•
LESSON
1
(January 1)
•
The Nature of the God
of Promises
PROMISES
In yo
ur own words, what is a promise?
Why are promises even a thing? Why do people make them?
O
n what do promises depend?
What makes them work? What makes them fail?
2 PETER AS AN
EXAMPLE
As Peter describes false teachers
who would “secretly bring in destructive heresies” (2:1)
, he
warns:
These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter
darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual
passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. Th
ey
promise
them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever
overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
(2 Pet 2:17
-
19)
What does Peter want Christians of all eras to understand?
In contrast to these false teachers, Peter turns
ou
r
attention to God in 2 Peter 3. Speaking of
“scoffers” (3:3) who are intent on “following their own sinful desires”:
They will say, “Where is the
promise
of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell
asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they
deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was
formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these
the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same
word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the
day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his
promise
as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any
should
perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be
burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that
are done on it
will be
exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to
be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of
God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolve
d, and the heavenly
bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his
promise
we are waiting for new
heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
(2 Pet 3:4
-
13)
Again, what does Peter want Christians of all eras to understand?
As we think th
rough what Peter is revealing, why is it absolutely imperative that we
understand the nature of the God who has made this promise?
If we recognize the importance of grasping the nature of God and want to grow in our
understanding of what is happening wh
en he makes a promise, Hebrews 6 is one of the most
helpful bits of revelation we have.
For when God made a
promise
to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to
swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus
Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the
promise
. For people swear by
something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for
confirmation. 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, 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.
(Heb 6:13
-
18)
In your own words, what is the writer of Hebrews communicating to us?
What have we learned about the nature of the God who makes promises to mankind?
What difference should those things that we have learned make in our lives this week?
