoroughly tested.
A perfect example of this is in Romans 4:19-25, where the example is given of Abraham and Sarah, and the promise of him being the father of many nations even though he was old and Sarah passed child-bearing age. Look at what the scriptures say:
“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
Notice that Abraham did not look on natural evidence – he did not consider the outward circumstances. He did not consider his body dead, nor Sarah’s womb, but he believed in the promise of God. He stood on it despite anything that would be contrary to what God had said.
Verse 20 says that he did not stagger in unbelief, but he was strong in faith. He held on to the promise which God had said, and this gave God glory.
Verse 21 continues, that Abraham was fully persuaded that what God promised He was also able to perform. And as verse 22 says, this was imputed to him for righteousness.
Now look at verses 23 to 25… this was not written just for Abraham. We also receive righteousness by standing on the promises of God, specifically on Jesus Christ and His completed work for us. But with that, also comes every other promise and blessing of God as well (Romans 8:32).
You see, as is mentioned in verse 25, Christ was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification. This last part here is important. Think of Jesus as your divine receipt for all of the blessings and promises of God. Sort of how the receipt at a cash-register does not get printed out until the payment is processed. In the same way, Jesus was raised from the dead to show that you are justified. The payment for all of your sins has been successfully processed, and now through Jesus Christ, you have access to all of the promises and blessings of God. If even one of your sins had remained on Jesus and not been judged and paid for, then He would have never risen from the dead.
So, standing on the promises of God is not “telling God what to do” at all. It has nothing to do with usurping or undermining His sovereignty or His authority. Instead, it is having faith in what God has said and in what Jesus has done – and just as with Abraham, trusting in the promises of God and standing in the faith of Jesus Christ actually gives God glory.
I encourage you today. Do not let anyone, anything or any circumstance move you out of the realm of faith in Jesus. Don’t let anyone talk you out of what Jesus has paid for you to have. Jesus is your divine right and receipt for every promise of God, so freely receive what has been freely given in Him.