Promise of God Part 2: (2)

Introduction:

Good morning everyone, today we are going to continue with the promise of God. today we are going to be look at God’s promise to us christian’s. the first promise we are going to be looking is become a citizen of his kingdom, the second promise from God is we have access to his throne, the third promise we receive from God is his blessing that we receive in life, and the Fourth Promise from God is having fellow ship with God.

The promise of becoming a Citizens:

One of the promise we receive is that we become citizens of God’s kingdom. there are rules in that in play in order for us to become citizens of God’s Kingdom. Lets turn in our Bibles to John 3:1-7

John 3:1–7 NKJV

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

In this passage here in the Gospel of John we see a conversation between Nicodemus who is a Pharisees and Jesus Christ. in order to get the whole picture here we have to understand that there two groups within the Jewish people The Pharisees, and then there are The Sadducee’s. here in John account here we see that Nicodemus is part of the Pharisees’s. The Pharisees here were consider to be separated, they stayed true to the law of Moses, and to tradition’s of men. Usually many people make speculation, about why Nicodemus had to come to Jesus during the night, but that does not matter for our main focus should be on the conversation between the two men here. we understand that Nicodemus because of his background he believe that since he was descendant of Abraham, and followed the traditions of men he would be in the kingdom of God. we see that Jesus tells him this in verse 3 John 3:3

John 3:3 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

in this verse here we see that Jesus is not talking about a physical birth but a spiritual birth. in order for people to be citizens of the kingdom of God they must be born of spirit. if continue with verse 4 here in this passage we see that Nicodemus is confuse with this statement because in a Physical form no one can be born again. John 3:4

John 3:4 NKJV

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Like the rest of the Jewish people including the Pharisees, and the Sadducee, were looking for a physical kingdom from God. we see that Nicodemus response was due to the fact of physical limitation of life. Because of the Nicodemus mind set thinking about limits of the flesh and not realizing that Jesus was speaking about a spiritual birth. this allows to look at the last three verse here in this passage of John 3:5-7

John 3:5–7 NKJV

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

here in these verses from the passage in John we see that this is Jesus response to Nicodemus question about being born again. we see that Jesus was not speaking of physical birth but a spiritual birth. being born of water and the spirit. Jesus was talking about Baptism. in order to become a citizen of God we must be born of the spirit. we must be baptized in order to become citizen in God’s kingdom. lets turn to Col 1:13-14

Colossians 1:13–14 NKJV

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Here in this passage we see that Paul talks about how we must be save through baptism in order for us to enter the kingdom of God. when you think about becoming a citizen is not hard to become a Citizen of the kingdom of God at all. the things we have to do in order to become a citizen is Believe, Confess, Repent, be Baptized, and live faithfully. with all of this in mind we should be able to talk to others, and explain that one of the promise once we chose a life for God is citizenship within his kingdom. with this in mind also once we become a citizen in the kingdom of God we leads to the next promise from God. access to the Throne.

The promise to have access to his throne:

The second Promise that we are going to be talking about today is the promise to have access to throne of God, how do we have access to throne of God? well lets go back to the first promise for a moment When we become citizens of God we are known by the King of the kingdom. Lets turn in our Bibles to Eph 3:11-13

Ephesians 3:11–13 NKJV

according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Here in this passage from Ephesians we see that Paul is talking to the early Church in Ephesus. we see that Paul is explaining that everything that has happen to this point was God’s purpose, because of that purpose we are able to come to God Through his Son who died on the Cross for our sins. As citizens of the kingdom of God we now have confidence to be able to come to our God in our time of need, we are able to confine in him who is just. an other example comes from Rom 5:1-2

Romans 5:1–2 NKJV

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Once we realize through Jesus Christ we have peace with God, there is no other way to approach God. it because of our sins that separate us from God, and God gave us his son to be the mediator for us by dying for our sins because of this death we are able to approach the throne of God. today many people don’t realize in order to approach the throne of God we must be buried in the same manner as Christ was. it really goes back to becoming a citizen of God. it comes down to that we must be baptized in order to have peace with God, which does not mean that we never continue sin again against God which we do have to keep in mind. the more we continue to live a life for God, the more we can see the blessing he provides. this leads us to our third point for today.

the promise of receiving God’s Blessings:

Throughout the history of the Bible we see that God graciously blesses his people. we see that throughout the Old and New Testaments. even today he still blesses his people, but we have remain faithful to God in order to receive his blessing in our life. lets turn in our Bibles to Eph 1:1-3

Ephesians 1:1–3 NKJV

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Here from this these couple of verses here in Ephesians we see that Paul gives his normal greeting about him being an apostle of Jesus Christ by doing the will of God, we should notice here that Paul Address this letter to the Saints of Ephesus who are faithful in Christ. we also know that Saints is another term used for Christian's. with Paul still writing letter for Churches, usually provides a pray for those churches. Paul prays for Grace and peace from God for the Saints of Ephesus. with all of this in mind this lead is to main focus which is Verse three in Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:3 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

from this verse here we see that Paul gives the glory, honor, and praises to God because he is the father of Jesus christ. it because of the death of Jesus christ that Christian’s receive blessing from God. it because of relationship with Christ by living a life for Christ that Christians will receive Blessing through God by doing his will. living according to God standards, obeying God’s commandments, and learning to walking God’s ways. its because of Christ who gave his life for our sins. it is through his blood and how we live a life for him that we receive spiritual blessings from God. at the end of the day we need to be thankful for the small things that God provides us with. its never easy to see the small blessing that come from God when we are more focus on physical problems of the world. another Promise from God which leads to point Four for today would be the promise of having fellowship with God.

the Promise of Having Fellowship:

another promise for us once we become a Christian, is that will have fellowship with God. as we learn about God through the scriptures, and learn to follow in his steps we will get to know the being as God. lets turn in our Bibles to 1st John 1:3

1 John 1:3 NKJV

that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Here in the letter of John we see that John was explaining Jesus as the word who was in the beginning. when we come to verse three here in John we can break into two parts the first part were John tells the early church that in order to have fellowship you must have an understand that the word was at the very beginning, was, and is. then we see in the second part of the verse were John explains that once you understand this point you are able to have fellowship with the father and with his Son Jesus Christ. and we can see examples of this in 1st Cor 1:9

1 Corinthians 1:9 NKJV

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here in the 1st Cor we see that we must know who Christ is in order to have a fellowship with God, go back to verse 3 in 1st John 1:3 this verse here backs that verse we first look at.

to wrap this point up we also look at John 17:21

John 17:21 NKJV

that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Here in the Gospel of John we see that Jesus praying for his disciples, but in reality we that Jesus is actually praying for all who chose to follow him, we see that Jesus here is praying for unity among his followers, and that they realize that it was God who sent him to all Christian’s to die for sin. this happens just a few hours before his death on the cross. it is because of his death we are able to have fellowship with God the father. we see here that Jesus was praying for every christian who follows his teaching’s.

Conclusion:

today many people want the promises that come from God but they really don’t want to do thing in order to receive those promises. in order to have these promises is to obey, and to follow God through life, by separating ourselves from the world, and living a life to God’s standards. we are bless to receive these promises that come God even when we still fall short. today people of the world have no idea just how amazing God is, how this God cares about everyone, and want to have a relationship with them. I may not know what you struggle with in this life, but God does. I can’t tell you when he is coming back, but if you wish to have these promises and be part of a God’s family please come as we stand and sing.