“In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us….” (6:17-18)
Heirs of Promise! THAT is who we are, through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
I could say, “Rejoice!” and stop there. Enough said. But there’s gold in this here Word, so let’s mine it.
First we see in vs. 17-18 that as heirs of the promises of the Father with Christ, those promises give us hope. But hope set before us is nothing until we grasp hold of it. Grasping our hope in God’s promises requires us to “get it”. We grasp it through comprehensive understanding of the true meaning of each promise. We grab it and hold tight through comprehensive understanding of the fullness of God, recognizing His thoughts as higher than ours, and that His idea of a timetable is set to a different clock. With full understanding in hand, we grab to His promises by trusting faith, receiving them as our very own hope. They belong to us, corporately and individually, in Christ.
For the sake of the whole Body of Christ, it is vital that each part grasp God’s promises personally. We are all responsible to grow strong in faith, for the body is only as healthy as it’s weakest link.
We see it all the time, one member of the body, weakened by insecurity that comes to those with wavering faith and little hope, falls to sin-sickness. Infectious, it spreads to more and more, until the whole body of believers falls apart, and a church dies. The infection of sin-sickness is what led Paul to write 1 Corinthians 5. “…Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” (5:6)
Beloved, hope, the hope of promise made sure, is vital to health.
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (6:19-20)
The promises of God, possessed and trusted, anchor us, holding us stable and secure despite what our eyes see. Whatever storm in life, we are secure, unhindered by fear, never swayed by wind or wave.
Driving home after dropping hubby off for work this morning, my attention was captivated by leaves on the roadway. Being driven by the wind, they were dancing, free and unabated. It was beautiful and joyous.
When we have a firm grip on God’s Word to us, no storm in life can rob of strength, hope, Joy, and fervency. We carry on, fueled by faith’s assurance, able to dance in the Spirit before the God we trust.
“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.” (6:13-16)
God rewards faithfulness! As we bear the fruit of patience into the world and through every storm, trusting God for His promises fulfilled, we reveal Christ to those witnesses watching us. People need the Lord. Our right and good waiting moments proves character and shines the Light of glory into the Earth, making eternal use of the opportunity found in our wait. Doing so with joy, peace, and perseverance, captivates the audience: bringing rejoicing to those who know such hope; and drawing those who don’t into the fold, desiring to find it for themselves.
“But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (6:9-12)
Through diligence, we realize the full assurance of hope until the end. Hope is the product of assurance raised up in us as we believe in the promises of God by faith, trusting, as Heirs, that we will have our hope fulfilled.
Through our diligent faith, we become imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Our growth as heirs of promise assures that we leave behind the elementary teachings about the Christ to press on to maturity (6:1-8).
See also
Darlene's Ponderings 