#27 On the Nature of God: A PROMISE-KEEPER from the Beginning

Can you be relied upon? For example, can your family rely on you to care for and love them always? Did you promise at your wedding to love your mate forever? Sometimes, we have trouble keeping our vows and promises. Is God like that?

After the Garden of Eden, God promised to do something about sin, Genesis 3:14-15:

“The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

God kept this promise by sending His Son to be the propitiation or atonement for the sins of mankind, 1 John 2:2:

“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Satan bruised Jesus’ heel by tempting the Jews until they crucified Him. Jesus bruised Satan’s head by His resurrection from the dead to provide for a resurrection of the faithful at the judgment day. At that point, the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, Revelation 20:10:

“…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

God has kept and will keep His promises.

When Noah came out of the ark, God promised to never again destroy the entire  earth by a flood, Genesis 9:12-13:

“God said to Noah “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” …I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth…”

Over 3000 years have passed, and God has kept His promise to not again destroy the entire earth by a flood. When we see a rainbow, we remember that God has kept His promise.

God made a threefold promise to Abram, Genesis 12:1,3, 7:

“…the LORD said to Abram… I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…

…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed…

…To your offspring I will give this land.”

God kept His promise. Abraham became the father of the Children of Israel, a great nation. God gave them the land of Canaan as an inheritance. Abraham was a blessing to the earth because Jesus, the Savior of mankind, was born to his descendants. God indeed kept His promises.

Later, King David thought of building a house of worship for God, 2 Samuel 7:2-3:

“…the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

But God had Nathan tell David that he could not build a temple for worship. Instead, David’s son, Solomon, would build it. But instead, God told David that He would build a house for him that would stand forever, 2 Samuel 7:11-13:

“…the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled… I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

God kept His promise. Before Jesus was born, the angel told Mary that Jesus would have a kingdom of the house of Jacob that would never end, Luke 1:32-33:

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

The church is that kingdom that will never end. Its obedient members will be swept into heaven on the day of judgment.

Jesus was called a king during His life several times. For example, during Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He was called a king by the crowd, Luke 19:38:

“…Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The Apostle Paul in writing to the Colossian church made it clear that the kingdom of Jesus is the church in which Jesus provides the forgiveness of sins, Colossians 1:13:

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Likewise, the writer of the Hebrew letter called the church a kingdom for which we thank God and worship him, Hebrews 12:28-29:

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

God has kept His promises and now calls everyone to be a part of His kingdom, 1 Thessalonians 2:12:

“…we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

In summary, one of the characteristics of God is that He always keeps His promises.

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