HEIRS OF THE PROMISE
(week 35/11)
Olubi Johnson
Hebrews 6:17-20 KJV: (17) Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: (18) That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: (19) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; (20) Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
What was the promise that God gave Abraham that He confirmed with an oath?
It was NOT the promise of the birth of Isaac: Isaac had already been born when this promise and oath were made. In fact, it was when Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God that God made this promise and oath.
Genesis 22:15-18 KJV: (15) And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, (16) And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: (17) That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (18) And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
The promise that is backed by the oath is the promise to the seed of Abraham for two things:
1. Possess the gate of his enemies
2. Bless all the nations of the earth
The Lord Jesus was the First of the seed of Abraham to inherit these promises: He possessed the ‘gate’ of His enemies. He overcame spiritual and physical death having ‘spoiled’ principalities and powers and was raised from the dead (Col. 2:10-15).
Secondly, all nations of the earth have been blessed in Christ as it is only through Christ they can receive eternal life and so be saved: born-again and become the spiritual seed of Abraham:
John 14:6 AMP: Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.
1John 5:12 KJV: He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Galatians 3:29 AMP: And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham’s Seed], then you are Abraham’s offspring and [spiritual] heirs according to promise.
Now, just as Christ inherited these promises, every Christian also can and should inherit these promises confirmed with God’s oath.
We inherit the promise of possessing the gates of our enemies, by allowing the life of God to fill our souls: wills, minds and emotions and physical bodies, so that the ‘gates’ to our five physical senses are dominated or ‘possessed’ by the life and nature of God. This means we will dominate both spiritual death (since the last enemy is death 1 Cor. 15:26) in our souls and physical death in our bodies. Practically, this means that we in consultation with God, will determine when, where and how we die after we have lived long and are satisfied (Ps. 91:16) having seen and experienced the full salvation of God (spirit, soul and body 1 Th. 5:23).
Secondly, we inherit the promise of blessing all the nations (tribes and tongues) of the earth by growing into the perfection and fullness of Christ and so operating the Spirit without measure.
With this spirit without measure, we will bring divine healing to all nations as we minister divine healing and health to them in missionary visits:
Psalms 67:2 KJV: That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
Also by this same spirit without measure, we will bless all nations of the earth financially by lending to them:
Deuteronomy 28:12 KJV: The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
Malachi 3:10, 12 AMP: Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, … (12) And all nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
Given the present state of the Church, both spiritually (gross spiritual immaturity) and financially (widespread ignorance, lack and financial mediocrity) it is no wonder God had to confirm these promises with an oath. This was done so as to encourage us to continue to believe God and act on His Word to inherit these promises in spite of the fact that in the natural it looks impossible that these promises will be fulfilled.
However, let us remember that it looked even more impossible for a virgin to conceive (Is. 7:14) and for Christ to be raised from the dead (Mt. 12:40) after 3 days in the grave; now if God fulfilled these promises in and for the Lord Jesus, He will definitely fulfill them in and for us who are joint-heirs (Rom.8:17) with Him of these promises!
