Eternity Daily Bible Study
(A ministry of Eternity Christian Fellowship)
Walking In The Spirit -3
Topic: The Precious Promises
Date: 23rd July 2009
2 Peter 1:2-4 MKJV Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, (3) according as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue, (4) through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Corinthians 1:20 ISV For all God's promises are "Yes" in him. And so through him we can say "Amen," to the glory of God.
Every covenant agreement, even in the human realm, has certain good promises attached. Now the glorious New Covenant has all the promises of God attached - and they are 'yea and amen' in Christ Jesus! These promises are free gifts. They are not earned. They are like the gifts you get as an inheritance from your uncle. You did not earn them – they were freely given because he chose to give them to you!
You do not have to 'do something' (other than believe in Jesus) for these promises to be activated. They are the promises of faith, and not of works. And they are simply inherited through faith and patience like that of Abraham (Hebrews 6:11-15).
The purpose of the promises is 'so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature'. That is that we might become a truly holy and godly and kind and compassionate people made in the image of the God who is Love.
The promises are not given for the flesh but for the spirit. For the flesh profits nothing:
John 6:63 MKJV It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life.
The promises of God are faith-activated spiritual principles that help us to be Spirit-led Jesus-followers who 'escape the corruption that is in the world through lust'. So the promises of God are world-renouncing and lust-denying. They are the glorious promises of the saints that give hope in the midst of trials and bring the grace and peace of God to bear in the midst of life.
Lets look a 2 Peter 1:2-4 above. God's divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. These gifts are received through the knowledge of Jesus Christ so that we can obtain glory and virtue. Whatever you require to live a positive, godly Christian life will be supplied through Christ and through the promises of His covenant.
Experience seems to contradict this. In the current recession many ministries are hurting and some are closing. The mail is full of urgent appeals for funds. Many Christians seem to be saying that they do not have all that they need for life and godliness.
On the other hand I have lived by faith for over 25 years and I have had many 'lean times' but there has always been enough for life and godliness. God has seasons of abundance and of pruning, of directing funds, then of redirecting them. Occasionally the expensive programs have had their time and need to go. And from time to time God brings us back to holy simplicity.
It is in faith's holy simplicity that we find the activation of the precious promises of God. It is as we follow Abraham and Joshua that we find the victory.
The New Covenant is full of gifts for those who follow Christ. Gifts such as eternal life, godliness, and the promised Holy Spirit. We press into the experience of those gifts through faith. For instance we can believe God for more and more joy in the Holy Ghost or we can be unbelieving and self-pitying. We can go to the Bible looking for things to rejoice in or we can look at our circumstances and find things to be miserable about. We can rejoice in hope or we can say “I will believe it when I see it”.
One of the most fundamental promises that we inherit is that of the love of God being poured out in our lives (Romans 5:5). Because of what Jesus has done on the cross we are 'justified' – that is made good, OK and blameless, in the sight of God. Many Christians do not yet believe that God truly loves them in this way. They are still struggling to 'be good' so that God can love them. In fact it the other way around. God loves us first – and later on as we understand this, we find it easy to do good works.
Meditate on bible verses about the love of God such as the following:
1 John 4:16 MKJV And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Romans 8:37-39 MKJV But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us. (38) For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (39) nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Galatians 2:20 MKJV I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.
1 John 4:9-10 MKJV In this the love of God was revealed in us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. (10) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation concerning our sins.
Pray that God will awaken your spirit to the love of God, opening your 'faith senses', that is your spiritual eyes and spiritual ears, to the goodness and wonder and kindness of the Savior. Press in to inherit these things. Stir up your faith to lay hold of the promises that are yours as part of the eternal covenant.
Blessings,
John Edmiston ([email protected])
Pastor – Eternity Christian Fellowship
Chairman/ CEO Cybermissions
http://www.eternitychristian.com
http://www.cybermissions.org
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