The Certainty of God’s Promises Hebrews 6:9-20

The Certainty of God’s Promises In our previous lesson, the author of Hebrews issued a stern warning to those who merely profess faith The author in today’s lesson then moves from warning to encouragement : “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things…” (Hebrews 6:9) The author then takes up the topic of change

The Certainty of God’s Promises Illustration of Change

The Certainty of God’s Promises Our behavior can be modified Our personalities will develop Human life is about change “Always” and “Never” do not fit us

The Certainty of God’s Promises “Always” and “Never” do fit God God never changes God is always the same God is immutable – He cannot and does not change in His basic character

The Certainty of God’s Promises He is Always wise Always loving Always faithful Always just, and Always holy

The Certainty of God’s Promises He is Always wise Always loving Always faithful Always just, and Always holy God always is what He is

The Certainty of God’s Promises Our lesson today teaches us about our Unchanging God

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change As an example of the unchanging nature of God, the author of Hebrews points us to the story of Abraham “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself, saying ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” (Hebrews 6:13-15)

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change What was the promise and what was it based upon?

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change What was the promise and what was it based upon? The promise that God made to Abraham was to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. (Genesis 22:16-17) Abraham is one of the greatest examples of a faithful person in both the Old Testament and the New Testament

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change In a recent study of Romans we found “Against all hope, in hope Abraham believed…” (Romans 4:18) But, there was a problem – Abraham had no son His name, “Abram” meant “exalted father”

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change Imagine someone asking, “How many children do you have?” “None” – was the answer – and Abram was 75 years old When Abram was 99 (24 years later), God changed his name to Abraham, which means “father of multitudes” Abraham still had no son

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change Eventually Isaac, one son, would be born to Abraham through whom this promise would be fulfilled God proved faithful – physically, many Jews and Muslims call Abraham father – spiritually, those who believe like Abraham call him father God proved faithful

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change What do we learn from God’s promise to Abraham?

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change What do we learn from God’s promise to Abraham? We learn that no one who trusts in God’s promise will ever be disappointed

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change Often, though, we experience frustration – based on our impatience We pray and expect immediate answers We hope and expect that the next day all will be made right What we do not see is that God delays the visible answers and responds in His own timing

The Certainty of God’s Promises God’s Promises Never Change If God has promised something, He will do it This is based on the unchanging nature of His person To trust in God’s unchanging promises is to trust in the God who does not change Himself God is faithful to His promises and to His own self

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change God’s promises never change because His purposes never change We see this in verse 17, “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath.”

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change God tested Abraham in a manner that would make any parent question their faith in God The Lord told Abraham to sacrifice the one and only son that he had (through whom the promise was supposed to come) on a fiery altar Abraham proves obedient

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change As a result, the Lord takes an oath, “I swear by myself…that because you have done this and have not withheld your son…I will surely bless you…” (Genesis 22:16-17) A further note of explanation – Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that we need not take oaths – “let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no” – God does not want us to swear by anything

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change So why does God swear an oath to Abraham? People in Jesus’ day would not dare swear by God they would do something - if they did not do it, they would be guilty of blasphemy – so they swore by the temple or by the gold in the temple, to assure others that what they were saying was true I guess we could say that people were such liars that we needed oaths to guarantee the truth

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change Jesus said, be people of truth – let your words mean what they mean without having to swear So, why then does God swear an oath? Perhaps it is because of the weakness of our flesh

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change God condescends to add the oath to His Word to give us double assurance His Word is enough However, now there is added emphasis on the integrity of God’s Word

The Certainty of God’s Promises 2. God’s Purposes Never Change You and I plan our day each day Interruptions, emergencies, or even simple mood changes can change our plans and the day turns out differently than we thought God plans His day – He has planned the whole course of human history, and He will not change His purposes

The Certainty of God’s Promises 3. God’s Truth Never Changes We know that whatever God says is true, and that truth never changes “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18)

The Certainty of God’s Promises 3. God’s Truth Never Changes God cannot lie If He did, He would deny his very nature as the God of Truth, whose very Word is Truth His personality is the same today as it was during the time of Abraham – the Bible calls Him “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”

The Certainty of God’s Promises 3. God’s Truth Never Changes Though thousands of years separate us from the story of Abraham, that story is given to us as a reminder that God is the same God for us that He was for Abraham Isaiah 40:6-8 states: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God will stand forever.”

The Certainty of God’s Promises 3. God’s Truth Never Changes Because God’s Truth never changes, we know that the hope of our future salvation is certain God’s Truth confirms His plan for us

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes We know that God’s Promises never change, and His Purposes never change, because His Truth never changes Jesus is God, like Father, like Son Jesus never changes either

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes The author of Hebrews concludes: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20) We have two different imageries presented here

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes The first imagery pictures Jesus as the high priest who ministers on our behalf before the throne of God (Holy of Holies), the place of God’s presence His priesthood is greater than the old priesthood, which means that by His own blood and sacrifice, His work of salvation for us is absolutely effective

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes The second imagery is this hope as an anchor for your soul An anchor steadies a ship and prevents drifting in stormy seas An anchor keeps the ship from smashing into other ships in the harbor

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes In the imagery of this passage, the anchor is actually cast forward, which may sound a bit strange The idea is of grasping the hope set before us

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes The picture of throwing our anchor ahead comes from the ancient sailing practice called “kedging” When storms threatened a ship docked in the harbor, a crew of sailors would jump into a smaller boat and haul the ship’s anchor out into the sea as far as it could go The anchor would be let down and the ship pulled itself forward into the safety of deeper water

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes This is who Jesus is for us He is the anchor of our soul, firm and secure Our anchor is in heaven, but our ship is on earth Jesus provides the stability and direction we need to go forward in hope

The Certainty of God’s Promises 4. God’s Son Never Changes World magazine Illustration of hope

The Certainty of God’s Promises Our lessons tells us God’s Promises Never Change God’s Purposes Never Change God’s Truth Never Changes God’s Son Never Changes

The Certainty of God’s Promises In a world where everything changes and nothing stays the same

The Certainty of God’s Promises In a world where everything changes and nothing stays the same God does not change

The Certainty of God’s Promises In a world where everything changes and nothing stays the same God does not change And that gives us hope

The Certainty of God’s Promises Will you thank God each day for this Hope?