To Encourage You

Hebrews 6:13-20 “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself,saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.”  Unfortunately, there’s a lot of truth in that statement as one learns through the experiences of life.  So often we hear or read sales pitches that seem too good to be true, but then we read the “fine print” and it all becomes clearer.  Isn’t it interesting that we must bind people by an oath when we really need them to tell the truth?  In court proceedings, isn’t it sad that people need to be bound by the words “I promise before Almighty God that the evidence which I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”?  People are so prone to lie that an oath is necessary to place those who violate that oath under the crime of perjury.  Perhaps it’s because human nature is what it is that people are, sadly, hesitant to even believe God. 

However, we can be sure that God is nothing like us in this respect.  As the verses above tell us, it is impossible for God to lie.  One of the names for Jesus is The Truth.  What God the Son and God the Father have said to us we can bank on, for every word that has ever come from God’s mouth is certain. What He has promised will definitely come to pass.

And yet, God has gone out of His way about one of His promises to make doubly sure that we trust Him.  That’s the promise mentioned above that He made to Abraham. Specifically, that promise was the one given to Abraham in Genesis 22:16-18 where God said this: “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”  This promise was given to Abraham immediately after he obeyed God’s command to sacrifice his only son Isaac.  Actually, God had given this same promise to Abraham before Isaac was born (Genesis 12:2).  Hebrews 11:19 tells us that Abraham trusted God to the extent that regardless of the fact that God had commanded him to kill his son, he believed that God would raise Isaac back to life in order to fulfill His certain promise.  Of course, God provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac, but because of Abraham’s great faith he became known as not just the patriarch of the Jews but the father of all those who would believe (Romans 4:11). 

But note that God’s promise to Abraham extended to everyone who would believe, for God had promised Abraham that it was through his progeny that “all the nations of the earth would be blessed.”  With this promise God was pointing beyond Isaac to Jesus, Who would eventually come through Isaac’s line.  It is through belief in Jesus that eternal life comes.  It is ultimately that promise that God has confirmed with an oath.

Think of this!  The God Who cannot lie has made an oath by Himself (since there is no one greater than Him by which to make an oath), that eternal life is sure for all who will believe. Notice the other confirmatory words that are used in the passage above from Hebrews 6 to emphasize this: “strong encouragement,” “guarantee,” “refuge,” “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul,” and a “hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” This last statement, wonderfully, is pointing to the risen Christ Who has entered into heaven as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (2 Corinthians 15:20). Jesus proved the truthfulness of God’s promise by rising from the grave to live forevermore. 

So do you want a hope that you can trust in, a promise you can believe?  If there was anything that anyone could ever believe it is this promise of eternal life – the promise that the God Who cannot lie actually confirmed with an oath.  And listen to Jesus Who says essentially the same thing in these wonderful words from John 14:1-3: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The promise of eternal life for all Who would believe; it’s not pie in the sky, and it’s not wishful thinking. It’s the surest thing that has ever been.