Recently we had someone over and as the night came to a close Angel warmly offered, “Let’s do this again soon!” I wilted as I processed just how many things were on our calendar in the coming month. Just like Angel did, I wanted to be with them again and soon, but her invitation made me flinch.
My wife Angel and I are very different people. Angel brings light and life everywhere. People are drawn to her and she is drawn to people. One of the many things I love about Angel is how she gets caught up in a moment with people. In that space, it’s not unusual that she shares hopes with those we are with of spending more time together. And she means it: there is no doubt of her genuineness.
By contrast, I live by the mantra: “under promise and overdeliver.” I’m more cautious with my emotions and with my assurances. While Angel is caught up in the moment and excitedly casts the vision of many more times together, I’m doing the mental calculations of how many other people we want to have over and when the next open day on the calendar is. By my fear of not over promising, I can tend to miss the people right in front of me, missing the joy and not demonstrating the warmth I feel.
There are many reasons people break their promises. They might not have the capacity they thought they had. They might have been shading the truth to make themselves look better. They might not have had the power to make the promise they made.
The glory of the one true God is that he never hesitates to make promises and he keeps every single one of his promises. Like Angel, he dwells fully and warmly, and heaps promise upon promise up. And yet, because he is sovereign, he can keep every last one of those promises.
Christmas reminds us that our God is a God who is a promise-making and a promise-keeping God. Like my wonderfully enthusiastic wife, he shares his heart quickly and commits himself. But unlike us, he is not finite, and he always comes through.
Consider some of the over-the-top promises God makes to his people.
He promises to an obscure man, Abraham, that from him he will make a great nation and from that nation he will bless every family on earth.
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Gen. 12:2-3)
God promises a ruler from Bethlehem will come and will shepherd his sheep, protecting them, and being their peace.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace. (Micah 5:4-5)
God vows that one day a ruler will come as a child, who will be the true King of Kings and whose dominion will have no end.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder,
and his name shall be called[e]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)
God assures Israel that from the decimated lineage of David’s family shall come one who, through the power of the Spirit will bear rich fruit.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2)
God guarantees that he will make his people (the same people who failed at keeping covenant with him) a light to all the nations.
It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Is. 49:6)
God vows that through a time of trouble he will deliver he people and raise them to everlasting life.
At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:1-2)
God promises that his faithless bride (his people) will come back to him and will experience peace, righteousness, and justice.
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish[f]the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. (Hosea 2:16-20)
God assures his people that they will have transformed hearts, filled with the Spirit.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Promise after promise tumbles from the mouth of God. Every fiber of my “under-promise, over-deliver” being cringes. Why would you set your people’s expectations so high? Aren’t you just setting them up for disappointment? If he wasn’t the holy and sovereign and compassionate One, yes. But he is. He is faithful, he keeps his promises.
And Jesus, God-in-flesh reminds us that he has kept every promise and will keep every promise. As Paul says, “For all the promises of God find their yes in him” (2 Cor. 1:20). Look to the manger and cling to the promises of our promise-delivering God.
You May Also Appreciate:
The Theology of Christmas
Part 1: The Theology of the Manger
Part 2: Just and the Justifier
Part 4: The Faithfulness of God of the Manger
Photo by Walter Chávez on Unsplash