Title: God's Sure Promise
(35) God's sure promise
(Hebrews 6:13-16)
1. God's promise made bare
The Word of God is a promise between God and us who believe in His Word. God has promised us through His Word about what He will give us. And that promise will be fulfilled to those who believe in the Word. But God is saying that this promise was given by God as an oath.
One example of this is the case of Abraham, the author of the book of Hebrews. When God made a promise to Abraham, it was said that he had made an oath. What did you promise? Please see verse 14. There is a saying, “I will surely bless you and bless you, and I will multiply you and multiply you.” Abraham believed God's promise through this oath, left the land of Chaldeau and headed for Canaan, and waited for God's promise. Abraham was 75 years old when he received God's promise like this, but when he received God's promise, he was 100 years old, 25 years later. Abraham received his son Isaac according to God's promise, and he became the wealthy man of his generation by receiving great wealth.
We can learn two things from this case. One is the fact that God always fulfills His promises in any case. It was humanly impossible for Abraham to receive God's promise. Because at the time Isaac was born, Abraham was already 100 years old and became like a dead man, and his wife Sarah was too old to stop working hard. However, in order to show clearly that God will surely fulfill His promises even in such extreme circumstances, He fulfilled the promises made to Abraham by his oath.
If we have received God's promise, we must believe that God will surely fulfill that promise no matter how difficult our situation is. Another thing is that Abraham received the promise by waiting until the end, believing that God would fulfill the promise he had made to him, even though his circumstances, the passage of time, and his physical condition were in an impossible way to fulfill the promises of God.
This is what Romans 4 says about this. 'Abraham hoped and believed in hope, so that he might become the father of many nations, just as it was said, 'Your descendants will be like this.' He did not grow weak in his faith and did not doubt God's promises through lack of faith, but was strengthened in his faith, glorifying God and convinced that he was able to accomplish what he had promised. Therefore, it was counted as righteousness to him.'
Our salvation is also obtained through faith in God's promises, like Abraham, our intention. Because we also have the same faith as Abraham, we are being acknowledged as descendants of Abraham.
2. God's Promise as an Oath
Then why did God promise us with an oath? Two reasons are given for this problem. The first is in verse 17. This is what God is saying to those who inherited the promise, so that he could fully demonstrate to those who inherited the promise that his will did not change, so he promised it with an oath.
God's will cannot be changed under any circumstances. If God's will can change from time to time depending on circumstances, this would be a big deal. Then we will not be sure whether we will be saved or not if we believe in Jesus. Even if you live a life of obedience, you do not know whether or not you will receive the blessings as promised. The reason we believe in God's promises in any case is because we firmly believe that God does not change His will for what He has promised us. Another thing is in verse 18. It is based on the fact that ‘God cannot lie’.
Conclusion: An oath is always an act of making sure that there is no one greater than oneself, and God swears by his own name because there is no one greater than him. If God could change this promise, He could not already be God. We must firmly believe in this promise of God and build our faith on the basis of that promise to become the saints who receive all the promises.