Our God: Promise-Maker, Promise Keeper - Pts 1 -4 | Bible Study | Mike Prah

Apr 24, 2024 | by Mike Prah

INTRODUCTION

Our God is a Promiser-Maker and Promise-Keeper. This study delves into the types of promises, why we don't receive what we expect, reasons for trusting God to honor His promises and our responsibility.

SUMMARY

A promise is only as reliable as the one who makes it. Because of circumstances beyond our control, we can’t always keep our promises, but the sovereign Lord of the universe has never failed to fulfill His word. In order to understand how important the God’s faithfulness is, we must recognize that the Christian life is totally dependent upon His promises. The Bible is filled with God’s promises. While is it important to remember God's promises spoken about our lives, it is even more important to remember that God keeps every single one of His promises.

1. TWO TYPES OF PROMISES

•  UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE

This is a commitment made without exceptions. (Genesis 12:1-3).

“Now the Lord said1 to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and pin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)

•  CONDITIONAL PROMISE

This type of promise is subject to certain requirements .  (Romans 10:9)

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 (ESV)

 2. Some Reasons Why We Don’t  Always Receive  What  We Expect.

1. Desiring something and believing God will do it doesn’t mean He’s promised it to us.
2. Sometimes we misunderstand His will.
3. Unconfessed and un-repented sins that create barriers in our relationships with the Lord.
4. God’s Word needs to be considered in its entirety.

 3. REASONS FOR TRUSTING GOD TO HONOR HIS PROMISES:

1. GOD’S TRUSTWORTHINESS

 A. God is Truthful

 Since truth is the very essence of His nature, it’s impossible for Him to lie. Therefore, we can believe in His promises because He always tells the truth.

 “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” Titus 1:1-2 (NIV)

 B. God is Faithful

 “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.: Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)

 “Lord, You are my God;  I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness  You have done wonderful things,  things planned long ago.” Isaiah 25:1 (NIV)

 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

 C. God Never Changes (Immutable)

 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.” Malachi 3:6 (NLT)

 “God is not a man, so He does not lie.  He is not human, so He does not change his mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act?  Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” Numbers 23:19 (NLT)

 D. God is Love

  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (NIV)

 “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?” Romans 8:32 (NIV)

 “5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:5, 8 (NKJV)

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART 2 | Bible Study | Mike Prah

E. GOD IS ABLE

1. GOD IS OMNISCIENT

God knows every detail of a situation. He can see all of our lives from beginning to end. Every promise He makes is based on His infinite, perfect, and complete knowledge, which means He never makes a mistake.

 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)

 “Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.” Mark 6:47-48 (NLT)

God possesses, without prior discovery of facts, complete and universal knowledge of all things past, present, and future.

This includes not only the actual, but also the possible.

This total and immediate knowledge is based on His eternality (He has always and will always exist), and

His omnipresence (He has been, is, and will always be everywhere at the same time).

In essence, God knows everything completely, perfectly, independently, simultaneously, and innately.

Therefore:

• The quantity of His knowledge is complete.

• The quality of His knowledge is perfect.

• The source of His knowledge is independent.

• The time involved concerning His knowledge is simultaneous.

• The method of His knowledge is innate (natural, instinctive, unlearned).

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:5, NIV)

GENERAL STATEMENTS REGARDING GOD’S OMNISCIENCE

“For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps” (Job 34:21, NKJV).

 “The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works” (Psalm 33:13-15, NKJV).

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens” (Proverbs 3:19, NKJV).

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3, NKJV).

“You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 32:19, NKJV).

“There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews  4:13, NKJV).

GOD'S OMNISCIENCE: APPLICATION

1.     He knows our thoughts

“You understand my thought afar off” (Psa. 139:2b, NKJV).

“Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart” (Psa. 44:21, NKJV).

2.     He knows our words

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36, NKJV).

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name” (Mal. 3:16, NKJV).

3. He knows our works

“You know my sitting down and my rising up” (Psa. 139:2a, NKJV).

“ Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3:13, NKJV). (See also Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.)

4.     He knows our deepest sorrows

“And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows’” (Exod. 3:7, NKJV).

“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities” (Psa. 31:7, NKJV)

“You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Psa. 56:8, NKJV)

 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name” (Psa. 147:3,4 NKJV).

5.     He knows our hearts

“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (1 Sam. 16:7, NKJV).

 “Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart” (Psa. 44:2, NKJV).

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever” (1 Chron. 28:9, NKJV).

 “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27, NKJV).

6.     He knows all of our activities

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways” (Psa. 139:1-3, NKJV).

“For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psa. 1:6).

7.     He knows our needs even before we know them

“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him . . . For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matt. 6:8, 32, NKJV).

“For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’ (Deut. 2:7, NLT).

8.     He knows our life span

 “The LORD knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever” (Psa. 37:18, NKJV).

“And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria ” (2 Kings 20:6, NKJV).

9.     He knows how to deliver us from temptation

“Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9, NKJV).

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13, NKJV).

10.  He knows our devotion

“And the LORD said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Gen. 18:17-19, NKJV).

“But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’” (Gen. 22:11, 12, NKJV).

11. He knows our weaknesses

“As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psa. 103:13, 14, NKJV).

“When He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter’ What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (Matt. 26:40, 41, NKJV).

 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26, NKJV).

12. He knows His own

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7, NKJV).

 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left” (Matt. 25:31-33, NKJV).

“’But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him  (Jn. 6:64, NKJV).

“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own . . . My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:14, 27, NKJV).

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART 3 | Bible Study | Mike Prah

 3. GOD IS OMNIPRESENT

 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

 “. . . God has said,  “Never will I leave you;  never will I forsake you” Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

 No matter what we’re going through, He will never leave nor forsake us. His continual presence guarantees the fulfillment of every promise.

What does it mean that God is omnipresent?

God, in the totality of His essence, without diffusion or expansion, multiplication, or division, penetrates and fills the universe in all its parts. (A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 279)

• God’s omnipresence means His complete presence is everywhere at all times.

• The doctrine of omnipresence provides consolation to obedient believers that no disaster can come to them and that God is always with them. It also cautions the disobedient believer that they cannot avoid God’s presence (Paul Enns, Moody Handbook of Theology, p. 194)

• The disobedient person referred to here can be either a carnal believer or a rebellious unbeliever.

Example: The carnal or disobedient believer—Jonah, the prophet

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come before Me” (Jonah 1:2).

Wrong Jonah! You cannot flee from God.

1. God was with Jonah on that ship (Jonah 1:5-6).
2. God was with Jonah in the angry sea (Jonah 1:15-17).
3. God was with Jonah in the fish’s belly (Jonah 2:1, 10).
4. God anointed Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-8).
5. God spoke to Jonah in his anger outside Nineveh (Jonah 4:5-11).

•  God sees all people at all times and places.

“No one can hide where I cannot see him,” says the Lord. “I fill all of heaven and earth,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24, NCV). 

There are two things to consider when studying God’s omnipresence: God’s immanence and transcendence—these two are related.

 A. God’s Transcendence

God’s transcendence means that God is exalted in his royal dignity and exercises control and authority in his creation.

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me,    and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. (Psalm 139:7-12, NLT).

B. God’s Immanence

Divine immanence is the description of God's kingly control and authority. Because God's rules over creation, He is present throughout the whole creation, especially to hHs people, in a personal and covenantal way.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

• Divine transcendence and immanence are the related Christian doctrines that while God is exalted in his royal dignity and exercises both control and authority in his creation (transcendence), he is, by virtue of this control and authority, very present to his creation, especially his people, in a personal and intimate way (immanence) 

• The doctrines of transcendence and immanence describe the royal dignity and presence of the God who came to be among his people in Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us. 

• The concept of immanence is helpfully summarized in the term Immanuel, God with us (Isa. 7:14; 8:8; Matt. 1:23).

 Transcendence is a convenient term to summarize our knowledge that “above us.”

(Psalm 57:5; Psalm 8:1; Psalm 113:5; Psalm 97:9) 

• God’s transcendence is a way of referring to God's  lordship over the world, but lordship does not confine God to a sphere beyond our knowledge.

• God’s lordship is not just a relationship of control and authority to the world he has made, but also of presence with his covenant partners.

•  The heart of the covenant is a relationship of intimacy. The chief promise of the covenant is the Lord’s word, “I will be with you” (Gen. 21:22; 26:28; 28:15; 28:20; 31:3, 5; 39:3–4; Exod. 3:11–12; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23).

• God’s intimate relationship, the heart of the covenant, resounds through Scripture (see Deut. 4:7, 20; 7:6; 14:7; 26:18; 2 Sam. 7:24; 2 Cor. 6:18; Rev. 21:7).

• Because He is our God and we are his people, He will be “with us” for all eternity: Immanuel!

 GOD’S OMNI-PRESENCE: APPLICATION

1. Jesus stands at the right hand of God, representing you

 “Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” Romans 8:34 (NLT)

 “Therefore Jesus is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” Hebrews 7:25 (NLT)

 2. God is always close beside you

 “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff  protect and comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 (NLT)

 3. God’s Spirit actually lives within you

 “For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”  Colossians 1:27 (NLT)

 “My dear children, you belong to God and have defeated them; because God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world.” I john 4:4 (NCV)

 4. God is with you during the difficult situations of life

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord, your God” Isaiah 43:2-3a (NLT)

 5. God will be with us during our final days and will take us to heaven with him

 “Our homeland is in heaven, and we are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. By his power to rule all things, he will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body.” Philippians 3:20-21 (NCV)

 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 (NIV/NKJV)

 Consider this profound truth: The God of all creation—the transcendent, magnificent, holy, righteous, loving, compassionate, omnipresent Creator of all things—desires to have a relationship with you. Why?

God did this, “So that people might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27, CSB).

Would you, my friend, seek after God with all your heart and experience the power and blessing of His Omnipresence?

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

4. GOD IS OMNIPOTENT

“The LORD has made the heavens His throne; from there He rules over everything.” Psalm 103:19 (NIV)

 "Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.” Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)

4. OUR RESPONSIBILITY

A.  Obey God

B. Believe in God

C. Claim the promise

 DIGGING DEEPER

SECTION 1: PERSONALIZING THE MESSAGE

(a). What insight from the message left the biggest impression on you? Why?

(b). What did you hear that encouraged or reassured you?

(c). What did you hear that challenged or convicted you?

(d). How did the message increase your appreciation for God the Father, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit?

(e). From your personal experience, how can you illustrate a point from the message?

(f). Who can share the positive results of heeding the message or the painful consequences of disregarding its truth?

 SECTION 2:  APPLICATION OF THE MESSAGE

(a). What personal application of the message has the Lord shown you? How do you feel about following through with it?

(b). How should the message we heard affect or change our prayers?

(c). If we diligently apply the message, what effect would it have on personal lives and our daily walk with Christ?

(d). What would you say to share this helpful information to benefit someone who did not hear this message?