In our time, most people find it difficult to keep their promises whether it is in the form of public office, business contract, or marriage commitment. Corruption in government is rampant, deception in business transactions exists, and divorce is accepted as normal.
Though men and women fail to keep their promises to each other, God is different. Once God makes a promise, he will certainly keep it; for our God, is a promise-keeping God. He is true to his words; he cannot deny himself.
In this article, based on Genesis 17, I would like to share with you the qualities of God's promise.
The promise of God is reliable.
We know that waiting isn't easy. It requires patience. We learned that in Genesis 16, Abram and Sarai became impatient in waiting for the Lord's promise. They waited for 10 years. As a result of their impatience, they helped God fulfill his promise through Sarai's servant, Hagar. As a result of such impatience, conflict arose in a family, which previously enjoyed peace and harmony.
After those 10 years, another 14 years passed. All in all, 24 years passed before Abram was finally visited by God to confirm the promise given to him. If we look back to Abraham's past, Genesis 17 records the third important appearance of the Lord to Abram.
In Genesis 12:1-3, Abram received a call from God promising him to be a great nation. Genesis 15:1, God gave Abram a guaranteed assurance of inheritance or reward. Here in Genesis 17, we read a third visitation from God confirming the promised covenant, and this happened one year before the birth of Isaac.
So again, we learn from this story that even though the promises of God take time to be fulfilled, it does not mean that God has forgotten them. Regardless of time and man's spiritual condition, once God made a promise, it is certain that he will fulfill it. This shows that the promise of God is reliable.
Unlike the promises of God, human promises are unreliable. A politician during the campaign period promised to end corruption and restore transparency and accountability in government. People believed his promise and he got elected. When elected, he forgot his promise and became the most corrupt politician and became a dictator instead.
This also happens in marriage. There are couples, after taking an oath before God, before men, and before each other, soon forget the promises they made to each other. They broke their marriage vows. Once who were lovers became haters of each other. It is a fact of life that people change, and people leave.
However, the promise of God is different. Since God is unchangeable, his promises are dependable. Since the character of God is firm and trustworthy, we can rely on his promises. Amid uncertainties around us, we can still trust that there is a promise that will stand the test of time. And that is the promise of God given to us in Christ Jesus.
God promised that in Jesus, you have eternal life. God promised that in Jesus, all your sins were covered and forgiven. God promised that in Jesus he will complete the good work that he started in you. And we can rest, smile, and trust that God will fulfill his promises for our God is a a promise keeping God.
The promise of God is clear.
The clarity of God's promise is evident through the terms and conditions assigned to all parties involved in the covenant.
The parties involved mentioned in this covenant are God, Abraham, and Sarah. As for God, his duties were to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give Canaan as an inheritance to Abraham and his descendants. And since nothing is impossible with God, nothing can stop God from fulfilling such a great destiny for Abraham.
In the case of Abraham becoming the father of many nations, the existence of three great religions attests to this fact: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The influence of Abraham was not only confined to Israel through Judaism. Many nations in the world are either embracing Islam or Christianity. It is just unfortunate that throughout history these three religions have been resorting to violence for dominance.
On the part of Abraham, keeping the covenant through circumcision was his duty. And then finally, on the part of Sarai, there was no prescribed obligation.
And so we see that the role of each party in the covenant is written, indicated, or stipulated. This shows that God's promise is clear.
This is contrary to most promises today. Human promises are not only unreliable, but they are also vague, unclear, and most of the time contrary to what has been promised. Man in rejecting God and his promises, replaced him with human superiority and man-made promises. Man considers the fulfillment of these promises as human paradise, and many trust this promised paradise.
There are several versions of this promised paradise. Hitler's fascist dream for Germany during the 2nd World War is one. The most popular among them is the Marxist utopia where the triumph of the proletariat or the working class would finally be achieved after the collapse of free market capitalism. But instead of paradise, this ideology has turned the world into a hell. Instead of freedom, prosperity, and peace, they gave us chains, poverty, and war.
Fascist Germany massacred 11 million people and 6 million of them were Jews from 1939 to 1945. Communism both in Russia and China committed genocide between 85 to 100 million. And now in our time, the 21st century, we are witnessing many radical movements. The ideologies behind these movements promise freedom, peace, and prosperity, but their actions tell otherwise. Their promise is not only unclear, but the fulfillment of it is the exact opposite of what has been promised.
The promise of God is conditional.
Generally, the promises of God can be categorized as either unconditional or conditional. Unconditional promises mean that God will fulfill his word without any obligation on the part of man. And so the fulfillment of this type of promise does not depend on human obedience, but on God's will. On the other hand, conditional promises are those promises of God that require obedience on the part of man.
An example of God's unconditional promise is the promise not to bring another flood to destroy the earth. Another example is God's promise to Abraham that he will deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. These promises are not based on any condition on the part of them. God fulfills them regardless of human response.
However, another category of God's promise is conditional. Here in Genesis 17, God asked Abraham and his descendants to circumcise themselves to keep the covenant. God threatened punishment to those who would fail to circumcise themselves. They will cut them off from his people. We see Abraham fulfilling this condition after God had finished speaking to him (verses 23-27).
Still, another example of conditional promise is God's requirement for Israel to remain faithful to him for them to remain in the Promised Land. If they failed to keep the condition, God threatened them with exile.
In the New Testament, we see that our salvation has a condition that none of us can fulfill. The condition is perfect obedience to the law. And since none of us can perfectly obey the law, all of us deserve to die and to be thrown and punished in hell. However, Jesus, the Son of God came into this world to save us. Only he can fulfill the condition that God requires. Therefore, through the perfect obedience of Christ, those of us who put our trust in him are counted as righteous in the eyes of God despite our failure to meet the condition of God. It is Jesus who satisfies the condition of God on our behalf. And since this is the case, our salvation in Christ is eternally secured. God gave us the guarantee of eternal security through the righteousness of Jesus.
Moreover, this gift of righteousness granted to us will certainly work righteousness in us. In other words, if we receive the gift of salvation, God will surely work obedience in us. This working of God in us is the fulfillment of God's promise that he will complete whatever he started in us.
Conclusion
Our God is a Promise Keeper. His promises are reliable, clear, and conditional. It is reliable because the character of God is reliable. It is clear and honest because God himself is truth and there is no deception in him. And it is conditional for it is based on the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. Because of these, our salvation is eternally secured. God himself is the One keeping it and guarding whatever we have entrusted until that final day.