The Promise

And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.  

Acts 26:6-7 

Paul did not invent anything new in his presentation of Christ. He defined certain things which had not been defined in such a didactic way before, but they were not essentially new. All the didactic statements of the New Testament arise from the foundations of the Old Testament. This specifically includes Christ, His Person and His work. The Old Testament refers to His resurrection. Psalm 16 is one example, ‘For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ Thus, when Paul made his defense before Agrippa he refers to his position as, ‘the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.’ All of the preaching of Christ in the New Testament uses the Old Testament as the primary source. Paul was articulating what the Old Testament taught regarding Christ in clear, unambiguous language. Not the least of it was the resurrection. He lands on the subject in the verse that follows our text, ‘Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?’ In the narrative that follows he gives his personal testimony of his encounter with the risen Christ. This testimony and others is the foundation for our own faith. We believe Peter, Paul, and the others who declared unequivocally that they had seen the risen Christ. We believe that Christ has risen from the dead and is coming again. We have invented nothing new but are telling the old, old story. God made the promises. Christ is the fulfillment of all of them.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice in all Your promises. 
We praise You that in Christ they are all complete. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning