The Evidence of God’s Faithfulness Revealed Now.

God always keeps His word. God is faithful. This is something I am sure you have heard if you have been a Christian for a while. Now obviously we are not discrediting that because it is true and we know that the truth is eternal. But what happens when you are in the in-between place where God has promised you something and it has taken forever to manifest. How do you still trust God’s faithfulness when your life does not seem to exhibit that?

Throughout Scripture, we see over and over how God fulfilled what He said He would. It is no surprise then that when Adam and Eve sinned, God had a plan to restore dominion, authority, and relationship through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the concept of God’s Faithfulness can sometimes be difficult to grasp. This is sometimes evident in how we quickly disqualify ourselves from God’s promises when we go astray.

• Ways in the Bible, God’s Faithfulness is revealed.
• Abraham and Sarah
• The Israelites
  • The Lord’s Covenant With Abram (Genesis 15)
• David
• Mankind
• Application
• Conclusion

Obviously, we know that sin does get us off track and out of God’s will for our lives. But what we also forget is that God is Sovereign and thus He has countless ways to get us back on track. This should help us get rid of the pressure to perform to earn God’s promises. One thing we need to understand is that it doesn’t matter how good our deeds are, they can never outweigh God’s desire to bless us and keep His promises. In 2 Timothy 2: 13, God tells us that even when we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself. That is who our God is, Faithful and Merciful.

Ways in the Bible, God’s Faithfulness is revealed.

Abraham and Sarah

Abraham and Sarah got tired of waiting on God to give them a son, so they decided to have one through Hagar. They did get a son who they named Ishmael. Yet despite falling short and not exercising patience, God still gave them Isaac. And again we know that God blessed Ishmael too. God did not retract His promise of giving Abraham, Isaac when he sinned. Because of God’s faithfulness, He still went through with His promise. So we can be sure that when God gives us a word He will surely bring it to pass. Again, when God told Abraham that he would have a son exactly a year after God visited him, Sarah laughed and did not believe. Regardless, God still blessed them with Isaac. Our actions and doubt do not disqualify us. God’s grace and mercy are greater than any mistake you can make.

Looking at both Abraham and Sarah, we see that they represent human nature perfectly. First, they did not believe that God could do it for them so they decided to do it in their own strength. Can you relate to this? Has God given you a promise that has yet to manifest and you find yourself wanting to do it in your own strength? Have you given up on God’s promise because it is yet to come to pass or has taken a long time? Or could it be because you are yet to see God’s faithfulness manifest? Maybe you have even started doubting God’s faithfulness. Well, as you can see it does not matter how long it takes, when God makes a promise, He is faithful to fulfill it.

When Abraham and Sarah lacked the faith to believe in God’s promises, God still fulfilled what He promised. You see, God’s faithfulness is not dependent on you but on Him. He honors His promises because of His name’s sake. If it were dependent on you and me we would probably never experience His goodness. Because not only are we unfaithful, but we are also very fickle and grow weary along the way.

It does not matter how much faith we have when God gives us a promise, we do grow weary along the way. The reason for this is that God’s promise gets tested a lot. And when that happens, it can be very difficult to hold on to the faith. Especially when the surrounding circumstances contradict the promise.

Abraham was 100 years when Isaac was born. He however was given the promise when he was 75 years. So that was a 25-year waiting period. Now being human, he decided to help God and that’s how Ishmael came to be. Obviously, we know that it was Sarah his wife who suggested it. But the fact that it was Abraham, whom God had given the promise, he failed in his faith. He agreed to go along with Sarah’s plan despite the promise God had given him. He had grown weary.

If you have grown weary in the waiting, today I want to encourage you to look at the story of Abraham. Yes, the waiting season was long, but in the end, God’s promise came to pass. And the same will happen for you too. It does not matter how long it is that you have waited for God to come through. The fact that you are still breathing means that He is not done with you and will fulfill what He promised. God’s faithfulness is still available for you because you are still breathing.

The Israelites

When we read almost all the books in the old testament we see the many times the Israelites sinned against God whether it was through idol worship, intermarriage, or even child sacrifices. They constantly sinned and went astray but still, God rescued them and called them His chosen nation. There are instances where He would fight on their behalf and rescue them from their enemies. He even rescued them from His own wrath by giving them a bronze snake to look to when they were bit by snakes that God Himself had sent. While in the wilderness God provided food and security for them despite their endless murmurings and complaints. Even when they doubted God, in His mercy He still came through for them.

Again, God’s faithfulness in fulfilling the promise of protecting them and being their God came to be because of the promise God made to Abraham. He did not even rely on them to keep their end of the bargain. That was why, when God gave Abraham the promise, he did it in His name

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram (Genesis 15)

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
    I am your shield,^[a]
    your very great reward.^[b]”

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

⁹ So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward, they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

God made this promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 and that was what He remembered and acted on even when the Israelites messed up. In fact, in Exodus 2, when God wanted to rescue the Israelites, the Bible makes it clear that He remembered the promise that He had made to Abraham and knew it was time to act.

²³ During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. (Exodus 2:23-25)

I hope this gives you the confidence to the promises that God has spoken over you. Hold on to those promises. Because the One who promised is faithful to bring them to pass.

David

God had promised David that there would always be someone from his lineage on the throne. Yet when David murdered Uriah and committed adultery with his wife, God did not withdraw that promise. He still showed mercy to David and forgave him when he repented. In fact, God was merciful to David and he did not kill him. You see, in the Old Testament, the penalty for adultery was death, and death by stoning at that. Yet God did not give David the punishment he deserved. Also, it was through Bethsheba that the son who preceded David came from, Solomon was Bathsheba’s son.

Also, Jesus the everlasting King with an everlasting kingdom descended from the lineage of David. God was faithful to honor that promise despite the shortcomings of David and his lineage too.

Mankind

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them dominion over the earth. Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve sinned, that authority and dominion were altered. This gave room for the enemy to rule the world. Fortunately, it was only for a short time because when Jesus died and resurrected He took it back. And now everyone who believes in His has access to that power and dominion in Him.

Jesus became man, lived a sinless life, and fulfilled every law. He then took our sins and paid the debt at the cross and now we can stand in confidence and say that we are debt-free and have our power back. Not only was the dominion restored but the relationship between us and God was restored too. That is why now we can say that we are His children and Jesus is the firstborn of all creation.

Application

Conclusion

We need to take the pressure off of us and lay it all at the feet of Jesus. Even Paul knew not to burden himself with the pressure of not being good enough and holy enough. He tells us that it is because we are human that we end up falling short. So instead of wallowing in our guilt and shame, we need to dust ourselves up and rise and again and remember that the grace of God has covered our sins. After all, our righteousness is as filthy rugs to Him. So let us put on the righteousness of Jesus. He is enough and always remember, as long as God said He will do it He will. And He will always honor what He says because that is who He is.