A poor man had wanted to go on a cruise all his life.
As a youngster he had seen an advertisement for a luxury cruise, and ever
since, he had dreamed of spending a week on a large ocean liner enjoying fresh
sea air and relaxing in a luxurious environment. He saved money for years, carefully counting his pennies, often sacrificing personal needs so he could stretch his resources as
far as possible. Finally he had enough to purchase a cruise ticket. He
went to a travel agent, looked over the cruise brochures, picked out one that
was especially attractive, and bought a ticket with the money he had saved so long. He was hardly able to believe he was about to realize his childhood
dream. But knowing he could not afford the kind of elegant
food pictured in the brochure, the man planned to bring his own provisions for
the week. Accustomed to
moderation after years of frugal living, and with his entire savings going to
pay for the cruise ticket, the man decided to bring along a week's supply of
bread and peanut butter. That was all he could afford.
The first few days of the cruise were thrilling. The
man ate peanut butter sandwiches alone in his room each morning and spent the
rest of his time relaxing in the sunlight and fresh air, delighted to be aboard
the ship. By midweek, however, the man was beginning to notice
that he was the only person on board who was not eating luxurious meals. It
seemed that every time he sat on the deck or rested in the lounge or stepped
outside his cabin, he would see people lined up at the buffet piling their plates high with all kinds of
good food. By the fifth day of the cruise, the man could take it
no longer. The peanut butter sandwiches seemed stale and tasteless, he was
desperately hungry, and even the fresh air and sunshine had lost their appeal.
Finally, he stopped a porter and exclaimed, "Tell
me how I might get one of those meals! I'm dying for some decent food, and I'll
do anything you say to earn it!" "Why, sir, the food comes with the cruise! You may eat as much as you like!"
And as ridiculous as this story may seem, it illustrates
very well how we as believers in Jesus Christ oftentimes live out our Christian
lives—oftentimes never fully realizing all the promises of God that are ours in
Christ Jesus that come with being a follower of Christ. So many of us live as spiritual beggars in spiritual
poverty, when in reality we possess great and really wonderful promises and
resources through our union with Christ.
Dr. Neil T. Anderson who specializes in Christian
Biblical Counseling makes the staggering point that:
“Most of God’s people are spiritually stuck, running in
place – expending a lot of energy but getting nowhere fast. Some are painfully
aware of their struggles and yearn to be free from the guilt, shame, anxiety,
fear, abuse and addictions that are suffocating their souls. Others are largely
clueless … even complacent about their struggles … having accepted as normal a
subnormal life in Christ, where faith is lived out on Sunday mornings but is largely
irrelevant the rest of the week.”
Anderson then pinpoints the reason for this problem
saying:
“Followers of Christ desperately need to understand who
they are in Christ and make that . . . connection with God as their Father if
they are to win the spiritual battles of and for their lives.”
Dr. Paul Tripp, another outstanding and very reputable
Biblical counselor makes a similar observation.
Speaking for biblical counselors in general, he writes:
“We're convinced that many people live with a big gap in
their understanding of what God has done for them.”
In other words, because of a lack of exposure to biblical truth they
are not aware of the promises that God has made to them as people who have come
to Him through His Son Jesus and therefore are not enjoying secure, confident,
and spiritually powerful lives as Christians and thus cannot positively
influence their world for Christ.
In essence, what these two excellent biblical
counselors are saying is that we must know and fully grasp two essential
biblical truths if we are to enjoy a spiritually vivacious, joyful and
empowered life so as to rise above the temptations, negative circumstances,
trials, heartaches, and sinful addictions that plague us all. And these two truths that we must know, grasp,
understand, embrace, and master are: 1) We
must know and understand our new identity in Christ and 2) We must know, embrace, and believe the
promises God has made to us.
You see, when believers live spiritually weak and
spiritually anemic and powerless lives it is usually because they don’t know
who they are in Christ and they don’t know the promises that are theirs in
Christ. And when you or I don’t understand our new identity in
Christ and are not aware of God’s promises to us in Christ we are not really
connecting with God as our Abba Father—our Heavenly Daddy or our Papa as Jesus
referred to Him when He used the word “ABBA”. When we do not see God the Father as our Heavenly
Dad or Papa and do not see ourselves as His precious sons and daughters in whom
He delights and cherishes we either end up not approaching Him at all or
approach Him as a distant, cool, and even aloof Father that we are afraid of. And when we see God and ourselves this way—especially
when we are struggling with some issue in our lives—we become very insecure in
our Faith and in how we perceive God to be perceiving us.
Therefore, what we have is a bunch of Christians
running around who are insecure in their Faith because they are insecure in
their relationship with God the Father because they don’t really understand how
He sees them, feels about them, and wants to do for them. Thus, it is essential to understand who you are in
Christ and Who God is for you in granting and fulfilling very precious and
special promises.
And this is what Paul is talking about in our text for
this morning which is 2 Corinthians 1:18-22. As he is explaining to the Corinthian Church why he
changed his mind and did not make the trip to visit them as he had originally
planned, he interrupts himself and uses this teachable moment to tell them that
God never changes His mind in regard to us! Now, he is not saying that his decision to change his
mind was wrong—he is simply using it as an occasion—as a teachable moment to
make the point that whereas we will often change our minds as people—God never
changes His mind as to how much He cherishes and delights in those who cherish
His Son and He never ever fails to keep His promises to those who trust in Him.
Let's look at the passage in the New Living
Translation because I think that translation captures the meaning and the
feeling of Paul’s words much clearer than most.
"As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas,[a] Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us."
In verse 18,
Paul makes the point that God is Faithful.
He actually renders it, “Faithful or True is God”. This word order is making the point that the
very definition of what it is to be faithful or true to one’s promises is God
Himself.
Then
In verse 19, Paul states that the proof that God
always keeps His promises is that He sent Jesus Who is the final and ultimate
proof that God’s promises to everyone who believes in Jesus are true and will
be fulfilled. You see, the Gospel promise seen throughout the whole
Bible that God is willing to forgive and pardon any sinner who will come to Him
through Jesus Christ is guaranteed and fulfilled in the fact that He did send
Jesus to die on that cross so we could be forgiven and pardoned. If all God the Father had done was promise forgiveness
but not sent Jesus to secure it—no one could have been forgiven and thus saved
from the just penalty of his or her sins. God’s promise that people everywhere, no matter what
they have done or how they have failed, can be reconciled to Him is guaranteed
in Christ and in His work of securing salvation for everyone who believes.
Then
in the first part of verse 20, Paul emphatically states
that “all of God’s promises” to us who believe have been fulfilled in Christ
with a resounding “YES”.
That means that the person who comes to God through
faith in Christ to be forgiven of his or her sins is totally and completely
forgiven with no exceptions, conditions, ifs, ands, or buts whatsoever.
This means that the one who has come to God through
faith in Christ is completely reconciled to God right now.
It means that the believer who is still struggling with
sin is completely acceptable to God in Christ Jesus right now.
It means that the believer who has failed miserably is
not condemned and has not lost his or her salvation.
It means we are overcomers and will finally experience
victory over our sin.
It means that when we die we really will go immediately
into the presence of the Lord and be with Him forever enjoying the fruit of our
salvation.
It means we will reign with Christ over a restored and
renewed earth having our original destiny restored to us.
It means we will be reunited with those loved ones who
also having trusted in Christ have gone on to heaven before us.
It means that all the beauty, glory, and majesty of
heaven will be ours to enjoy for all of eternity once this mortal life is over.
It means we actually will have conversations with
angels and supernatural beings.
It means that there is a day coming when God makes all
things new and gives us brand new glorified bodies free of sin, pain, illness,
and all earthly struggles.
It means we will one day be with Jesus reveling in His
glorious presence finding the joy, happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction
that our hearts have always craved.
It means we will never face God’s deserved wrath for
our sins ever but will enjoy God’s undeserved kindnesses for all of eternity.
Listen,
I can’t emphasize this enough! Every
sinner who comes to God in Christ, with all his needs, finds God coming to him
in Christ, with all his promises.
When a sinful person approaches The Most Holy God
through CHRIST, seeking mercy and grace, what he or she hears is YES!
When he or she asks God do you love me? What they hears is YES!
Will you forgive me?
YES!
Will you accept me?
YES! YES!
Will you help me change? YES!
Will you give me power to serve you? YES!
Will you keep me?
YES!
Will you bring me into your glory and let me see
You? YES!
WOW!!!!! What can you say to this?!
And
then in the end of verse 20, Paul makes another very
important point. He says that when we know these promises and hold onto
them and believe them and are looking forward to them and signify this by
saying “AMEN” as we pray—this glorifies God! You see the word “Amen” comes from the Hebrew language
where it was used as a strong affirmation of agreement. So, when someone agreed with what you or someone else
was saying they would say “Amen” to register their agreement. The Koine Greek language of the New Testament picked up
this word and its meaning from Hebrew and oftentimes actually uses the Greek
word we translate AMEN to mean “Yes”. Thus, in the New Testament the word “Amen” can be
translated as “YES” and should be when used in reference to how we should
respond to what God has promised to do for us. So, what Paul is getting at is that when we say "Yes" to God's promises--His "Yes"—we are in
effect saying that we believe God and that we are holding onto His promises for
dear life with complete confidence that because of our relationship with
Christ—our union with Christ—God is for us and not against us! We are, in fact saying, that all that God has promised to us and for us—He
will do!
So the real question that we need to be asking
ourselves as we consider this passage is this--Do we know what God has promised us in Christ and do we
believe His promises. If we don’t know what God has promised us—then we are
like the passenger on the cruise ship I spoke about earlier who had no idea
what was available to him on that cruise ship and as a result was not enjoying
himself the way that he could have. The same is true of us when we do not know what God has
promised us or when we know but simply don’t believe God will fulfill His
promises—We don’t find much enjoyment in God!
And as a result God is not glorified by us!
Notice the connection between the two halves of verse
20. The first half says, "For all of God’s promises
have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding Yes!" The second half says,
“And through Christ, our Amen ascends to God for His glory.” When we believe and confidently affirm our belief in
God’s promises—in other words telling God that we actually believe Him—this
glorifies Him. Our believing God glorifies God. When we believe that God really does love us the way
that He says He loves us this brings Him glory—the same way you as a parent are
glorified when your children believe you and trust you and are confident that
what you have promised them you will do.
One great example of this whole concept of glorifying God by believing Him is found in Romans 4:18-21 in which Abraham believed God for the impossible and never wavered in his believe that God would provide him with a son even though his and Sarah's bodies were well past child-bearing age. Verse 20 says that in waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled in his life he grew strong in his faith. Thus we see why God makes us wait. It develops a stronger more mature faith. The verse also makes the point that in not wavering in his belief of God's promise Abraham glorified God. Thus, the way he glorified God and the way we glorify God is by believing God--by trusting Him to keep his promises.
When we do not believe God’s promises toward us—when we
do not have confidence in His love, His acceptance, His forgiveness, and His
grace toward us we actually dishonor Him and fail to glorify Him. That is one reason why when Jesus was asked by the people
what they needed to do to accomplish the works of God—He said in John 6:29,
“This
is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
In other words, the work of God is to believe in the
promises of God as being completely fulfilled and confirmed in Jesus Christ.
Finally in verses 21-22 of 2 Corinthians 1, Paul tells us that because of
our new identity in Christ and God’s promises to us—we are absolutely secure in
our position and relationship with Him. Listen
to these verses:
“Now
it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set
his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.”
Let
me show you how the Trinity shows up in this passage.
God the Father is the One Who placed us in Christ and
keeps us in Christ. (21a) He is the One Who has anointed or chosen us (21b), the
One Who set His seal of ownership upon us (22a), and the One Who dispatched His
Spirit into our hearts (22b).
God the Son is the One Who died for us, rose for us,
and forever lives for us so as to secure God’s promises on our behalf.
And God the Holy Spirit is the One Who having been
dispatched by the Father to indwell us is the guarantee or the deposit, if you
will, that what God has promised you—God will do in and for you (22c).
And when you really lock onto all of this and really
see yourself as you really are in Christ Jesus and confidently believe the
promises of God and take Him up on them—He is glorified. But when you doubt God and especially God’s great love
and delight in you as one who is trusting in Christ—you cannot glorify Him—because
you do not feel secure in Him and thus cannot enjoy Him. And no one can truly glorify God who does not enjoy
God.
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