How can the many promises from God included in the Bible affect me?
Joshua 23:14“Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!”
In his old age, Joshua could draw on a wealth of experiences to challenge his fellow Israelites to trust the God who had kept all his promises.
Psalm 119:140Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much.
Make a note when you hear the reports of others about the ways God has kept his promises. It’s easy to become cynical and call God’s wonderful acts of faithfulness mere coincidence. But knowing God’s promises leads us to realize that all the good things in our lives cannot be merely coincidental.
Psalm 145:13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.
When we think about God’s promises, it is worth remembering that God lives and reigns outside of time. His timing as he keeps his promises conforms to his eternal priorities and his Kingdom purposes, not our short-term expectations.
2 Corinthians 1:20All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
Christ is not only the answer to our deepest questions, but he is also the final answer to God’s promises. The first promise in the Bible was given to Eve after sin had entered the world, and it pointed to God’s solution of the sin problem (see Genesis 3:15). When we agree with God that Christ has fulfilled God’s promises for us, this brings God glory.
James 1:12God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Some of God’s promises will be fulfilled beyond this life. Knowing this helps us to live by God’s promises in the present, since he has not promised a pain-free or temptation-free existence. These obstacles prepare us to receive God’s future blessings.
1 Peter 1:3-4All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
The greatest promise in the Bible is God’s vow to forgive your sins and grant you eternal life if you repent of your sins and follow Jesus. This promise is true because Jesus not only died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins, but he also rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. God promises that those who believe in Christ will be resurrected like Christ and live with him forever where all pain, suffering, and evil will be gone. When you take God at his word, you discover a future that is far beyond what you can imagine.
1 John 2:24-25You must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
When we trust in what God has said, we will experience and enjoy what John calls “fellowship” with God himself. Eternal life is not mainly a luxurious existence without end—it is an intimate and deeply satisfying relationship with God that we can experience both right now and into eternity.
