I’ve broken promises.

One that haunts me is a promise that I made to our daughter when she was about 11 years old. I told her that I would pick her up when the library closed. Unfortunately, the library closed 30 minutes before I thought it closed. It was raining that night. I was horrified when I pulled up to the darkened library and there she was standing and waiting. That broken promise has haunted me for decades. She doesn’t remember the incident.

“If you eat all your dinner, you can have ice cream for desert.” A promise that’s easy to keep.

“For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health. ‘Til death do us part.” A stronger promise. Really a covenant. It’s harder to keep.

God made the ultimate Promise.

Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. As a result, their relationship with God was broken. They would no longer walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day. They were exiled from the garden. Another consequence for sin was death. One day, they would die.

But God gave them a promise. He would send One who would bruise the head of Satan, a Redeemer who would make things right, Jesus, Genesis 3:15.

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s promise of a Savior is given. In each book of the Old Testament, we see Jesus.

Jesus is the Promise Keeper.

God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, into the world to pay the price for our sins. That’s what a Redeemer does. Pay for someone else’s debt.

Jesus shed the glory that He enjoyed with God and entered this world as a baby in a poor carpenter’s family.

He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, gave hearing to the deaf, touched the leper, and performed miracle after miracle. Jesus taught the people and demonstrated God’s love for them.

Yet, the religious leaders turned against Him.

Knowing what lay ahead, Jesus prayed that He would glorify God, His Father. He also prayed knowing that the Father had given Jesus authority to give eternal life to all the people that the Father had given to Him.

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3

After a series of illegal trials, Jesus was beaten beyond recognition as a man, a cross beam was heaved upon His shoulders, and He walked to Golgotha where the Roman soldiers nailed Him to the cross.

On that cross, Jesus took my sins, your sins, and the sins of the world – past, present, and future – upon Himself. He fulfilled God’s promise to the world. He paid the price for our debts – death. He conquered death when He rose from the dead after three days.

“And this is the promise that he made to us–eternal life.” 1 John 2:25

Eternal life is much more than living forever. It is knowing God intimately – having an ongoing relationship with Him. Abiding in Him. Talking with Him. Walking with Him.

Friend, do you possess God’s promise of eternal life? You can receive it today. It’s a free gift of God. You can’t earn it.

Pray with me

Father, thank You for sending Your own dear Son, Jesus, into the world to pay the price for my sins. I have sinned and have not followed You. I want eternal life, a life of knowing you. I know that Jesus died to pay for my sins and that He died and was raised from the dead on the third day. He conquered death for me! I turn from my sins, help me do this. Show me how to walk with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you just said that prayer, please let me know in the Comments below, so that I can pray for you and follow-up with you.

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If you just accepted Jesus, please find a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. Ask God to guide you to the church He wants you to attend. Begin reading your Bible and praying. You might want to start with the gospel of John in the New Testament. Welcome to the family of God!