In Galatians 3:6-9 Paul says, “Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited
to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe
are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham:
“All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith
are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
In the NASB it says, “The Scripture…preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham…” The promise of the gospel (i.e. the promise of the Messiah) started all the way back in the book of Genesis. It didn’t start with the promise found in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born inBethlehem
In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul shares how long God had planned on giving His son, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Eugene Peterson paraphrases the passage in The Message this way, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)”
I hope to show you this morning that the promise of the Messiah was in part a promise of mercy. It was a promise that was based on truth and it was accomplished by God’s power. And it was also a promise of security and future provision.
But before I talk about the nature of these promises I’d like to show you a short clip from The Jesus Film. It was made by Campus Crusade for Christ. God has used this to reach many different people groups with the gospel all over the world. This will give you a snapshot of what the Old Testament says about some of the promises of the Messiah.
The first thing I want to share is that the promises of the Messiah were in part promises of mercy.
Mercy can be defined as “to show compassion and concern for someone in difficulty, despite that person’s having committed a moral offense…Having mercy or showing compassion must involve some act of kindness or concern." It’s my understanding that mercy flows out of love. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” The NASB sheds a little more light on the passage by saying, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…” God is rich in compassionate action because of His love. He shows mercy to us because He loves us.
In March of 2010 we had to admit Sarah into the hospital. She got sick with a respiratory virus and it turned into pneumonia. But this wasn’t any ordinary pneumonia, it was MRSA pneumonia. This particular bacteria is resistant to many of the antibiotics we have inAmerica Chapel
Hill to have the infection taken out. She wasn’t able to walk because of the
central line. She was exhausted and
would hardly eat or drink anything. This
all happened over a period of 25 days in the hospital. I would wake up in the night to check on her
and would lean over her bed to watch and pray for her. My deepest desire was that God would take the
disease away. I wish I could have taken
her place. I wish I could have taken the
sickness and pain away from her and given it to myself. I felt helpless. I had the desire to do something. I had the desire to exercise compassion by
showing mercy but I couldn’t do anything about it. I was powerless.
As I look back on that experience it’s helped me to understand what God did for us. He saw that we were in a terrible situation. He saw the disease of sin causing our lives to disintegrate. The fact that He was concerned about our situation showed His compassion. The fact that He did something about our problem showed His mercy. In Isaiah 53 we find one of the great passages about the Messiah that was to come. In verses 4 and 5 it says, “ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Here’s a little about the crucifixion. A Roman official, called the ‘lictor’, was trained in the art of persecution. Someone with a huge whip would come within a certain distance of the person to be scourged. They take away the clothes of the body of the individual to be scourged. His body was bent with his wrists and ankles tied to the stump. And the Roman lictor would beat out flesh and blood with every whipping. Ravi Zacharias shares how the same Jesus that changed His disciples is the same Jesus that can change us, “Matthew says by the time they had finished scourging Him and took Him to the cross He hardly had enough strength left. And he says this, ‘They all sat there and watched Him.’ And… (it) says in His word, ‘That for this very cause He came into the world so that He could die for your sins and mine. Are you going to make a mockery of that and say ‘I don’t believe it’? Or by faith, and the reason of the resurrection. Are you going to respond and say, ‘Alright, preacher, that Jesus has spoken to me tonight.” (“Jesus as They Saw Him, Part 2”) You see, God not only had a desire to take our place. He did it. That leads me to another aspect of God’s promises of the Messiah.
The promises of the Messiah were accomplished by God’s power.
I did not have the ability to take Sarah’s place. I had the desire to do it but I felt helpless. A human being is not able to take on another human beings suffering or even their joy. Proverbs 14:10 says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.” But because God is omnipotent He is able to take our place. When a human dies they cannot take on someone else’s sin. They can’t defeat death when they die. When they die, they die. That’s it. It’s over. But God, who is all-powerful, was able to take all of our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross.
In the NASB it says, “The Scripture…preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham…” The promise of the gospel (i.e. the promise of the Messiah) started all the way back in the book of Genesis. It didn’t start with the promise found in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in
In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul shares how long God had planned on giving His son, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Eugene Peterson paraphrases the passage in The Message this way, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)”
I hope to show you this morning that the promise of the Messiah was in part a promise of mercy. It was a promise that was based on truth and it was accomplished by God’s power. And it was also a promise of security and future provision.
But before I talk about the nature of these promises I’d like to show you a short clip from The Jesus Film. It was made by Campus Crusade for Christ. God has used this to reach many different people groups with the gospel all over the world. This will give you a snapshot of what the Old Testament says about some of the promises of the Messiah.
The first thing I want to share is that the promises of the Messiah were in part promises of mercy.
Mercy can be defined as “to show compassion and concern for someone in difficulty, despite that person’s having committed a moral offense…Having mercy or showing compassion must involve some act of kindness or concern." It’s my understanding that mercy flows out of love. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” The NASB sheds a little more light on the passage by saying, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…” God is rich in compassionate action because of His love. He shows mercy to us because He loves us.
In March of 2010 we had to admit Sarah into the hospital. She got sick with a respiratory virus and it turned into pneumonia. But this wasn’t any ordinary pneumonia, it was MRSA pneumonia. This particular bacteria is resistant to many of the antibiotics we have in
As I look back on that experience it’s helped me to understand what God did for us. He saw that we were in a terrible situation. He saw the disease of sin causing our lives to disintegrate. The fact that He was concerned about our situation showed His compassion. The fact that He did something about our problem showed His mercy. In Isaiah 53 we find one of the great passages about the Messiah that was to come. In verses 4 and 5 it says, “ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Here’s a little about the crucifixion. A Roman official, called the ‘lictor’, was trained in the art of persecution. Someone with a huge whip would come within a certain distance of the person to be scourged. They take away the clothes of the body of the individual to be scourged. His body was bent with his wrists and ankles tied to the stump. And the Roman lictor would beat out flesh and blood with every whipping. Ravi Zacharias shares how the same Jesus that changed His disciples is the same Jesus that can change us, “Matthew says by the time they had finished scourging Him and took Him to the cross He hardly had enough strength left. And he says this, ‘They all sat there and watched Him.’ And… (it) says in His word, ‘That for this very cause He came into the world so that He could die for your sins and mine. Are you going to make a mockery of that and say ‘I don’t believe it’? Or by faith, and the reason of the resurrection. Are you going to respond and say, ‘Alright, preacher, that Jesus has spoken to me tonight.” (“Jesus as They Saw Him, Part 2”) You see, God not only had a desire to take our place. He did it. That leads me to another aspect of God’s promises of the Messiah.
The promises of the Messiah were accomplished by God’s power.
I did not have the ability to take Sarah’s place. I had the desire to do it but I felt helpless. A human being is not able to take on another human beings suffering or even their joy. Proverbs 14:10 says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.” But because God is omnipotent He is able to take our place. When a human dies they cannot take on someone else’s sin. They can’t defeat death when they die. When they die, they die. That’s it. It’s over. But God, who is all-powerful, was able to take all of our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross.
What was it that caused Abraham to believe God? What was it that caused him to trust
God? In Romans 4:18-25 it says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope
believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to
him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced
the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years
old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”
He knew that he and Sarah were too old to have a child. But the Scripture goes on to say, “Yet he did not waver through unbelief
regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory
to God, being fully persuaded that God had…” What? What did God have that gave Abraham the
faith to believe Him? It says Abraham
believed that God had “power to do what
he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also
for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who
raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our
sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
In Hebrews 11:17-19 it says something similar, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” Abraham “reasoned that God could raise the dead…” In the ESV it says, “He considered that God was able…”
When I talk to people about being sure of their salvation I’ll bring up this point. What is our salvation based on? Is it based on our ability to keep God’s commandments? Is it based what kind of feelings we had when we prayed the sinners’ prayer? Many people I talk to feel like they shouldn’t be 100% sure that they’re going to heaven. They feel like it would be arrogant to say that they know without a doubt that they’re going to heaven. It would be arrogant to say that we’re sure that we’re going to heaven if our salvation depended on us being the best possible person. But that’s not what it’s based on. It’s based on God’s power or ability to do what He promised. At that point in the conversation I’ll use the following illustration that I learned from Ray Comfort, “How do you "pray with faith?" If someone says to you, "You're a man of great faith in God," they may think that they are paying you a compliment. But they aren't -- the compliment is to God. For example if I said to you, "I'm a man of great faith in my doctor," it's actually the doctor I'm complimenting. If I have great faith in him, it means that I see him as being a man of integrity, a man of great ability -- that he is trustworthy. I give "glory" to the man through my faith in him. The Bible says of Abraham, "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Romans 4:20-21). Abraham was a man of great faith in God. Remember, that is not a compliment to Abraham. He merely caught a glimpse of God's incredible ability, His impeccable integrity, and His wonderful faithfulness to keep every promise He makes. His faith gave "glory" to a faithful God.” (Save Yourself Some Pain)
Because we finished the presidential election I’m sure that politicians are still fresh in our mind. It’s an encouraging thing to know that God is not like a politician. Some politicians don’t have the power to do what they promised. They make all these great promises but they’re not able to back them up. They may be genuine in their promise and they may have had a great concern for other people. But they find themselves with their back against the wall with nowhere to go. They don’t have the ability to carry out that promise. Not every politician does this but many do. Also, some politicians lie to us. They never had any genuine desire to do what they had promised. That moves me to my next point.
The promises of the Messiah were promises that were based on truth.
God is not a liar. In Titus 1:1-2 Paul says, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…” Hebrews 6:18 echoes the same thought: “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” Like I said earlier, if our salvation is based on our ability then none of us would get to heaven. Because it’s based on God’s truthfulness then we can be sure about our salvation. God is the only one I know that’s never told a lie. How many of you have told a lie? How many of you are lying to me right now?
It’s hard to imagine a world where there is no lying. It’s hard to imagine that there’s a person out there that’s never told a lie. It’s become second nature for employees to lie to their employers or students to lie to their professors or children to lie to their parents. So, it’s hard to believe that there’s someone out there that would never tell us a lie. The only one is God. I’m truly thankful that he’s not like many politicians.
There’s a lot of good evidence out there that would confirm that the Bible is telling us the truth about God, and specifically, the Messiah. Historical writings outside the Bible from Flavius Josephus, Tacitus and Lucius show that Jesus existed and that He performed miracles. No other book has predicted the future accurately like the Bible has. The prophecies set the Bible apart from every other textbook or religious book. If you can get to the point where you can trust what the Bible says then take a good long look at what it says about God’s character. It says that He has the ability to do what He promised and that He will never tell us a lie. If He said that He will bring a Messiah, then He’ll bring a Messiah. If He says that we need to repent and put our faith in Christ in order to be saved, then when we do that we can be sure that we’re saved. We can be sure that we’re saved because we did what He told us to do and we know that He will come through on His end of the deal. And if His promises hold true for the spiritual side of life then we know they will hold true for the physical as well. This leads me to my last point.
The promises of the Messiah were promises of security and future provision.
Recently, we’ve been praying about our financial situation. We’ve been able to raise new support for our ministry over the past year but we’ve also lost support. We’re praying that God will allow us to raise 100% of our monthly support during this upcoming year. But we’ve also been praying about the possibility of me getting a part-time job. Sometimes it’s hard to trust God with things like money. Some of you may be trusting God for a job or a spouse or a college degree.
I ran back across a verse as I was preparing my sermon. It really encouraged me. It’s found in Romans 8:32 which says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” I can’t imagine giving up my own child to be killed for anyone. God didn’t give up His only Son for people who were worthy or were really good. He gave up His only Son for sinners who rejected Him. All our physical needs in life seem so small when you compare it to the gift He already gave us by giving us His son. It’s so easy to worry about the clothes we wear, the food we eat or the place we’ll stay. As I read that verse I think God was reminding me, “I gave you my Son so don’t worry about the other small stuff.” J. Vernon McGee talked about an illustration that Dwight L. Moody gave about this verse: “‘How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?’ Dwight L. Moody illustrated it somewhat like this: Suppose I go into the finest jewelry store in the land, and they bring out the loveliest diamond, and the owner says, ‘It’s yours!’ And I say, ‘You don’t mean that you are giving me this valuable diamond!’ He says, ‘Yes. I am giving it to you.’ If he gave it to me, do you think I would hesitate asking him for a piece of brown wrapping paper to wrap it up and take it home with me? My friends, since God gave his Son to die for you, don’t you know that He is going to give you everything that is necessary in this life and in the life to come?”
I don’t think the promise in Romans 8:32 is about us always being free from financial difficulty or physical trouble. Later on, in verse 35 Paul says that we can’t be separated from the love of God even during “distress” and “famine”. When Paul said that God, “graciously gives us all things” I think it primarily refers to spiritual blessings. In Ephesians 1:3 it says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” In chapter one Paul is talking about Him making us “holy and blameless in his sight.” He said that we have been “predestined”. God has given us “grace”, “redemption” and “forgiveness”. The list of spiritual blessings goes on and on and on. But if He has given us all these spiritual blessings then it would be nothing for Him to give us the physical blessings if He desires to do so. The fact that He didn’t spare His own Son shows that we can be sure of our salvation and future provision.
How should we respond to God’s promise of a Messiah? In Romans 12:1-2 Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” In other words, because God has acted upon His compassion by showing mercy, serve Him. This is worship. If we took the word “mercy” out of the passage and replaced it with the phrase “taking your place” this is what it would sound like: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s taking your place, offer your bodies as a living sacrifices.” A few weeks ago Carl mentioned that we should continue to remember how God saved us. In Titus 3 it says that part of our growth to maturity is by remembering God’s mercy in our lives.
How did Abraham respond to God’s promise? In Romans 4:20-21 it says, “ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” His faith was strengthened as He relied on God’s truthfulness and ability. If you’re having trouble believing any of this, then let me ask you this. Do you have any reasonable doubts that this book isn’t true? You may have doubted things in the Bible but do you have any doubts that are large enough that you have to throw away the whole thing? God can help us work through our doubts. He helps me work through my own unbelief. A jury must not convict someone of murder if they have any “reasonable doubts”.
They may doubt exactly what weapon was used. They may doubt exactly how the murderer swung the weapon. Do they have doubts that are big enough to let that man go free? I may not be able to understand everything in the Bible but I haven’t found any evidence that would overturn a verdict that this book is really the Word of God.
Finally, I’ll share with you what I’ve been telling myself for the past couple of weeks. We need to stop being hesitant to ask for a “piece of brown wrapping paper” when He’s already given us His diamond.
In Hebrews 11:17-19 it says something similar, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” Abraham “reasoned that God could raise the dead…” In the ESV it says, “He considered that God was able…”
When I talk to people about being sure of their salvation I’ll bring up this point. What is our salvation based on? Is it based on our ability to keep God’s commandments? Is it based what kind of feelings we had when we prayed the sinners’ prayer? Many people I talk to feel like they shouldn’t be 100% sure that they’re going to heaven. They feel like it would be arrogant to say that they know without a doubt that they’re going to heaven. It would be arrogant to say that we’re sure that we’re going to heaven if our salvation depended on us being the best possible person. But that’s not what it’s based on. It’s based on God’s power or ability to do what He promised. At that point in the conversation I’ll use the following illustration that I learned from Ray Comfort, “How do you "pray with faith?" If someone says to you, "You're a man of great faith in God," they may think that they are paying you a compliment. But they aren't -- the compliment is to God. For example if I said to you, "I'm a man of great faith in my doctor," it's actually the doctor I'm complimenting. If I have great faith in him, it means that I see him as being a man of integrity, a man of great ability -- that he is trustworthy. I give "glory" to the man through my faith in him. The Bible says of Abraham, "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Romans 4:20-21). Abraham was a man of great faith in God. Remember, that is not a compliment to Abraham. He merely caught a glimpse of God's incredible ability, His impeccable integrity, and His wonderful faithfulness to keep every promise He makes. His faith gave "glory" to a faithful God.” (Save Yourself Some Pain)
Because we finished the presidential election I’m sure that politicians are still fresh in our mind. It’s an encouraging thing to know that God is not like a politician. Some politicians don’t have the power to do what they promised. They make all these great promises but they’re not able to back them up. They may be genuine in their promise and they may have had a great concern for other people. But they find themselves with their back against the wall with nowhere to go. They don’t have the ability to carry out that promise. Not every politician does this but many do. Also, some politicians lie to us. They never had any genuine desire to do what they had promised. That moves me to my next point.
The promises of the Messiah were promises that were based on truth.
God is not a liar. In Titus 1:1-2 Paul says, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…” Hebrews 6:18 echoes the same thought: “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” Like I said earlier, if our salvation is based on our ability then none of us would get to heaven. Because it’s based on God’s truthfulness then we can be sure about our salvation. God is the only one I know that’s never told a lie. How many of you have told a lie? How many of you are lying to me right now?
It’s hard to imagine a world where there is no lying. It’s hard to imagine that there’s a person out there that’s never told a lie. It’s become second nature for employees to lie to their employers or students to lie to their professors or children to lie to their parents. So, it’s hard to believe that there’s someone out there that would never tell us a lie. The only one is God. I’m truly thankful that he’s not like many politicians.
There’s a lot of good evidence out there that would confirm that the Bible is telling us the truth about God, and specifically, the Messiah. Historical writings outside the Bible from Flavius Josephus, Tacitus and Lucius show that Jesus existed and that He performed miracles. No other book has predicted the future accurately like the Bible has. The prophecies set the Bible apart from every other textbook or religious book. If you can get to the point where you can trust what the Bible says then take a good long look at what it says about God’s character. It says that He has the ability to do what He promised and that He will never tell us a lie. If He said that He will bring a Messiah, then He’ll bring a Messiah. If He says that we need to repent and put our faith in Christ in order to be saved, then when we do that we can be sure that we’re saved. We can be sure that we’re saved because we did what He told us to do and we know that He will come through on His end of the deal. And if His promises hold true for the spiritual side of life then we know they will hold true for the physical as well. This leads me to my last point.
The promises of the Messiah were promises of security and future provision.
Recently, we’ve been praying about our financial situation. We’ve been able to raise new support for our ministry over the past year but we’ve also lost support. We’re praying that God will allow us to raise 100% of our monthly support during this upcoming year. But we’ve also been praying about the possibility of me getting a part-time job. Sometimes it’s hard to trust God with things like money. Some of you may be trusting God for a job or a spouse or a college degree.
I ran back across a verse as I was preparing my sermon. It really encouraged me. It’s found in Romans 8:32 which says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” I can’t imagine giving up my own child to be killed for anyone. God didn’t give up His only Son for people who were worthy or were really good. He gave up His only Son for sinners who rejected Him. All our physical needs in life seem so small when you compare it to the gift He already gave us by giving us His son. It’s so easy to worry about the clothes we wear, the food we eat or the place we’ll stay. As I read that verse I think God was reminding me, “I gave you my Son so don’t worry about the other small stuff.” J. Vernon McGee talked about an illustration that Dwight L. Moody gave about this verse: “‘How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?’ Dwight L. Moody illustrated it somewhat like this: Suppose I go into the finest jewelry store in the land, and they bring out the loveliest diamond, and the owner says, ‘It’s yours!’ And I say, ‘You don’t mean that you are giving me this valuable diamond!’ He says, ‘Yes. I am giving it to you.’ If he gave it to me, do you think I would hesitate asking him for a piece of brown wrapping paper to wrap it up and take it home with me? My friends, since God gave his Son to die for you, don’t you know that He is going to give you everything that is necessary in this life and in the life to come?”
I don’t think the promise in Romans 8:32 is about us always being free from financial difficulty or physical trouble. Later on, in verse 35 Paul says that we can’t be separated from the love of God even during “distress” and “famine”. When Paul said that God, “graciously gives us all things” I think it primarily refers to spiritual blessings. In Ephesians 1:3 it says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” In chapter one Paul is talking about Him making us “holy and blameless in his sight.” He said that we have been “predestined”. God has given us “grace”, “redemption” and “forgiveness”. The list of spiritual blessings goes on and on and on. But if He has given us all these spiritual blessings then it would be nothing for Him to give us the physical blessings if He desires to do so. The fact that He didn’t spare His own Son shows that we can be sure of our salvation and future provision.
How should we respond to God’s promise of a Messiah? In Romans 12:1-2 Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” In other words, because God has acted upon His compassion by showing mercy, serve Him. This is worship. If we took the word “mercy” out of the passage and replaced it with the phrase “taking your place” this is what it would sound like: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s taking your place, offer your bodies as a living sacrifices.” A few weeks ago Carl mentioned that we should continue to remember how God saved us. In Titus 3 it says that part of our growth to maturity is by remembering God’s mercy in our lives.
How did Abraham respond to God’s promise? In Romans 4:20-21 it says, “ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” His faith was strengthened as He relied on God’s truthfulness and ability. If you’re having trouble believing any of this, then let me ask you this. Do you have any reasonable doubts that this book isn’t true? You may have doubted things in the Bible but do you have any doubts that are large enough that you have to throw away the whole thing? God can help us work through our doubts. He helps me work through my own unbelief. A jury must not convict someone of murder if they have any “reasonable doubts”.
They may doubt exactly what weapon was used. They may doubt exactly how the murderer swung the weapon. Do they have doubts that are big enough to let that man go free? I may not be able to understand everything in the Bible but I haven’t found any evidence that would overturn a verdict that this book is really the Word of God.
Finally, I’ll share with you what I’ve been telling myself for the past couple of weeks. We need to stop being hesitant to ask for a “piece of brown wrapping paper” when He’s already given us His diamond.
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