THE CHILDREN OF PROMISE
"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." (Gal 4:28 KJV)
Devotion 8 of 15

GOD MADE PROMISES

Permit me to be practical about this aspect of our study. God made certain promises concerning the people of the New Covenant. They WOULD give heed to the greatest Prophet of all, Jesus Christ (Deut 18:15). They would NO LONGER have stony, or hard hearts. They WOULD be sensitive to the Lord, possessing hearts of flesh (Ezek 11:16; 36:26). They WOULD walk in His ways, and call upon the name of the Lord (Micah 4:2). They WOULD be willing in the day of His power (Psa 110:3). They WOULD all know the Lord, from the least to the greatest (Jer 31:34; Heb 8:11). The Law of God WOULD be put into their minds and written upon their hearts; i.e., they would experience an indisputable accord with both the character and content of the law of God (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10; 10:16).

Just as surely as the conditions of Isaac's birth were prophesied, so the conditions of our rebirth were foretold. Those who do not fall into these categories are not children of promise--regardless of their profession. Those who are so characterized ARE children of promise, whether they conform to humanly devised patterns of theological thought or not. There can be no effective disputation of the matter.

Children of Promise in Origin

Here is a refreshing reality! Those in Christ are like Isaac: their origin is traced back to God! "And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise." There was only one explanation for the birth of Isaac--the Living God! Sarah was barren (Gen 11:30), and Abraham was "as good as dead" (Heb 11:12). There is no way Isaac could have been brought into the world apart from the promise of God. Sarah could not have conceived by an act of her will, not could Abraham have fathered Isaac by the will of the flesh. The cause for Isaac was the Lord--he was a "child of promise." Whatever may be said about the involvement of Abraham and Sarah, it was the "promise" that enabled Isaac to be born.

John alludes to this situation in his explanation of the sons of God. "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God" (John 2:11-12, NIV). The new birth is of "of the Spirit," not the flesh. As the Lord Jesus Himself declared, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God . . . Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God . . . Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (John 3:3,5,7). While response and obedience are unquestionably involved in being born again, that is not the point Jesus is emphasizing. The birth itself is the point--something accomplished by God. Whether it is a birth, or emergence, out of the waters of baptism (Tit 3:5), or out of the work of the Spirit (John 3:6), the birth itself is the point.

Thus the promise of the prophet is fulfilled, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them" (Ezek 36:26,27). The saved of the Lord are "children of promise."

Those in Christ have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Pet 1:23). Begotten by the Word of God (James 1:21), they are the "children of promise" in origin! These are the ones in whom a "clean heart" has been created (Psa 51:10)--they are "children of promise." Their sinful "dross" has been purged, and the "tin" of their fleshly nature has been stripped away from them by the circumcision of Christ (Isa 1:25; Col 2:11-12). They are truly "the children of promise." In accordance with the Divine commitment, their "filth" has been "washed away" (Isa 4:4). They are the ones of whom Isaiah prophesied: "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isa 12:3). They are the "children of promise" in origin. You cannot account for them apart from the Lord. They were begotten by God, with the Word, through the Spirit, and in Christ Jesus!

PRAYER POINT: Father, through the Lord Jesus I thank You that the traits You promised would be in Your children can be possessed and recognized.

-- Tomorrow: CHILDREN OF PROMISE IN PERSECUTION --