Hebrews 6:13-20

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.  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The hope of believers comes from the promises of God.  We live in a world of broken promises.  The hopelessness of the world can be traced back to a lack of knowledge of or confidence in the promises of God.  The author of Hebrews wants to inspire hope in the lives of believers by demonstrating the security of the promises of God.

THE PROMISES ARE GIVEN BY GOD: The promises of God are secure because they come from God.  There is no power higher than Him and there is no name that is above His name.  God promised to bless Abraham and to bless all nations through his descendants.  There was nothing special about Abraham that made God choose him and there were no conditions placed on the fulfillment of His promises.  God makes His promises according to His will and accomplishes them according to His matchless power.  We can rest in all of God’s promises because they come from Him.  

THE PROMISES ARE GAURANTEED BY GOD: Though God’s promises are secure simply because of the glory of His person, He makes them even more secure by making guarantees.  His oath to be faithful to His promises are based on His unchanging person and character.  There should be no doubt in the veracity of God’s promises because of these truths.  This truth should fill of with confidence and courage no matter how difficult the circumstances of our life may seem.  God’s promises are eternal in nature, and they are fully secure.

THE PROMISES ARE GAURDED BY CHRIST: We have an anchor for the soul in the person of Jesus Christ.  He has paid the price for sin, given us access to the throne of grace, torn down the barrier between man and God, and He intercedes on our behalf in the presence of God.  He is our representative before God and He does not come from the see of Abraham.  He is from the order of Melchizedek meaning that He is a priest designated by God, not by human choosing or descent.  Being represented by Jesus, the Son of God, than any other priest from the descendants of Abraham.  Jesus is our forerunner and the fellowship He enjoys today is the fellowship that is promised to us with the Father for eternity.

APPLICATION: Rest secure in the promises of God because they come from God.  Be courageous in a broken world because our promises are not of this world or dependent on our circumstances.  Praise the name of Jesus who represents us before the Father.

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