The Bible contains many promises. For those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, these promises are a great source of hope and encouragement.
Lately I have been focused on three specific promises in God’s Word. I remind myself of them daily. If you’re a Christian, these promises apply to you too. I pray they bring you joy, hope, and peace as they have to me.
Promise 1: Eternal life.
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
~John 3:16
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Romans 6:23
I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
~John 5:24
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.“
~John 11:25
This is probably the greatest promise in all of Scripture. Jesus promises everlasting life to all who trust in Him. As a gift. No strings attached. You come to Christ, in faith, and ask Him to save you from the penalty of your sin, and He does. He makes you a new creation, and adopts you into His family. He gives you eternal life!
Promise 2: A new (and improved) body.
Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,
including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.
~Romans 8:20-25
The older I get, the more excited I am by this promise. My body is well past its prime. I discover new aches, pains, and limitations almost daily. My body suffers under the curse of sin, and so does yours. Our current bodies are subject to death and decay. But God has promised to give us brand new bodies, like the one Jesus has now.
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.
Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.
They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.
What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.
Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
~I Corinthians 15:42-49
Our bodies are a key part of who we are. We are not destined to be ghosts or disembodied spirits in the afterlife (II Corinthians 5:1-10). God designed us to live in a physical world, as physical beings. After He created man on the sixth day of creation, He looked over all He had made and saw that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). The physical world is not bad, its just been corrupted by sin.
And so, in the future, we will exist in a state very similar to our current one, but without sin. Our souls will inhabit new vessels, and I imagine it will be like going from a Model T to a Ferrari. I can’t wait!
Promise 3: A glorious inheritance.
You may have noticed when reading the passage from Romans 8 that our new bodies are just part of a larger inheritance we will receive as God’s adopted children.
Paul talks more of this inheritance in his letter to the Ephesians:
The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
~Ephesians 1:14
Maybe you’ve imagined what it would be like to inherit a massive fortune. New house, new car, fancy restaurants, lavish vacations… But any earthly treasures you receive will eventually wear out. The money will come and go. Earthly things don’t last. This is why Jesus tells us to look forward to treasure in Heaven instead (Mathew 6:19-21).
The main point is this: we have been promised an incorruptible inheritance from the King of the universe. It will be greater than any inheritance we could ever get on this earth. It will blow our minds when we receive it.
Standing on the promises of God.
There’s an old hymn called “Standing on the promises of God.” It’s about trusting that God will do what He says He will do.
It’s not enough to know about the promises of God, we have to believe them for them to have any impact. If I promise to give you a billion dollars, that promise isn’t going to get you excited, because you don’t believe that it’s true. The same thing can happen if we don’t have faith that God will deliver on His promises.
There’s a story in Isaiah, chapter 7, that illustrates this. King Ahaz of Judah was worried about enemy nations attacking. And, indeed, the kings of Israel and Syria were plotting against him. But the Lord sent Isaiah, and through him told Ahaz the following: “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place.” Then He added something interesting: “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.” In other words, God’s promises will bring you no comfort unless you believe them.
We’ve been given some precious promises. Eternal life, new bodies, a glorious inheritance, and more. Stand firm on these promises. Have faith that God will deliver. If you struggle to trust the promises in God’s Word, I encourage you to memorize this verse:
“For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.” ~Psalm 33:4
