There was/ is nothing passive about the promises of Jesus.  He is God manifest in the flesh.  He is the Theanthropos.  He is God's answer to the human condition.  Without God in the world people are dead in trespasses and sin.  Jesus is the only one who can give life to those dead in sin.  He is the Life-Giver to humanity.  The world is full of terror, death, and misery.  And yet God's message of Life is still at work in the world.