Hey Everyone,
Thanks for being faithful and checking in on my blog even though I haven't written anything in so long. I've been back in Boston for exactly a month now. I had a very great time in Europe with Dave, had a series of talks with the Russian company while at an academic conference in the Netherlands and returned on July 31st. (Check out pics on facebook). Since then, I've been spending time with Nate (my bro), my Mom, and some old friends and even my Dad. I did not get a job offer for the software company. They're still figuring out how they are going to open a U.S. office, and what they want in an employee. So, ASAP I'm going to start an MA in Geography at McGill. ASAP turns out to be in January, because of funding issues. So, I'm working in Boston for the next few months. Right now I'm waiting to hear back from places where I might be able to use GIS skills. It's a fun process now that I've gotten into it, and I'm learning a lot about potential uses of my degree when I finish. God has been good during this time of transition for me. Though my heart is in Montreal, and I'm not excited about starting and stopping friendships all over again, He is teaching me to pray for the city to which he has carried me (Jeremiah 29). And, as you might be able to tell from what I wrote below, I'm learning to trust in His provision for all my needs. Below I've written the groundwork for a sermon on receiving the promises of God. It is good to know that we are His children and that He has given us everything we need in Christ. If there's any truth in it soak it up, you just may be the only people to ever read it.
The Father’s Promises
The interesting thing about God’s work in the Bible is that it seems that His blessing is transferable, or somehow movable. God does not pick one man and say that He will be with this one man and everything he does for good or bad forever. He is not bound to a man who rejects Him. For instance, he starts out with Abraham, and promises to make him into a great nation, which would lead you to assume that He’s talking about the descendants of all of Abraham’s children. But God really only blesses Isaac. He blesses Ishmael, Abraham’s other son, but the story of the rest of Scripture does not follow the line of Ishmael, it follows the line of Isaac – the one God produced through Abraham’s faith.
Another interesting example of this is when we get to Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau, two brothers end up with very different paths in scripture. They have a fight over their inheritance, split up, but God goes to Jacob. God physically appears to Jacob twice in Bethel (Gen. 28:10-22 and 35:9-15). But scripture does not record any appearances of God to Esau. In fact, scripture describes the line of Esau, as if God were still giving them a chance to be a part of His promise to Abraham, but because neither Esau nor his children turned to him they faded out of the focus of scripture, losing their place as the chosen. Scripture is clear when it stops recording Esau’s descendants (Gen. 35). But even though the story of Jacob begins with the same phrase as that of Esau (36:1 and 37:2). There is no closing to the account the way there is for Esau (“This was Esau the father of the Edomites. 36:44”). In a similar way, Ishmael’s account fades out into hostility (25:12-18) while Isaac’s account begins (25:19) but is not closed. Jacob’s story continues (Gen. 37-50, although you could say it continues to the end of scripture and the ages). And within Jacob’s story, we see more confirmation of the transferable nature of God’s blessing and promises. Jacob gives Ephraim and Manasseh the name of his forefathers (48:16), even though they are from Joseph’s Egyptian wife.
Scripture tells about many people, but it continues to focus in on the work of God in the lives of a few: puny David and not his brothers, illegitimate Solomon and not his brothers. There are many examples. In fact, it often gets confusing. Scripture seems to be all over the spatial and temporal map, God extending his promises to the people we’d often least expect Him to. Why do you think this is?
The only change is when it comes to Christ. God is never about to remove His blessing from Jesus and move it to someone else. Even after Jesus dies, the story is still all about Jesus. Jesus is in perfect obedience and perfect relationship with God. Christ receives the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. This is because God the Father’s promises never belonged to any man, but they originated in His relationship with Jesus. Every promise given to man in Scripture is mirrored by a real gift manifested in Christ’s ministry. All the men before Him were only stewards of the promise that is rightfully His. For instance, the spiritual authority given to the family of Judah always belonged to Christ (Genesis 49:10). And the "great nation" promised to Abram (Genesis 12:2) has become a reality through the teachings and Spirit of Christ.
How does this effect us? Well, one of Christ's most important teachings was that because of the relationship He was giving us with God, we could ask for the Father for whatever he has said he would give and receive it. And God has laid out a pattern for all his promises through His word. So that means that we today (even the puny Davids and illegitimate Solomon’s) can receive God's promises through our faith in Christ. Sometimes we don’t bother to believe and go to God in prayer for our daily needs. But there is no need to worry and struggle through the day’s problems on our own strength, because God is with us, and He has given us everything we need in Christ.
This is also very important for any who are not following Christ. All people have access to the promises of God, but not all receive them. Do not be one who does not receive. Christ warned of eternal punishment that awaits many (Matthew 25:46). And the Bible says that “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). If you have not received the Son in to your life yet, do it now! Believe in Christ as your soul’s Savior and Master and receive the promises of God today.
