The Greater Promises

The Greater Promises

All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Hebrews 11:13

THE STORY OF ABRAHAM in Genesis assures us that he received what God had promised him—descendants who would be a worldwide blessing. Abraham waited long years and struggled to understand the promise, thought God might have one thing in mind when really he had another, and finally rejoiced over a miracle child who kept the promise alive. So what are we to think when we read in chapter 11 of Hebrews that the heroes of faith—Abraham included—died without having received what was promised to them? How is someone able to receive the promise and die without receiving it?

Contradictions in Scripture are not clear contradictions; they are tensions, divergences, variations that send us deeper into the text to understand the nuances of God’s ways. In virtually every case, we can see God working at multiple levels. Abraham received a promised child, but the original promise was far greater: “a great nation” and blessing for “all the families on earth” (Genesis 12:1-3). We see only Noah and his family being spared in his generation, a near end to humanity, but then righteous remnants multiplying for generations to come. We see signs of a coming Kingdom that patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings envisioned and even enjoyed—to a point—but could only anticipate in its fullness. We see God fulfilling his promises in seed and bud but full flowering saved for more lasting purposes.

Your testimony will be similar. You will both “see” and “not see” God’s promises fulfilled in your life. You will see seeds, buds, and fruit but not the full harvest. You will need to fix one eye on his work in your generation and another on his work in generations to come. That’s because the promises given to you are not just about you. They are about a greater Kingdom, and your relationship with God along with your understanding of his will for your life is only part of the whole. Live with an eternal focus. Rejoice in what he is doing now in your life. Rejoice even more over what he is doing through you for eternal blessing.

All the Holy Spirit’s influences are heaven begun, glory in the seed and bud.