Freedom Through the Promise

Intro

- Have you ever know someone that you didn’t see for a long time, and when you finally got back together with them, they either looked or acted like a completely different person

Facebook- picture pops up- “No way, that can’t be them!”

Jon with/without a beard

- Our view of God

o Many Christians have a view of God in which his character is changing

o How God was then and how he is now- the God of the Old Testament, authoritative, vengeful, demanding, ready to poor out his wrath on those who displeased him, and the God of the New Testament, a loving , gracious, and forgiving God.

o Sometimes we comfort ourselves with this as we read passages in the Old testament where God exercises judgment on people that are no different from us.

o But in doing this we are creating an image of God in which he is no longer unchangeable

o People change- this is a fact of life-

§ I always try to be gentle and loving to my children, but they can tell when we are in a good mood or a bad one, our spouses can tell to

§ One of the greatest qualities someone can have is reliability, you can count on them to do what they say they are going to do, but sadly that’s rare, and the more time you spend with someone, the more their inconsistencies become apparent- it’s part of life, of fallen sinful nature, and our finite existence

§ Imagine what it would be like if God was like this

· We would constantly be wondering how to please him and living in fear that we would somehow upset him

· I had a teacher like this growing up- we were never quite sure what she wanted from us and it made things really difficult

· Then we would probably reach the point of thinking, “Is this even worth it?” Why follow God at all if he cannot be trusted?

o The reality is, thankfully, that we serve a God who is always the same- he cannot change, he cannot lie, he is the same God now as he was in creation, and he will remain the same for all eternity- this is the God we follow

o Because God ever changes, we know that he always keeps his promises

§ I try to keep my promises, I really do, but sometimes I can’t, and my kids always pick up on it

§ When God makes a promise, we can rest assured that he will follow through

§ He will not change his mind. He will not switch things up

§ Malachi 3:6- “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

- Read Galatians 3:15-18

o Difficult and confusing passage- probably something we would skip over in our world of short inspirational sound bites- but there is great truth in these verses, that if we take the time to understand them, can give us great hope

- If we are in Christ, we can rest in God’s unchanging promise of redemption, not because of our own righteousness, but because of his marvelous grace.

The Recipients of the Promise (16)

A. Abraham’s offspring

1. The Jews took this to mean all the physical decedents of Abraham

a. This is why the Jewish teachers believed the Gentiles needed to become a part of the Jewish nation before they could become true followers of God

2. Hard to interpret because it is a collective noun- can be either singular or plural

3. Paul is making a grammatical argument for the true recipients of this promise, and he is blowing up the whole conception of the promise being tied to one ethnic group

4. He says offspring here is used as a singular, and it is talking about Christ

B. The source of the promise- Christ

1. The promise was given to Abraham and Christ, but the promise was fulfilled only through Christ

2. Actually, this is an even more restrictive interpretation than the Jews- only through Christ

a. The gospel is restrictive- only one way- but it is open to all who chose it- there are no barriers- White or black, rich or poor, first world or third world, etc.

C. We must be “in Christ”

1. Gal. 3:29- And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

2. Rom. 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

a. Not for those who are the direct descendants of Abraham, not for those who keep all the laws, not for those who are basically, for the most part, good people, but for those who are in Christ!

3. Phil. 3:9 “and be found in him (Christ), not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”

- So Paul identifies the recipients of the promise as one united group, united in Christ

o The Jewish teachers were creating division

o We are one church, one body, one people of God united through faith in Christ, not others requirements

The Validity of the Promise (17)

A. An irrevocable trust- a type of trust where its terms cannot be modified, amended, or terminated without the permission of the grantor's beneficiary or beneficiaries.

B. The law was given 430 years after the promise and in no way amends or changes the conditions

1. Paul is saying that it would be foolish to believe that God made a promise and then decided later to change how people would receive the benefits of the promise- “Now you have to follow all these rules if you want to get what I already promised you”

2. We must be careful not to add conditions to God’s promise

C. God keeps his promises… always

1. Rest in the promises of God- trust in the promises of God

a. Heb. 10:23- Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

b. 1 Peter 3:13- But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2. Never forget to thank him for his promises

- So Paul has made it clear that the law cannot be added as a condition to the promise, so what then are the conditions?

The Conditions of the Promise (18)

Promises often come with conditions- based on what the person receiving the promise does “If you clean your room, I promise we’ll go get ice-cream” or on what the person giving the promise does “if I can finish all my work, I promise I’ll be there”

- We are afraid to give a “condition-less” promise because we either do not trust the other person or ourselves enough to make an unconditional commitment

- So we are good at making promises with escape routes

A. The Promise was given to Abraham and to those who are in Christ

1. This promise was given to us far before we were able to meet any conditions

a. It's like setting up an inheritance for my kids. I do it out of love. Yes, we have rules and standards for them as they grow up in our home, but we in no way would hold the inheritance over them as something to be taken away if they did not perfectly meet those standards

b. They benefit from the inheritance simply because they are our children, not because they met certain standards that we had laid out for them.

B. A gift or a payment

1. You cannot be both- the moment it is paid for, it is no longer a gift

2. Illustration of the booth at the grape festival

C. A result of God’s amazing grace- It is simply a gift of God's grace through faith- Eph. 2:8-9

1. Abraham didn't have to earn it or fulfill any conditions

2. Because he could never meet those conditions- we could never meet the conditions, but Christ did for us

3. None of us are worthy to receive this promise- only Christ was

D. The promise is all about what God has done and will do for us

1. In contrast to the law that is all about what man can and can't do

Conclusion

- Paul shows us that God’s Promise to Abraham was fulfilled through Christ’s and given to all those who are in Christ. There is nothing that can supersede this promise, nothing that can be added to this promise. It stands as it was given, because God is unchanging, and he always keeps his promises. We have also seen that this promise was a gift, it is completely an act of God’s grace and there is nothing we can do to earn it.

So What?

- Are you trusting in God’s promise?

- Are you in Christ? Our righteousness is not enough to earn us favor before God. We are only recipients of the promise if we find our identity in Christ by placing our faith in his finished work on the cross.

- God has given us an incredible gift. Are we resting in his promise or striving to earn his favor through our performance?