The goodness of God is fully demonstrated in the promises He makes in the Bible. That the Creator and Sovereign God should deign to give promises to us is amazing. Here are the major promises, how Christ makes them possible, and how we receive them.

‘All the promises of God’ says the text. As many as there are, says the original Greek, and our translation is perfect but the original says – as many as there are, or as many as there may be in him, in Christ, because he’s in the previous verse: for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you.

Promises of God. What a mysterious idea. Before we go into this there is in this verse a very interesting double confirmation. It’s just a little hidden in the English rendering: ‘all the promises of God in him (in Christ) are Yes (and also a second affirmation) and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.’ And the meaning of the verse is just this: God has made many promises; they may be carried out because of Christ – he’s made it possible, he’s done the work, God (Father Son and Holy Spirit) makes them to the human race. Christ, second person of the Godhead, comes into this world to procure them, to fulfill them, to make it possible for them to be received by us, so in Christ they receive confirmation, an affirmation.