My Promised Future

Waiting for the promised son and the promised land.

Genesis 15:6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

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God has been at work in Abram's life but, as we saw in the previous post, even though Abram experienced great success in life it wasn't enough to keep him from fear and discouragement. Abram needed to put his focus back on the promises so God came to remind him that he is Abram's shield and reward.

It was naturally easy for Abram to doubt, so far God seems to be doing nothing to come through on his promises for land or for a son, Abram is in a rush to get to the fulfillment of the promise.

God knows that Abram, just like all of us, one of the reasons we get discouraged so easily is because we live by the clock and we try to get God to do the same. The world makes promises to us and they make good on the promises the same day or within a minute but God doesn't usually work that way, he doesn't care about same day delivery or minute rice.

The Promised Son Is Delayed

God assures Abram that the promise for a son is still good but the doubts keep growing as the biological clock keeps ticking. Maybe God isn't paying attention to the details, he might not realize that Sarah is already infertile, God needs to do something before Abram is also unable to reproduce.

Soon the anxious couple will decide to give God some help to make God's plans come to pass. (Genesis 16:1-2) They had a promise from God but they still felt the desperation and disappointment that most childless couples feel. They couldn't see that God was waiting until there was no way that they could produce a child on their own so that he would get the glory for a miracle baby.

The Promised Land Is Delayed

If Abram thought he had to wait too long for the promised son to become a reality that was nothing compared to the amount of time that would pass before the promised land would become a reality. There are so many things that must happen before God allows Abram's descendants to take the land so God gave Abram a glimpse of the long range plan so that he could have peace despite the fact that he couldn't see an progress being made.

God uses a dramatic ceremony that was common in that time to help ease Abram's doubts. Typically, both covenant partners would walk between the pieces of the sacrificed animal but this time God was obligating himself to fulfill his promise without any requirements from Abram.

Genesis 17:6,18-19 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!

18 So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” 19 But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.

The delay continued and God would come to assure Abram that his promise was still good. (Genesis 17:1-22) Abram didn't know that we don't graduate from the school of faith until God takes us home and he didn't have any idea that he would be in a best selling book as an example for us.

Abram's journey of faith shows me that it is okay to have doubts and questions when it looks like God isn't doing anything that he promised. We need to realize that most of God's people didn't get to see a lot of progress in the fulfillment of God's promises.

Abram's journey of faith shows me that God's promises are received by grace without works. I am saved not by making promises to God but by the promises of God that he made to me. God didn't accept the son born to Abram through works, the son that God accepted was the promised son that came through a miracle pregnancy, the impossible son that would later become the sacrificed son. (Genesis 22:1-19)

God's people didn't realize that the promised son and the promised land was a preview of something much bigger and better. God only partially fulfilled his promises through the Jewish people, they didn't know about the new promise that would come, they didn't realize the promises would be expanded to every nation, tribe and tongue from around the world.

Philippians 3:20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

God's people are still waiting for the ultimate fulfillment of the promised son and the promised land. The promised son came once to pay the penalty for our sin so that when he returns we will be able to enjoy the promised land with him for eternity.

The world will make promises to you and a lot of the time they will come through on those promises right away but we need to be patient enough to wait for the best promises. We need to be careful to not be content with these temporary promises and miss the eternal joy that God's promises bring.

Don't Toss The Gift

We need to appreciate how valuable the gift is.

Galatians 4:4-7  But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

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Most people would agree that children and Christmas go together, it is probably the perfect combination, after-all the main person in the Christmas story is a baby. But not just any baby, this is the best baby ever, this baby is the Son of God.

A lot of times when Christmas gets out of control it involves the kids, there are plenty of opportunities for disagreements, from what to get the kids to how much to spend, we do a lot this time of year to provide great presents for our kids.

It is too bad that we don't learn from our past experiences, we see it happen over and over again, we know in the back of our head that they are going to toss the gift aside way too soon, and yet we still put so much energy and emotions into buying their happiness.

Your kids are so much like God's kids. 

Jesus came a long way to give us the most awesome gift that has ever been given and God watches us as we quickly toss the gift to the side and enjoy the box. Instead of being thankful for and treasuring the gift we settle for the worldly idea of Christmas and become fascinated with the wrapping paper and the lights.

Maybe we think that we deserve the gift because we think we aren't that bad or maybe we discount the gift and try to minimize the cost. The Bible makes it clear that I am way too bad to deserve any kindness from God and it also tells us that the price tag for this gift was outrageous.

Nobody should ever spend that much on me but even if it was less expensive I still would not deserve to have the gift. My goodness won't get me very far and neither will yours. There has to be a different way or else nobody will ever get the gift of eternal life with God.

John 1:12  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Romans 5:17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ.

The gift has been provided to all of us that are willing to accept it. I have been adopted into the family based on Jesus goodness, because I believe and accept that he lived a sinless life and died as my passover lamb, I have become God's child.

I need to remember that I do not deserve anything good from God yet he spent so much on me to give me the best gift ever. I need to see the value of this gift and treasure it so that I won't toss it aside and settle for lesser joy that can never satisfy. (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9)

Believe, Be Sure About It And Be Ready

John's advice is still important today.

The apostle John was a close friend of Jesus, he was in the inner circle of the disciples, he is the man that took care of Jesus' mother for fifteen years after Jesus' death and he was an early leader in the church.

John's books are very significant part of the Bible, he gives us more of the teachings of Jesus than any other gospel writer, he also wrote the most unique book of the Bible from the vision that he experienced while he was exiled to Patmos.

We can see in John's books that he wants us to believe in Jesus, be sure about it and he wants us to be ready for his return:

Believe

John 20:31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

John wrote his first book out of a desire to help you believe. It is easy to find something to believe but there is only one belief that is going to get you to heaven. So what are we supposed to believe?

• Jesus the man is also one hundred percent God. (John 1:1-3, 14)
• Jesus came from the heavenly world to reveal God to the human race. (John 1:18, 3:13, 5:18-19, 6:62, 8:23, 8:26, 14:9, 14:11)
• Jesus came to live with us with a normal human body. (John 4:6-7, 9:6, 12:3, 19:34)
• Jesus came to be the sacrifice for our sins and give us eternal life with him. (John 3:14-16, 6:27, 10:10)

Eternal life is only available by belief in Jesus and his work on the cross as a substitute for the punishment that I deserved.

Be Sure

1 John 5:13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

John's next book was written to help you be sure of what you believe. The same man that was unclear and lacked faith in who Jesus was wants to help you with your belief.

What you believe is so important to John because just like every other Jew, John held onto false beliefs all of his life, his beliefs didn't get straightened out until after Jesus came back from the grave. Nobody understood that Jesus first coming wasn't going to be his last.

In John's three letters he wants to reassure troubled believers that they really do have eternal life so that they might enjoy it. (1 John 1:3; 3:18-19; 4:13; 5:13 / 2 John 5)

Be Ready

Revelation 22:20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

The first coming of Jesus was to give us eternal life and when he returns he will come to give us our eternal reward. Unlike the first time, when he returns again it will be too late to clear up any false beliefs, it is extremely important that you believe and that you are sure about it.

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Dead Man Returns

A rotting corpse is alive again and yet you still do not believe?!?

 

John 11:43-48  Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!"  44  And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him go!"  45  Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.  46  But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man certainly performs many miraculous signs.  48  If we allow Him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in Him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation."

John 12:17-19  Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising Him from the dead, and they were telling others about it.  18  That was the reason so many went out to meet Him--because they had heard about this miraculous sign.  19  Then the Pharisees said to each other, "There's nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after Him!"

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They asked for proof that Jesus is God and now they have the most amazing display of Jesus power and yet it didn't make any difference to so many. If any miracle should have resulted in every person present falling on his face and worshiping Jesus as God then this would have to be the one.

Four days of decomposing causes a body to do gross and smelly things that you don't want to think about. The Jewish culture back then didn't do anything to embalm the corpse, they wrapped the body and sprinkled spices on it to cover up the stink. This is the condition that Lazarus was in when the tomb was opened and yet this smelly corpse gets up and walks out and his decomposition is completely reversed.

Jesus asked Martha, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Through this miracle she saw the glory of God on display through Jesus but not everyone did. Other people that saw the same event were not convinced at all. They reacted by reporting what Jesus did to the guys that are "in charge."

These two responses to Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead is a clear demonstration of the way we react to Jesus today:

If we believe in Jesus then we will see the glory of God

John 1:14  So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

Jesus said that Martha's faith would make her see, the writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is the evidence of things not seen, Paul told us in Romans 1:20 that we have no excuse. There is only one reason some people are so blind to the truth, Jesus tells us why, it is because we love the dark and prefer to be there and our adversary has blinded their eyes. (John 3:19, 8:12)

When John is writing down Jesus words that they would see the glory of God, he must have recalled his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration,  the incredible experience must have been a dramatic and life changing event.

Our inability to see God's glory is because we can be so full of our own glory, our pride and arrogance, our inability to see how disgusting our goodness is, distorts our view of God.

If we see miracles without believing then we are in great danger.

Hebrews 12:25  Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven.

They were “good church-goers” but they didn't have a relationship with God. They could not see and believe that Jesus is God. What further proof of God’s power could you want than to smell the stench of the rotting body as they rolled the stone from the tomb? You can see Lazarus laying there right where they put him four days ago, you hear Jesus’ loud command to come out of the grave and then you see him stumble out in his grave clothes without any signs of the decomposition that you just witnessed.

The writer of Hebrews warns us that we are in great danger if we refuse the evidence that God gives us. The Israelite's refused the evidence and would not listen to Moses, in Jesus day he was ignored and rejected as the Messiah, and now we have even greater evidence yet so many of us don't see it.

The evidence of fulfilled prophecy, including over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, we have the eyewitness accounts of His teaching and miracles and we have an empty tomb, backed up by the changed lives of the witnesses that testify that he did come back from the grave.

Can you consider the evidence and come to the conclusion that Jesus is God? No greater evidence will be given before the moment that it is too late. Some day you will realize that Jesus is God. Make the right choice before it is too late!

The Burden Of Unbelief

Without Jesus you don't have any hope on judgement day.

 

John 3:16-21  "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

17  God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.  18  "There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son.

19  And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  20  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  21  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."

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This new Rabbi that had just popped up on the scene was so totally different than all of the other Rabbi's that were in Jerusalem that Nicodemus went to learn more about what he was teaching. Before Nicodemus could ask Jesus any questions Jesus went straight to the gospel. Jesus began to tell Nicodemus who he is and why he had come.

John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

Jesus made it clear that he came from heaven with a mission, he told Nicodemus that the number one "Blessing of Believing" is that you will see the kingdom of God and you will stay there with him for eternity. Jesus came with a message of love and forgiveness so you might wonder why anybody would reject his message.

Jesus could have come with a message of judgement and condemnation he had the right to shake his finger at everybody he saw and judge them but he did the exact opposite.The sad truth is that men love to indulge in sin and we don't want to be exposed.

The light of the world came to earth but too many people pushed him away. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to stand there with Jesus while he was on earth, to come in contact with Holy, Almighty God and know that he knew everything about you.

Romans 8:1, 34 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Who then will condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.

The good news is that Jesus came to redeem the world and we are not condemned. Jesus is on our side everyday despite how we feel from one day to the next he is always there for us. (Romans 8:1)

If you are having a good day he is there, if you are having a bad day he is still there and just remember that he isn't giving you a bad day because you suddenly deserve some of his wrath.

Judgement Day
Acts 17:31  For He has set a day for judging the world with justice by the Man He has appointed, and He proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead.

One day we will all come into the presence of Jesus, at that time your decision will be locked in and your acceptance or rejection of Jesus will be your final answer. There isn't any other way to meet the requirements of a righteous God.

The choice is yours:

✔  You can take on the burden of trying to be perfect, you can follow all of the teachings of any religion that you choose and you will still bear the burden of God's judgement.

✔  You can take Jesus up on his offer: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Thank you Lord for your great love that drew you out of heaven to bear the burden of sin that I could not pay.

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The Blessing Of Believing

Jesus came from heaven so we could go there too.

John 3:10-16  Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things?

11  I assure you, We tell you what We know and have seen, and yet you won't believe Our testimony.  12  But if you don't believe Me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

13  No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man [who lives in heaven] has come down from heaven.  14  And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,  15  so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

16  For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that

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There is a new Rabbi in town and he is stirring things up, his teaching is different from every other Rabbi in Jerusalem, yet he speaks with so much authority. (Matthew 7:28-29) And he already has some disciples but since they are just fisherman, they have never sat under the teaching of a real Rabbi, what could they really know?

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was deep into the teaching that the law was the way to make God happy with you and therefore gain access to Heaven. Nicodemus came to Jesus seeking answers to his questions but this Rabbi was saying some things that were difficult to understand.

Jesus doesn't mind skeptics, he doesn't mind our questions but there comes a time when we have to have faith to believe God for the things that we cannot comprehend. We cannot understand everything there is to know about the world around us so we certainly cannot understand heavenly things and so we need to believe the testimony of the only person who has ever been there and came to earth to tell us about it.

Nicodemus is a teacher of heavenly things but he doesn't really believe it, surely he must have taught the people about the bronze snake that Moses lifted up in the wilderness but he didn't understand the symbolism.

Admit Your Sin
Numbers 21:7-8  Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!"

The people confessed their sin to Moses and God made a way for salvation. They had a choice, they could die from the snake bite or they could crawl to the pole and look up at the snake. By coming to the pole they were acknowledging that there was sin that needed to be confessed and they had to have faith in God that he would forgive them.

Jesus predicted his death in this conversation with Nicodemus. I wonder if Nicodemus looked back at this prediction three years later when the rest of the religious leaders were plotting Jesus death. Did the light bulb suddenly turn on? Did he have an "aha" moment?

Awakening to the reality of our true spiritual condition, we see ourselves and our need for a Savior with renewed honesty. This realization leads to action, obeying God’s commands and following the example set by Christ.

-Kyle Idleman "AHA: The God Moment That Changes Everything."

I have to wonder if Nicodemus heard the conversations about having Jesus crucified and all of a sudden he had an awakening. He remembered Jesus words and he realized that they were true, Jesus was going to die and there wasn't any way to change that fact. Maybe Jesus prediction about being crucified was the "aha" moment that made him realize that Jesus is the Son of God and that he was dying to save him from his hopeless condition.

Ephesians 1:7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.

The Bible is full of blessings that are for God's children. Are you his child? A summary of John 3:16 makes it so simple: God loves, God gave, I believe, I receive. Jesus told us that we can avoid death by believing in him. We need to believe that God is our loving Father and that Jesus is who he said he is, we need to believe in him alone for our righteousness.

Thank you Lord for so many undeserved blessings that come with believing in you and your purpose for coming to earth.

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