God's Yes!
The word “promise” can conjure up all kinds of emotions and reactions. Sometimes the word can invoke the sorrow and pain of a broken promise. Other times it can inspire the joy and hope of a promise kept or that of a future expectation.
Unfortunately, today the word “promise” connects more to the word “broken” than the word “keep.” But not so with God.
The promises of God are summarized in the word “yes”! “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes” (2 Cor. 1:20).
They are “yes” in their value and greatness. They are “precious and magnificent” (2 Pet. 1:4), and therefore never cheap or just enough to get by.
They are “yes” in their reliability. God’s word is always true because “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). God will never break a promise. “He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23).
They are “yes” to every part of your life. God’s “yes” covers your past (God promises to “remember your sins no more” —Heb. 8:12), your present (God promises to “provide a way of escape” when facing temptations—1 Cor. 10:13), and your future (God promises that “when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is”—1 John 3:2)
We can’t forget that God’s promises are conditional and unconditional.
Romans 10:9 is conditional: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Philippians 1:6 is unconditional: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
And while God has His flawless “yesses,” He wants us to be faithful with our “yesses” to Him and others. Jesus said: “Let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (Matt 5:37). Solomon communicated the same sentiment: “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!” (Ecc. 5:4).
As you read through God’s Word, keep an eye out for all the “I will’s” and “yesses” of God, and always cherish and appreciate 1 John 2:25: “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”
by Pastor Jeff