Day 37: Say “AMEN” to God’s promises!

According to 2 Corinthians 1:20 " 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."

All God’s promises are “yes” and “amen”. However, we have to add something to God's "Yes." The New International Version says, "through him [Jesus] the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."

I think this is a vivid picture. You find the promise. You say, "God, did you mean this?" And God says, "Yes, I meant it." It's yes, but in order to appropriate it we have to respond to God's "yes" by our "amen."

The word "Amen" means "so let it be," "be it established." So, when God says yes, we appropriate it by our "Amen." It's our "Amen" that makes the promise ours at that given moment, in that given situation.

Now the next exciting statement is that all this is "by us." Oh, how glad I am for those two words, each of two letters: "by us." "Us" means you and me. It means people just like ourselves. It doesn't say, "by the apostles" or "by great preachers" or "by evangelists" or "by missionaries" or "by great saints in the past," but it says, "by us." All God's promises are available to us, to people like you and me, here and now.

Then, the other point we need to see is that they are "to the glory of God." The ultimate purpose of existence is to glorify God and God has so arranged the promises He's given us that every time we appropriate those promises in faith, we glorify God. The more we appropriate God's promises, the more we glorify Him! You see really, there are two alternatives before us: Unbelief, that robs God of His glory; or faith, that gives God the glory due to Him. Romans 3:23, a familiar verse, says:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (KJV)

The essential nature of sin is it's robbing God of the glory that's due to Him. On the other hand, in Romans 4 we have the pattern of Abraham who is set forth before us as the father or the leader of all who believe. And this is what Paul says in Romans 4:20-21 about Abraham:

“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (NIV)

Notice Abraham's conviction, that if God promised anything, He had the power to do it. He didn't waver. He just responded to God's "Yes" with his "Amen" and in that way he gave glory to God. So, claiming the promises of God in unwavering faith gives God the glory that is due to Him. But unbelief robs God of the glory that is due to Him.