CORNERSTONE CHURCH
March 22, ,2015
God’s Core Promises
Part 1
The Purpose of This Series:: When He makes a promise, He always fulfills it. The
Bible is clear, not only will God intervene on behalf of His people, but He will also lead
them to a life of freedom that they could not imagine. This series will help us discover
the four promises God makes with His people and how they can receive them.
It’s very interesting for me as a pastor to talk to many who want to start a church. My question
to them is always “Why?” Their response always lands in one of three categories, 1.)
Entrepreneur Church Planter: It sounds like a great idea, 2.) Disappointed Church Planter:
They don’t like what they have been in or seen, 3.) Freedom Church Planter: Because
people are without God, and they have planted a church to help people find and activate the
promises of God in their lives!
Cornerstone Church is a church, and it is a “Freedom Center.” It is a place where you can
find your God given CALL to live for a higher PURPOSE and RECEIVE all of God
PROMISES. That’s exactly why Jesus came. He came to bring the PROMISES of God to the
world.
In Luke 22 we find Jesus observing the PASSOVER SEDER with His disciples the night before
He went to the cross. The Passover mean is called a Seder which means “order.” The
Passover meal or Seder has been celebrated since the exodus of Israel from Egypt until today.
It is what we have revised and called the “Lord’s Supper” or “Communion”– you would have
found the bread, and not one cup but four. As you read the passage of Jesus and His disciples
you will find that two cups were mentioned during His meal in Luke 22:17-20.
The Jewish custom is quite different than what we do in communion. What Jesus would have
done is what the Jews would have done on Passover, a meal would have been prepared with
four cups of wine poured. They would have followed one portion of scripture with four key
statements and they drink a cup of wine with each statement. The CUPS represent God’s plan
for their lives. But the plans were not just for Israel coming out of Egypt, but they are eternal,
for every believer who comes out of their own Egypt, sin and bondage, into God’s promises, or
the Promised Land.
These four things are all throughout scripture, in the great commission of Jesus, in the Old and
New Testament, from cover to cover these four promises of God are there.
More than 3,000 years ago, God made some promises to some people in Egypt, the Israelites.
And those promises continue to stand at the heart of everything God wants to do in our lives
today. The God of the heaven’s, the creator of all has an offer on the table. They are promises
that you may or may not know are yours. LET’S TALK ABOUT PROMISES FROM GOD!
God has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you and I may
participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
II Peter 1:4
God promises us two things:
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1. You can participate in His divine nature- Supernatural
There are many Christians who are not living in the divine or supernatural power of God’s
nature. They are living according to their earthly, fleshly reality which is greater than their
heavenly realty. They don’t look like God’s plan for their life, they look more like what
Satan’s plan is for their life. You are a Christian but you are participating in your natural
strength and understanding. God has not designed us to live a “natural” life, He has
designed us to live a supernatural life.
2. You can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desire.
The promises of God are given to us, we find them in the Word of God so that we can
“PARTICIPATE” and “ESCAPE.” The flesh steps in where our Spirit steps out and our Spirit
steps in when our flesh steps out.
God has made you some promises and here is the definition:
Promise: an offer with a guaranteed result.
God has an offer on the table, and it’s an offer of His promises. It very possible that the
majority of us have not fully realized what He is offering us. It’s highly possible that there is
more on the table than you have ever picked up and taken for yourself. GOD HAS A
PROMISE FOR YOU and when God promises you something – He always fulfills it, maybe not
in the way you want or time that you want, but He always fulfills His promises.
Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Joshua 21:45
When the children of Israel were in the middle of trusting God, they didn’t see Him doing it as
they thought He should, but He did exactly what He said He would do.
When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God
can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise
unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the
promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching
past all appearances right to the very presence of God.
Hebrews 6:17-18 MSG
Since God cannot break His word, His words are “UNCHANGEABLE” which means that they
are eternal! He always wants to do them and there is nothing you can do that would cause
Him to withdraw His promises. This is the journey we are on today. I’m going to challenge you
to reach today, to grab His promises with both hands and NEVER let go! Why? Because it
brings you “RIGHT TO THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD.”
Three things you need to know about His promises:
I need to know His promises.
You can’t claim them if you don’t know them. You need to know them,
O LORD. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great
thing and made known all these great promises.
I Chronicles 17:19
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Where has God made known His promises? His promises are in His Word. You need to
know His Word! The Bible is a book of promises for every situation so that you can operate
in the divine nature of God and escape the corruption of the world. There is a verse for
every situation:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Battles – 1 John 4:4, Luke 10:19, Romans 8:37
Money – Philippians 4:19, Psalm 1:1-3
Fear – Psalm 27:1 – Lord is my Light, stronghold who afraid?
Sickness – Psalm 103:3 – Bless the Lord who heals all my diseases
Confidence – 2 Corinthians 3:6 – He has made ME competent
Safety – Psalm 121:8 – Lord will bless my coming and going
When life doesn’t make sense, hold on to the promises of God. I need to understand His
promises! Some get frustrated – think God has false advertisement going on.
︎ I need to understand His promises.
God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
Numbers 23:19 NLT
There are two things to understand about God’s promises.
First, His promises are eternal, God is faithful, they are unconditional, God wants to fulfill
His promises to you and He is ALWAYS willing, but may be LIMITED.
Second, not only are His promises to us unconditional, but they are also conditional. For
every promise of God, there is a PRIMUS of man. There is a ROLE that we play in the
promise. You may feel like God does change His mind. Although God always fulfills HIS
promises, WE, on the other hand, have responsibilities in the PROCESS of God’s promises
being fulfilled. His promises are ABSOLUTE, but our end of His promise is where things
can change.
THREE CONDITIONS TO CONNECT WITH GOD’S PROMISES:
1. First – We must BE LIVING IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD! Sin can hinder our relationship.
I have things I want to give to my kids…as long as they are connected to our family and
claims me as their father. I have more stuff than my kids have and our relationship has
much to do with the stuff they get! Not in a manipulative way, but I can and want to
bless them. Our relationship releases the blessing from me to them. Again, I’m not
talking about control, but blessings and many people have been manipulated with
control and called it family, or relationship. Their relationship comes with strings
attached. People resent that. So you may say, “Well God’s not faithful!” But let me ask
you, are you in a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP?
2. Second – We must ASK IN FAITH – Believe that He has a way. We serve the God who
can raise the dead. Some believe that God should just drop things all around them with
His goodness but don’t have any willingness to express their faith. God wants you to
trust Him and depend on His, which makes you close to Him. Faith is something you do
when there is noting but air in front of you and He says JUMP! Faith steps out.
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3. Third – We must BE PATIENT AND WAIT FOR HIS TIMING. He knows exactly when to
fulfill every promise We have to learn to trust His judgment. When we are waiting there
is always something to learn on our part and there is something to change on His part.
When you are praying for rain someone is praying for sunshine, if God is going to work
all things together for those who love the Lord, He has a way to satisfy both.
Sometimes it is working out someones blessings too, and sometimes it is pulling up a
stronghold for the sake of blessing you.
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him
the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
II Corinthians 1:20
I need to KNOW His promises.
I need to UNDERSTAND His promises
︎ I need to pursue His promises.
The promises of God don’t come chasing you down, you have to chase them down. Here
is what King David said about God’s promises:
Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
Psalm 119:140
David is saying, “I’ve tried to see if your promises are true, and I’m one to say that I tested
them all! They have been thoroughly tested.” What was his end result, I LOVE THEM!
My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.
Psalm 119:148
He thought about God’s promises all the time! It’s going to take you constantly dwelling on
the promises of God to see the effects of the promises of God. The etymology of the word
“promise,” that we use comes from the 15th century, literally means to SEND FORTH- Pro
(forth) + mittere (to send). A promise implies the future! A promise makes a guarantee
about your future.
It’s like saying, “I can make a guarantee about your future if you KNOW His promises,
UNDERSTANDS His promises, and PURSUES His promises, there is a better life waiting
on you.” You cannot “promise” about something that happened in the past.
Chances are you’ve been given plenty of promises in the past: broken friendships – family
– business- contracts – Even the most sacred of all human promises: Marriage. But today,
there are FOUR CORE PROMISES that God gave Israel as they left Egypt, those of the
Jewish faith, and those who observe what is called the “Passover,” they talk at every
passover these FOUR CORE PROMISES and they are something that you can build your
life upon. All the other promises of God are revolved around these four core ones. The
Jewish people call these the FOUR I WILL’S.
God’s Core Promises
Therefore, say to the Israelites: “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke
of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I
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will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from
under the yoke of the Egyptians.
Exodus 6:6-7
• “I will bring you out…”
It’s like God is saying, “Let me bring you out. I’m not going to change you first, I’m not
interested in all the things you have been doing. I’m tellings you, ‘I will bring you out!’”
• I will free you…”
If He brought us out, then we are no longer a slave to that master. But they were just like
so many of us, they were out of Egypt but Egypt was not out of them! They were thinking
wrong and captive to a slave mentality. So God needed to get the slavery out from their
heart. “Free” from the slavery!
• I will redeem you…”
God redeemed us to get us back to what they were supposed to be doing, instead of slaves
to another kingdom, God wanted to bring them back into relationship with Him and that they
become or be redeemed back as His children again.
• “I will take you as my own…”
There’s an offer on the table. There is more than you are currently experiencing in God. Next
week we will discuss the PASSOVER in greater detail and talk about how the Jesus and His
journey to the CROSS and how the CROSS and JESUS and the Passover Celebration in
Exodus are literally the same thing. After that, we are going to spend the next four Sundays
teaching on the one “I will” or the one “cup” each Sunday.
So here is a preview of what is coming:
1. “I will bring you out.”
God promises me Salvation.
Too many people associate with church believe they are saved. God has asked you to be in
a relationship with Him. Look what the scripture says,
It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered
every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating
back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that.
It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out
of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out
new life so generously. God's gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back
our lives. And there's more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.
Titus 3:3-8 (MSG)
That’s the first cup you need to drink from. This starts the process, but you need the next
step.
2. “I will free you.”
God promises me Deliverance.
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Too often we think of deliverance of being some exorcist, expelling demons out of someone.
But deliverance is for people who are still trapped in their old life. You are a Christian but
your sin nature is still interrupting the God process that has started in you.
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the
law of sin…Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and
death.
Romans 7:25-8:2
God has an offer for you one the table and it’s the cup of deliverance. God has a plan for
that. He has a plan to not only get you out of Egypt but how to get Egypt out of you! In a
church our size there is not question that there are many who are in need of that. Too many
people get stuck right here.
3. “I will redeem you.”
To redeem means to put back to it’s original intent.
God promises me Restoration.
I am no longer a slave but I am free! I am not an orphan, but I am a child of God! I no longer
have to look up and see a slave master in my life but I see a loving Father! I don’t look at
my life here and say, “Is this all there is?” But I get to say, “This is the beginning!”
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first
heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious
living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG)
God has had His eye out on you and He has a plan for your life so you can make a
difference in this world. You know that you are part of God’s plan and you can know what it
is!
4. “I will take you as my own people.”
The first three cups have to do with You, You and You. But this final cup has to do with
PEOPLE. God takes you and He doesn’t make you an INDIVIDUAL but He makes you a
PEOPLE. The final stage: He got you out, got the junk out of you, got the thing that He
has created you to do and be, and then He puts you into a part of a family, a team, a
ministry, a church. And He teams you with someone else so you can be developed and
developing, you can give and grow, you can dream and see.
This is where the fun is. You will never know how great it is to serve with others in
attempting to attain the PROMISES OF GOD. But you need to be challenged and tempted
with what is ahead for you. Come into God, work out the crud, get redeemed, letting the
original intent of what God created you for to come alive working arm and arm with
someone else in a strategic place where you can have your greatest affect.
God promises me Fulfillment.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and
have it to the full.
John 10:10
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This is the ultimate goal, God promises me Fulfillment. Each of us is on a spiritual journey. No
matter where you are whether you’ve been a follower of Jesus for most of your life, or you’ve
just recently invited Him into your heart.
This series is going to get you going againFour types of people:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Don’t know how you got here – ready to leave – lost
Drifted away – not sure
Religious but empty
Know Jesus – you’re ready for eternity
Benediction
(Numbers 6:24-26) The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon
you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
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