April 10, 2016

From the time Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden, God had PROMISED a Redeemer (Gen. 3:15).  Jacob prophesied that the Ruler would come from the Tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10).  The Prophet Isaiah declared that the “Virgin would be with Child…and Unto Us a Son Would be born…He shall be called: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6).”  Jesus Himself gives a Promise that can only be born out of Divine Confidence…
 
John 11:25-26 NLT - Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this?”
 
“I am”…Christ is present NOW, not limited just to the future.  It is the identity of Jesus that spans the gap between the “already” and the “not yet.” Do not assume that the promise is only for a future hope, as important as that is.  No, Jesus said, “I am,” this is a current promise for your every day.  This is the HOPE OF TOMORROW but it is also the LIFE and PROMISE OF TODAY!  He has saved you, and is saving you.  He has found you and He will deliver you in that Day.
 
Ephesians 2:4-6 NIV - But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
 
UNTIL THEN, The LORD God Declares…
 
Hebrews 13:5 NIV - "…Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
 
Oh Beloved, Jesus is declaring that Death yields to Life, in the same manner that Darkness to Light. I am the Resurrection of the dying, and the Life of the living.  Jesus is the Life-Giver because He IS Life itself.  This claim and this promise are mind-boggling. He says it is faith in him that brings one back to life. Jesus claims that He alone is the ground of eschatological hope.  But then He goes even further: "I am the life." In essence declaring that death cannot destroy the Believer because the Child of God is in union with him who is THE LIFE.
 
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 KJV2000 - …Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
This is THE PROMISE SPOKEN WITH DIVINE CONFIDENCE.