The Certainty of God’s Promise (NIV) Heb 6:13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[a] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. 16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. I recall preaching a sermon one time where I said there is one thing God cannot do. Before I could go any further, a little girl said with a strong, loud voice, “God can do anything!” Midst the laughter, I replied, “That’s right, God can do anything, except lie.” That child was the last person I baptized before I retired. Our society has developed some phrases we use to affirm our truthfulness. If you notice Joe Biden frequently uses the phrases, “not a joke man,” or “no, I’m being serious here,” to be certain the audience knows they can rely on him. I wrote the following poem probably twenty years ago about the truth. And that’s the Truth Have we become so used to hearing the lie, that we amend and append and modify, just so that we can verify, that we, too, are not guilty of a lie? Must we prove our intention with a constant verbal mention of our own veracity, our inescapable tenacity to relate the reality to the extent of our capacity? If this is the case, and I think it must be, then what does this say about you and me? Shouldn’t we be more careful of what we hear and say, since our words linger long after the close of the day? In today’s scripture, we see that when God made a promise to Abraham, because there was no greater person for him to swear by, He swore by Himself. That one phrase tells me that human nature has not changed much. We needed even God to swear an oath. But the author of Hebrews goes on to say God’s promise is an anchor to our soul. Don’t you love that? In a world full of instability, God provides a safe place for you and for me. May we seek out the truth of God’s Word with the assurance that God never changes, and just as His Word is everlasting, so is His love for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Carol Grace ♦ October 22, 2024 ♦ Leave a comment