God’s Promises

 Mike Johnson

 Promises are common in our society.  There are those who try and keep their promises, and there are others who do not.  It almost goes without saying that the promises made by many people are often not very dependable.   Man makes promises but is not willing to keep them.  This is seen in politicians, salesmen, employees, employers, and in some cases, even with friends.  It is also true, with men, that as more time passes without a promise being fulfilled, the chance of that promise actually being kept becomes less and less.

While the above principles are true of man, they are not true of God.  When God makes a promise, it can be depended on.

Consider some important promises made by God in the Old Testament which reveal the nature of God’s promises.  Genesis 6 records God’s promise to destroy the wicked world though a flood.  God, however, promised Noah (a righteous man) that he and his family could be saved from the flood if he would build an ark according to certain specifications.  It took one hundred and twenty years for the promise of the flood to be fulfilled—  yet it happened.  Further, God kept the conditional promise that He made to Noah to save him and his family from the destruction.  In Genesis 12:1-3, God made a threefold promise to Abraham which stated that  Abraham’s descendants would be given a land; that  his descendants would become a great nation; that though his “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed.  The “land” promise was fulfilled in the land of Canaan that was given to the Jews.  The “nation” promise was fulfilled as the Jews became a great nation.  The “seed” promise was fulfilled in Christ bringing salvation to mankind.  It actually took hundreds of years for these promises to be fulfilled.   Yet, they were as God’s promises are dependable, and the passing of time does not affect them.

II Peter 3 tells us of certain scoffers who were questioning God’s promise concerning the second coming of Christ.  They asked in verse 4, “ . . . Where is the promise of his coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”  They seemed to be saying, “the course of nature goes on as usual; Christ has not yet come, therefore, he is not going to come.”  Peter counters by mentioning the lessons of the flood (vs. 5-6), and then he shows that God does not count time as we do as he points out, “ . . . that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  Then he said (v. 9), “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward. . . .”  Actually, some time had passed since the promise of the second coming of Christ had been stated.  This did not mean, however, that God was slow with his promise.  Instead, as we are told, it was evidence of his longsuffering nature.  God’s promise regarding the second coming of Christ will be fulfilled.

A promise made by God in 30 AD is just as valid now as it was then, and it will be just as valid in the year 4000 (if time lasts that long) as it was when it was made.  Thus, we can believe what the Bible says when it speaks of such things as the return of Christ (Acts 1:11) and the punishment of the  wicked and righteous (Mt. 25:46).

We must not make the same mistake as the scoffers of II Peter 3 and think that God’s promises are not going to be fulfilled.  The passing of time does not affect them, and they can be depended upon. If God’s promises concerning the second coming of Christ are the Judgment were fulfilled today, where would you stand?