When we read the Bible, it is easy to forget that we are actually living in it. God’s word is alive and powerful, and his promises in the Bible are guiding history. Since we are part of history, his promises are guiding and quickening us. We are the fulfillment of some of his promises, and the Bible’s history continues with our histories. We are not trying to make our mark or find our purpose in a universe hurtling through space without design or meaning. God is making his mark and fulfilling his purpose in us. We are part of something eternal, far bigger than we imagine, and gloriously satisfying.
Consider some of the Old Testament promises. “And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing…And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3). This is God’s promise to Abraham and to Abraham’s seed, who is Christ (Gal. 3:16). As a believer, you are a child of Abraham. As a child of Abraham, you are the living fulfillment by faith in Christ of God’s promise almost 4,000 years ago to bless all the families of the earth.
Or: “All the families of the nations will come and worship before you” (Ps. 22:27). 1,000 years after God’s promise to our father Abraham this promise was given to David and his seed, who is Christ. All the families of all the nations – God’s great plan and promise from the beginning – will come and worship. Here we are, Gentiles living far away from the homeland of God’s original people and yet living dead center in the fulfillment of these “all the families of all the nations.”
One more promise: “From one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me” (Isa. 66:23). To worship the Lord as part of this promise means that men and women will be converted from idolatry to spiritual worship that God approves (John 4:24). “All flesh” removes this promise from a localized, narrow context and makes it global. God’s plan from the beginning, through the law and the prophets, from Abraham to Isaiah, has been to bring all nations to saving faith. It certainly makes weekly worship far more alive than “going to church,” with all the zeal of going to a root canal. We are going to participate in a promise, in a movement, in God’s own mission to save this foul world from sin and make it a rose garden, as Isaiah prophesied “(Isa. 35:1).
Arriving at the New Testament time, the “fullness of times” in which the promised seed of the woman, of Abraham, and of David came, we find the same glorious promises but now heightened. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Israel was a prototype, we might say, in its faith, worship, and institutions, of what all the nations should aspire to be, i.e., governed by God and his blessed law (Deut. 4:7-8). But Israel lived in the days of shadow and weakness. We now live in the day and reign of Jesus Christ. He presently has and exercises “all rule and authority” (Matt. 28:20). He has poured out the promised Spirit, who is at work in the world convicting it of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:9-11). He is at work in the church making us God’s dwelling place, God’s holy nation, and, in Christ, God’s royal priesthood.
These are the promises and age in which we now live. The Bible tells the beginning of the story. By faith in Jesus Christ, each generation of believers works toward the great day when the faith of Jesus Christ will be obeyed among all nations (Rom. 1:5; 16:19), the nations discipled (Matt. 28:20), kings from the ends of the earth bring their gifts to Jesus Christ (Ps. 72:10), and our Savior established peace and justice throughout the earth. Along the way, the church will grow holier and more united, in fulfillment of his great prayer, so that the world will have a living testimony to the renewing power of God’s grace and the transforming power of his love (John 17:23).
This great gospel hope is not without trial and suffering, setbacks and reversals that can in the Lord’s providence last generations. John spoke of being in both the “kingdom and the tribulation,” which is a needed antidote for “kingdom now” thinking (Rev. 1:9). Yes, the kingdom of God is here, for the power of God is at work reducing Satan’s kingdom and advancing the gospel kingdom of his Son. And our Savior’s kingdom advances through patient cross-bearing and conformity to our Savior through suffering, so that we may reign with him.
Nor should we think of the Bible’s gospel promises as meaning that everyone will be saved. There will be a large number at the end of history to rebel against Jesus Christ and besiege the church (Rev. 20), but the Lord will defeat this unbelieving remnant with the brightness of his coming (2 Thess. 2:8). Thus, while there is gospel progress and victory throughout history, there is also hardship, watching, pain, persecution, and death. But in the present kingly reign of our Lord, these sorrows are working glory and showing the power of his grace in us. Job could sense this a little, as could Joseph, David, and Daniel. We have much more light, for we have the indwelling Spirit of God.
And he is really the great difference in this age from the former times. Our weapons are “divinely empowered” (2 Cor. 10:4), for the Holy Spirit wields them through believers. We have God’s armor and sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:10-18). The Spirit is interceding for us (Rom. 8:24-25), sanctifying us (Gal. 5:17-23), and illumining us with a permanent anointing (1 John 2:27). The church cannot lose in time and space, for we are God’s temple. But we must act in faith and obedience. We will be defeated if we rush out to battle without placing ourselves consciously under the Spirit’s protection and wisdom, without prayer, without the armor that he empowers, the word that he authored, and the holiness that he works. The Holy Spirit is God’s great promise to us in these new covenant times. He is the direct, personal Author of all real holiness, strength, gospel hope, and zeal.
We must live in God’s promise. God’s great promise is that he is the Lord our God and that he will dwell with us, walk with us, and talk with us (2 Cor. 6:16). He gives us this promise through the person and work of his Son. He lives this promise with us by the indwelling Spirit of truth and holiness. He is with you now, believing mother of children, training and loving them for earthly faithfulness and heavenly rest. He is with you, Christian man, as you work unto Christ, pray and watch, struggle and sorrow, trust and obey. He is with you, college student, besieged as you sometimes are, for Christ alone is the wisdom of God, and the Spirit who indwells you shares Christ’s fullness with you.
Live in God’s promises when you are in the fire, when your faith is being refined by God’s tests, when you are in pain, when you are anxious about the future, frustrated in the present. Then, especially, we must live in God’s promise. “I will never leave you or forsake you.” You, believer, are sealed with the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son. The Seal cannot be broken. The Seal will not leave. For, the Lord is working out his glorious promises in your life and in mine, in the whole church of God throughout the world, to cast down everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of Jesus Christ and to bring everything under his Headship. The hour draws near when every knee bows and tongues confess. You are part of this promise. Keep it before you. Keep bowing and confessing, drawing near to the Father in Jesus’ name, trusting in the constant help and guidance and blessing of the Holy Spirit.
Comments