Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

-Hebrews 6:17 (NIV)

What is the story of the Gospel?

• We are all sinners separated from God.

• Jesus pursues us by leaving heaven to come to earth, dying, and paying the penalty for our sins, bridging the gap that exists between us and God.

• Those who call on His name and trust His provision will have eternal life.

The Gospel means that our story ends well.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

-Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

-2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

-2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 (NIV)

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

-Hebrews 11:13 (NIV)

The truth about your life is:

• You will take hold of the ultimate victory.
• You and I will suffer in this life to some degree.

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

-Hebrews 6:17-19a (NIV)

What is the promise?

How can we be certain?

How does the certainty of the promise anchor us?

I. What is the promise?

In Genesis 12, God said to Abraham… “Abraham, Get out!”

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

-Hebrews 11:8 (KJV)

In Genesis 15, God speaks to Abraham again and says, “I am going to make you a great nation!”

In Genesis 17, Abraham doubts!

In Genesis 22, a child is born—Isaac!

“Abram, take your son, your only son, the one you love with all your heart and offer him up as a sacrifice to me.” (Genesis 22:2)

What on earth is God doing? Have you ever thought that?

As you read Abraham’s story you begin to realize Abraham lives with doubt and confusion concerning the manner in which God works in his life.

God was aware of Abraham’s humanity and wanted Abraham to live a life of trust and obedience.

II. How Can We Be Certain?

But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?’

-Genesis 15:8 (NIV)

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

-Genesis 15:9-11 (NIV)

Abraham did not live in a written culture but an oral story telling culture! When making a contract, you act out the consequences of your unfaithfulness publicly, before everyone else!

The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.

-Jeremiah 34:18 (NIV)

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

-Genesis 15:12 (NIV)

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

-Genesis 15:17 (NIV)

Two problems with living confidently:

First: How can I know about God?

God’s Answer: He passed between the pieces!

Second: How do I know about me?

When God walked between the pieces—He walked alone!

What is the promise? God will give us a hope and a future.

How can we be certain? God walked between the pieces.

For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

-Isaiah 53:8b-10 (NIV)

“I turned my face away from my son so that I would never have to turn my face away from you.” - God

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

-Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)

God’s promises never fail because they are not based on your level of righteousness, but upon of Jesus’ work on the cross.

III. How does the certainty of God’s promise anchor us?

We have a problem that is keeping us from living a life where joy is central: You have the right anchor, but it does not go deep enough!

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

-Isaiah 53:4-5, 8b, 10-12 (NIV)

When the truth of Jesus and the promises of God to Abraham become clear to you on the cross of Jesus Christ—two things will happen.

1. The anchor of your life will go down deep.
2. Joy will become central and sorrow peripheral.

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

-Romans 8:31b-35, 37 (NIV)

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