God’s Promises: Eternal Life, a Crown and Rest
There is one thing which our God has never done—He has never told a lie. Because every promise He has ever made is certain, we can build our lives knowing that He has never told a lie and He cannot tell one (Tit. 1:2)! When you read the Bible, just remember that the promises in it are from the One who has always kept His promises.
Promises are future until He fulfills them. He promised Abraham that his descendants would be oppressed in a foreign land but would come out with great substance. When the Jews left Egypt, it was devastated. There were no crops—the locusts had destroyed them. There were no cattle—the fifth plague had killed them. There was little silver and gold—the Egyptians had given their jewelry to Israel. God had promised it, then waited 400 years and fulfilled His promises. He gave them all He promised (Josh. 21:43-45).
He has promised us eternal life. When we become Christians, God promises us that we will never die. “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:26). We have eternal life, but it is conditional. We must keep living in Him and believing in Him. Hebrews 10:23 describes it as the “hope of eternal life.” Paul describes hope in these words, “Hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what He sees” (Rom. 8:24). Eternal life is promised to us but we must “hold fast . . . without wavering” (Heb. 10:23). We will receive the promise “after we have done His will” (Heb. 10:36).
He has promised us a crown of life. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). Look at it carefully. We must endure and be approved, then we shall receive the crown.
He has promised us a rest. Hebrews chapters three and four show how those who left Egypt failed to receive the rest prepared for them since the foundation of the world. Later, David urged the people of his day to seek that rest (Psalm 91 as quoted in Hebrews 3). God had the rest prepared, but neither Jews of Moses’ day nor those of David’s day received it. They had the Sabbath, but not the rest which remains. This is why chapter four urges us to recognize the promise of rest lies before us (v. 1) and must keep believing (v. 4) and keep laboring to enter into it (v. 11). The rest that remains for us is future. We have the promise of it, but it lies before us.
God, who cannot lie, has promised us eternal life, a crown and eternal rest. Heaven awaits us. “Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering” (Heb. 10:23). It is ours! It is as certain as the promises of He who cannot lie!