Book: The Essentials of Effective Prayer by Kay Arthur
Page 75
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From Vine's:
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Promise/epaggelia (1860)
[from epi which means upon and angello which means to proclaim or announce]
Primarily
a law term, denoting "a summons"; also meant "an undertaking to
do or give something."
It
frequently stands for the thing promised, and so signifies a gift graciously
bestowed, not a pledge secured by negotiation.
- Thus, in Gal 3:14, "the promise of the Spirit" denotes "the promised Spirit".
- In Heb 9:15, "the promise of the eternal inheritance" is "the promised eternal inheritance."
- On the other hand, in Acts 1:4, "the promise of the Father" is the "promise" made by the Father.
- In Gal 3:16, the plural "promises" is used because the one "promise" to Abraham was variously repeated and because it contained the germ of all subsequent "promises."
- Rom 9:4; Heb 6:12; 7:6; 8:6; 11:17, Gal 3 is occupied with showing that the promise was conditional upon faith and not upon the fulfillment of the law. The Law was later than, and inferior to, the promise and did not annul it.
- In Eph 2:12, "the covenants of the promise" does not indicate different covenants but a covenant often renewed, all center in Christ as the promised Messiah-Redeemer and comprising the blessings to be bestowed through Him.
The
occurrences of the word in relation to Christ and what centers in Him may be
arranged under the headings:
- The contents of the promise (Acts 26:6; Romans 4:20; 1 John 2:25
- The heirs; Romans 9:8; 15:8, Gal. 3:29; Heb 11:9
- The conditions; Romans 4:13, 14; Gal. 3:14-22; Hebrews 10:36
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For all of God's
promises/epaggelia (1860)
have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through
Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for
his glory. 2 Cor. 1:20 New Living
translation
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What did you learn about the promises of God in this
verse?
Here's what I learned,
Yvonne :-)
The promises of God
are really only one Promise:
Christ. In Him are all the riches
(Eph 1:18, 2:7) we as believers need. In Christ!
How will God respond to the promises He has made?
He already has
responded! He has sent His only
Son. He has given us His Promise-- the
promise He made before He gave the Law-- Christ.
Would it be effective to pray or even plead the
promises of God? Why?
We only need to agree
with God (that's my definition of confess)
with our resounding Amen! that God's Promise of Christ is fulfilled. Remembering that prayer (communication with
God) has two parts--listening and talking (sometimes asking)-- yes, we can
still pray by thanking God (that is the talking part) for what He has done by
sending His Son; but we don't need to plead that His Promise be fulfilled
because He has already fulfilled it in Christ.
We just need to abide in Him.
Often though because
we live in this world of time, I do plead for Christ's coming again in glory,
although I don't need to. At least
that's what I'm seeing this morning as I've been meditating on this verse over
the last few days. Everything is
fulfilled in Christ; it's only time that keeps us from seeing His plan fulfilled. So like Abraham, we simply must believe (and
act like we believe) that His plan for this world is complete in Christ while
we wait with expectation, not pleading, for that day when we can see it
fulfilled. Does that make sense? :-)
What have you
discovered, Yvonne, while meditating on this verse?
Linda
Moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TruthHimself/
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