All God’s Promises
Find Their ‘Yes’ in Jesus Christ:
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among
you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always
Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is
through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who
establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put
his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2
Corinthians 1:19-22).
Prophesies of Isaiah
concerning Jesus, the Messiah, the Sword of God, through whom Israel will be
restored and salvation revealed to the end of the earth:
Isaiah 49:1-26
“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples
from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he
named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand
he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said
to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said,
‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet
surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.’
And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be
his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to
him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my
strength— he says:
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to
raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will
make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of
the earth.’
Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers:
‘Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall
prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of
Israel, who has chosen you.’
Thus says the Lord:
‘In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of
salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the
people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to
the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall
feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not
hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who
has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I
will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Behold,
these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.’
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O
mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have
compassion on his afflicted.
But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has
forgotten me.’
‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have
no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget you. Behold, I have
engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out
from you. Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you.
As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you
shall bind them on as a bride does.
Surely your waste and your desolate places and your
devastated land— surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and
those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to
dwell in.’
Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I
was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?’
Thus says the Lord God:
‘Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my
signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your
daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster
fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground
they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know
that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.’
Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a
tyrant be rescued?
For thus says the Lord:
‘Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the
prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with
you, and I will save your children. I will make your oppressors eat their own
flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all
flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty
One of Jacob.’”
Jesus, the Messiah,
Revealed:
John 1:1-18
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made
through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life,
and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came
as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through
him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming
into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet
the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not
receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and
truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I
said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.”’)
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon
grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the
bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
Jesus, the Messiah,
Promises:
John 14:1-31
“’Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe
also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I
have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am
you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’
Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are
going. How can we know the way?’
Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you
would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen
him.’
Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is
enough for us.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you
still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can
you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and
the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own
authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am
in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works
themselves.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also
do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am
going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will
do it.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will
ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither
sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in
you.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a
little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I
live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and
you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is
who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love
him and manifest myself to him.’
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you
will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’
Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my
word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that
you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. These things I have spoken
to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the
world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them
be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’
If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for
the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when
it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for
the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the
Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.
Rise, let us go from here.”
God’s Provision of
Salvation:
Genesis 3:15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise
his heel.”
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Hebrews 2:14
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he
himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might
destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all
those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it
is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore
he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation
for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted,
he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
The Gospel:
Rom 1:16
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of
God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek.”
1 Cor 15:1-9
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached
to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being
saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in
vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he
appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still
alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all
the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For
I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God.”
John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but
has passed from death to life.”
God’s Enduring Love
and Sovereign Grace:
Eph 1:1-23:
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even
as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of
his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he
set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in
him, things in heaven and things on earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been
predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to
the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might
be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks
for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the
knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of
his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power
and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also
in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills
all in all.”
Ephesians 2:1-22
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you
once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the
desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like
the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with
which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him
and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the
coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is
not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no
one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the
flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants or promise, having no
hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our
peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing
wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in
ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so
making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were
far off and peace to those who were near.
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the
Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the
cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a
holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a
dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
All God’s Promises
Find Their ‘Yes’ in Jesus Christ:
2 Corinthians 1:19-22
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among
you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always
Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is
through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who
establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put
his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
2 Peter 1:2
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
2 Corinthians 13:14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
