62 – His Promise; Our Anchor

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: [4] Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3-4 KJV

From the beginning, all who have interacted with God, have done so because of His promise. God made man in His image and gave Him the earth to subdue. However, when he lost this right due to sin, God made a promise to him that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent, essentially destroying it and its sting (death) which is in opposition to the man. This promise was that man will eventually be free to perform the mandate for which he was created. God elaborated on this promise through the ages via His prophets that death which is man’s biggest enemy would be swallowed up by life. The promises are summed up in Revelations 2 and 3. By these great and precious promises, Peter mentioned that we can the overcome corruption and decay that came into the world through one man’s lust.

1 John 2:16 summarizes this lust in the world as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These three summarize the temptation of every man in the world. However, throughout history, there were a few men and women of faith who overcame. These heard God’s promise in some way and it stirred them to contend for it. One of such men is Joseph who embraced the shame of prison and rejected the temptation to be with Potiphar’s wife due to the fear of the Lord, Genesis 39:8-9. It was evident that he had held onto the promise of God to him through dreams in Genesis 37, that he would be a ruler and a deliverer of his people. He even seemed to hope for a much better promise of deliverance from corruption and death and this was why he asked his people not to leave his bones in Egypt, Hebrews 11:22. Moses was another man who denied the pleasures and pride of being a prince in Egypt for the sake of the promise made to Abraham and his seed in Genesis 22:17-18, which was simply an elaboration of the initial promise of a seed who would be their deliverer.

Time will fail us to elaborate on all the men and women of faith in Hebrews 11 who for the sake of this promise of deliverance declared themselves pilgrims on the earth. Even our Lord Jesus, for the promise of Glory set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame and He is now seating in glory, ready to receive all who hold on to this same promise of life. Revelations 2 & 3 show the promises to all who overcome: from a return to Eden to partake of the tree of life, to inheriting the throne of glory as a Son of God. Having received such promises, what manner of persons are we to be?

2 Corinthians 7:1 KJV says “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.“. There was the man Esau who missed out on the promise and the birthright because he despised it. Hebrews 12:16 called him a fornicator. This was more in the spiritual sense than in the physical. James 4:4 says that friendship with the world is essentially sexual immorality. Since we are in a marriage covenant with Jesus, friendship with the World makes us a whore or an adulterer. It automatically disqualifies us from the promise of God. Knowing this, godly fear should be stirred up in us to pursue the promise, knowing that God is faithful and cannot lie. The credibility of His promise to us was sealed by a declaration made by One who cannot lie and also an oath which He swore by His very existence.

Final thoughts: David also said “I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you”, Psalm 119:11, and “I have set the Lord always before me and because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved”, Psalm 16:8. The more we have these glorious promises before us, reciting them to ourselves, meditating about them, thinking about them, the more the desire for them and the fear of missing out on them will drive us to consecrate ourselves. The more we explore the greatness of The Promise giver and His surety to deliver on His promise, the more this hope is an anchor to our soul, keeping us afloat in the deadliest of storms.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for Your promises to me. I pray that the eyes of my understanding may be enlightened that I may know the hope of Your calling and the riches of Your inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of Your power towards me which you displayed when you raised Jesus from the dead and set Him at the right hand of God. Lord, you not only raised Him, but you also raised me and glorified me with Him. You gave me the seal of the Holy Spirit as a promise and sign that where You are, I will be also. Help me to keep this ever before my eyes!