The start of a new year signifies a new beginning. Perfect time to start again. The time of the year to set our goals and to prioritize things. It is also the best time to remember what transpired in the past. Once the happenings in the past come into our senses that we’ll realize the mistakes we have made; the lessons we have learned; our gains and losses and how those events contribute to our growth as individual and as someone who is pursuing to live a life pleasing unto the Lord. Looking back will always remind us of God’s faithfulness. We will come to understand how He carried us through the entire year.
And as we look back, excitement begins to develop. Excited to discover what the new year has in store for us. Excited to start again. To dream again. To hope again. To love again. New year brings new perspective. With a new perspective comes not just a renewed hope but courage to take new heights.
But excitement is not enough to face another year filled with uncertainties. And while others are making an excellent preparation to start the year right, the truth of the matter is that we are ALL blind to what lies ahead of us.
There will always be difficulties. Unexpected event will soon visit us. And it comes in various forms; sudden death of your loved ones, bankruptcy, health problems, conflict in your marriage, chaos within the household, early pregnancy, being hurt by someone you love, betrayed by your trusted friend and the list continues. And these will determine the strength of our foundation. That even if you are believing in the Lord, there will always be a certain event that will shake you and your faith. When things seem so wrong and our human mind cannot comprehend why all those stuffs are happening that we are then tempted to unbelief resulting to instability
As we start the year 2019, we are going to highlight the importance of being anchored. The aim this study is for all us to attain a sense of stability. There are three symbols being used for Christianity in the past namely dove, fish and ANCHOR.
The purpose of the anchor is to hold your position REGARDLESS of your situation.
Regardless of your situation because you are not shaken by the circumstance. You are not controlled by your situation. It is a means of support, security and stability. In the Scripture, anchor is used to represend God and faith which is the basis of our hope.
In this study, we are going to explore Hebrew 6:13-20
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham,[a] having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The aim of the writer of Hebrews was to make sure that the faith of his readers are secure and stable in the Gospel. He wanted to make it sure that their christian hope was stabilising them in the midst of oppression, even such was in the form of persecution. He desire for them to be confident through the Gospel. He desire for them to be confident in their hope in Christ.
God’s purpose in this text is press upon our hearts and minds His desire and purpose to have strong encouragement to hold on to our hope in Christ because storms of life will certainly come.
The aim of the writer of Hebrews was to make sure that the faith of his readers are secure and stable in the Gospel. He wanted to make it sure that their christian hope was stabilising them in the midst of oppression, even such was in the form of persecution. He desire for them to be confident through the Gospel. He desire for them to be confident in their hope in Christ.
God’s purpose in this text is press upon our hearts and minds His desire and purpose to have strong encouragement to hold on to our hope in Christ because storms of life will certainly come.
This particular text put the whole issue of endurance on its propery perspective.
Remember that Christians are called to persevere and to endure especially during tough times. What makes Christian life challenging is that even in the midst of life’s difficulties, we are called not to give up but to keep going. And in order for us to endure and to persevere we need to understand that our security and endurance are ANCHORED in God’s changeless promises.
God’s promises will never change and is not subject to some changes. To have a better understanding of His great and precious promises will aid us to see every situation with silver linings. For us to live life confidently we need to boldly claim God’s promises. Believe in His promises. And to hold on to His promises. That is why we have to anchor our lives in God’s promises. And that is why Hebrews 6:13-15 is talking about the promise of God especially those He sealed with an oath.
This text is showing us how God’s COVENANT promises undegrid and strengthen our hope which then becomes the basis for endurance and perseverance in the midst of adversity. Let me highlight the word COVENANT because if there is one thing we need to understand about God’s nature and character is that He is the God of the COVENANT. It goes to say then that God is the promise making God. Not only He is fond of making promises, He is also keeping His promises. And this understanding will strengthen us to continually hold on to what He promises because what He promised will certainly come. What He promised to do will certainly come. What He promised He won’t do, He will not really do because God cannot lie. His promises are anchored to His faithfulness and God cannot and will not contradict His very own nature. Promises of God are always sure. Promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. And from human’s point of view, promise is such a big word.
It is a big word because it involves emotion. We need to realize its effect. When we are givng promises, our words create excitement and anticipation. Once we fulfill what we promised it brings forth joy to the recipient. Fulfilled promises speak integrity and therefore you can be trusted because you know how to kept your words. But once a promise is left unfulfilled, it produces frustration, disappointments, pain and people would find it hard to trust you. At some points in our life, we were a victim of empty promises
and so life has taught us that promises are made to be broken
This caused us to be hesitant to put our hopes and expectation to a promise given to us. Worst, it affects our view on God’s promises. Because empty promises left a wound in our hearts thus we become skeptical on the promises of God. But then again, we must remind ourselves that God is not man. He faithful to His promises. He is faithful to His words. What He said is always certain. This is one thing we need to consider in our Christian walk. In our desire to grow in the faith and to kept the faith, let us make God’s promises our spiritual anchor.
Not only because we are victim of empty promises that we find it hard to believe God’s promises; another problem with us is that we often try to put God in our own time schedule. Yes, God’s promises are always sure; yes and amen in Christ Jesus but we have to understand that there is always a waiting period before it will be fulfilled. And this is where most, if not all, of us fail. We don’t like waiting. We are tired of waiting. This is where we become frustrated, disappointed and begin to question God. It is during this time that our faith becomes weak and the temptation to give up is at its highest peak. And that the reason why the writer of Hebrews used the life of Abraham as an example.
The writer is making his point that even Abraham, known to be the Father Faith, has experienced times of trouble before the promise became a reality. He wanted to paint a picture that even this man known of his faith has to combat against doubt, disbelief, frustration and disappointment. The verse above tells us that while Abraham was waiting for the fulfillment of the promise, he has to learn patience, faith and trust to God. And the same is true with us. Patience, faith and trusting God develop best during the time of waiting.
Abraham’s life was filled with challenges. He was called by God to left his hometown and to be in a place where he never been in the past. Received the promise to be the father of many nations but the thing was he has no child. And to make his situation more challenging, God had promised to him a son but from human’s perspective it’s unbelievable due to their age. But it did came. The promised son has arrived by the name Isaac. And the highlight of his account was when Abraham’s faith was tested by God. When he was asked to offer Isaac, his one and only son. The supposed death of his son could mean the end of the promise.
Abraham was in a situation wherein there was no reason to hope but he kept believing. He kept believing because he hold on to the promise God has given him. God made a covenant with him as stated in Genesis 15: 17-18a ( Read from verse 7 down to 20 to get the entire context)
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram…
When covenants were made in the ancient Near East, certain rites would accompany the agreement in order to signify what would happen if one or both parties failed to live up to their end of the pact. One common ritual involved dismembering animals and then laying the pieces in two rows side-by-side with a path in between. The individuals making the covenant would then pass between the animals and invoke a curse upon themselves if they broke the agreement. In performing this rite both parties were in effect saying, “If I do not fulfill the terms of this covenant, may the destruction that befell these animals also be upon my head.”
As if His word of promise were not enough, the Lord finishes His encounter with Abram in Genesis 15 with this very same rite. In a theophany — a visible revelation of the divine — God appears as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. And it appeared when the sun had come down and it was dark. And tells us one thing.
There will always be point in our life wherein we will find it hard to love and has no reason to love but we have to keep loving. We will be confronted with a situation in which we will find it hard to have hope because there’s no reason for hope but we have to keep hoping.
When we keep loving despite its tough, we are showing the world what love is. When we keep believing even in the midst of doubt, we will not only obtained what God has promised to us, we will also learn patience, trust and faith.This is what makes Christian life challenging YET rewarding.
As Abraham faced a hopeless situation he kept believing because he anchored his faith and hope in God’s promises. Heroes of the faith came from different walks of life. Their stories differ from one another yet they share one common denominator in their pilrimage towards faith. They ALL anchored their lives in God’s promises.
They anchored their lives in God’s promises because the promises of God are irrevocable.
Just like them, we too must anchor our lives in God’s promises. We can do so because God is unchanging. God is not like us. He is not controlled by circumstances. He will never be caught off guard. He has no alternative plans. He is not affected by our moods and or by the weather. As James 1:17 says Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
We can anchor our lives in God’s promises because He is faithful. As what stated above, God cannot say something and left it undone. God is faithful to His promises. He is faithful to His word He is faithful to His nature and character. His action will not contradict His attributes. God’s faithfulness will always give us the encouragement that we can hold on to what He has promised us. Numbers 23:19 states God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
We can anchor our lives in God’s promises because He is strong. His promises are not beyond what He can do. He is not making a promise and then left it unfulfilled. Human in his willingness is able to make a promise but sometimes he is not capable of fulfilling the promise. But God is God. He is not only able but He is also capable of making His promises a reality. Take heart Romans 4: 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
We can anchor our lives in God’s promises because God cannot lie. Remember that a fulfilled promise leads to trust. God cannot lie and it is connected to His Faithfulness. Take note of every prophecy that was fulfilled. What God set to happen will certainly takes into action. He is not like us. Sometimes we are good only in words but we fail to demonstrate what we said. We are saying something but our actions are speaking different thing. God cannot lie. It is plainly stated in Hebrews 6:18a so that by two unchangrable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie…
In our desire to start the year right, let’s the year by anchoring our lives in God’s promises. Just like a doctor that might prescribe medications to our body; God has given us promises for our hearts. The certainty of life’s difficulties is unavoidable. It will soon visit us. It is a part of life. But remember
If fear is your problem, take heart Isaiah 41: 10.
When your human mind cannot comprehend the happenings in your life, understand Romans 8:28.
Looking for peace, listen to the very word of Jesus Christ in John 16:33. From the passage, we can best learn that our Savior didn’t promised us a troubled free life. On the contrary, He said in this world we will have trouble. But we can still rejoice. We can still praise His name. He has promised us peace even in the midst of trouble because He himself has overcome the world!
Again, the storms of life are a part of life. It is not a question if they will come but when. When we are blindsided by the storms of life, what anchors us? Are we controlled by the problems of life and or the pain of life? Or are we holding on to our hope in Christ that is being anchored in His great and precious promises?
Helga Findley once said; when we anchor our lives to God’s promises, He hels us weave His truth into our time of mourning.
The Lord we worship is the God of the Covenant. He is the God that makes a promise and keeps His promise. He is governing this world in His great and precious promises. He has given us His promises because He wants us to live in this world with confidence. As we choose to have faith in Him and declare that Jesus is our Lord and Savior; we belong them. Since we belong to Him let us be what we were meant to be – people of the promise.
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