The Promises of God

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7 ESV) At the outset of his gospel Matthew draws special attention to Jesus’ descent from King David, just as the apostle Paul does at the beginning of his letter to the Romans, which we see in our reading today. King Herod was very sensitive about the fact that he was not from the house of David. How enraged he would have been to see Jesus’ royal family tree! If, as Matthew records, Jesus Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham, then he is the fulfillment of the greatest of all God’s promises. When God called Abraham, he promised: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (cf. Genesis 12:1-3). As time went on that promise was focused upon David and his line. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (cf. Isaiah 11:1). And the fulfillment of the promise came at last with the birth of great David’s greater son, Jesus. God always keeps his word. We may forget his promises or lose hope in them, but God never forgets; if he says something, it will come to pass. J.C. Ryle said, “Christians should remember this . . . Their Father in heaven will be true to all his engagements.” Here are just a few of the thousands in the Scripture: I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22 ESV). I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless. (Jeremiah 15:21 ESV). For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV). For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 ESV). That’s just a little of the Good News. Be encouraged today!