The
Promise, what did God promise humanity? Think about the promises God
made. He made a promise with Adam and it was broken. He made a promise to Noah
to never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. He made a promise with
Abraham, that he would be the father of a great nation; he would be famous and
a blessing to all the families of the Earth. He promised Abraham and Sarah that
they would have a son. They both laughed but God kept his promise.
God
made a promise to Isaac just like he did to his father, Abraham. The promise
was that his descendants would become as numerous as the stars of the sky and
all the lands where they lived would be given to them. And through his
descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God promised.
God
made a promise to Jacob that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust
of the earth and they would be spread out in all directions. Again, all the
families of the earth will be blessed through Jacob and his descendants. God
promised that he would be with him until he had finished giving him everything
he had promised.
God
promised to be with Moses as he led the Israelites out of Egypt. He promised to
care for them and protect them as they traveled. And he promised that he would
lead them to a promised land that was flowing with milk and honey. Once they
arrived at the Jordan River God promised to be with them when they entered and
that he would destroy all the nations living in the land.
God
promised that even when he had banished them to live among the nations to which
the Lord had exiled them that he would take them back if they would obey his
commands with all their heart and soul. The Lord promised to return everything
they had possessed before, all their land and all their possessions and he
would make them even more prosperous than they were before. God promised that
he would change their hearts and the hearts of their descendants so that they
would love Him with all their heart and soul…and that they might live.
That
was grace, a gift of God. He made a promise and he kept it. All those promises God made…they’re still in
effect. The reason being is that we are those descendants God told Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob about.
Since
we’ve been adopted into the family of God we are joint heirs with God’s chosen
people from way back when. And it’s all because of God’s grace. It’s all
because God made a promise and he’s keeping it. It’s all because God is
compassionate, loving, gracious and very patient.
God
is gracious and keeps his promises but we aren’t always so gracious and, to be
honest, we don’t always keep our promises. And sometimes we make promises that
we haven’t thought through. We feel an obligation to keep them but sometimes,
like Herod, they get us into a spot we wished we weren’t in.
But
thank God, he promised that he would be gracious toward his children. No one
knew exactly what God would do that or how everyone just knew that God kept his
promises.
And
then after many, many generations the promise begins to be fulfilled in the
life of Jesus the Christ, who lived and died and rose again just so we could
receive God’s grace of forgiveness and eternal life.
What
are we to do with something like that? What are we supposed to do with this
gift of grace? There’s no way anyone could ever pay for this gift. So, what are
we to do?
Peter
tells us in his epistle that we are…“living stones that God is building into
his spiritual temple…you are a chosen people…royal priests, a holy nation,
God’s very own possession.” And because of that Peter says, “…you can show
others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his
wonderful light.” “…all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each
other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a
humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when
people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has
called you to do, and he will bless you for it.”
So,
what do we do when we’ve received a gift that is beyond putting a price on? Well,
what do you do when and if you receive a gift that you never imagined in your
wildest dreams you’d ever have?
They
would probably be shouts of joy, tears of happiness, hugs, laughter, kisses,
and a whole lot of unbelief. The emotions felt when receiving a gift like that
are akin to worship.
So,
we can let God know how much we appreciate his gift of grace by worshipping him
with all our might, by singing with all our might, dancing with all our might
like David, praying with all our might, and serving him as he demonstrated to
us in Jesus’ life, trusting in him to provide everything we need when we have
nothing but our hearts and souls to give him.
We
can’t ever repay him for this gift of grace but we can love him with all that
we are and we can serve him by showing others how much he loves them.
God’s
grace was promised to us a long, long time ago and he is still keeping his
promise. We, the descendants of his chosen people, are still receiving his
grace because God always keeps his promises.
Thanks
be to God for his grace. Amen.
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