Easter: A Promise Kept
April 16, 2017

Scripture: Galatians 3:15-18

I. The promise of Easter is Jesus.

A. The writer of the book of Galatians was an apostle of Jesus named Paul. Paul began to talk about a will in vs. 15. This is the man-made covenant that Paul writes about in that verse. Apparently in Paul’s day, there was a type of will which was drawn up that no one could annul or add to once it had been ratified. In vs. 16 we see that God’s promises were given to a man named Abraham and to his offspring. Abraham’s offspring was Jesus (vs. 16). All of God’s promises to Abraham would be concentrated in one person: Jesus. And through Jesus all of those promises of blessing could be received by people from all nations on earth (Gal. 3:8).

B. The blessings that God wants to give people from all nations are experienced in the events that surround Easter. We see those blessings in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time.”

II. The promise of Easter has nothing to do with your performance.

A. In vs. 17 Paul writes about the law of God. His main point is that the promise of God to Abraham came way before the law of God was given to God’s people. How many years did God’s promise come before the law of God was given? 430 years. Since the law of God came after the promise of God to Abraham, that law of God does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. The promise must be kept, no matter what laws were created later.

B. The promise of God will always be fulfilled no matter what comes after the promise. The promise is about what God will do – no matter what. The Law is about what we must do. And because the promise came first before the law, the promise takes precedence over the law. What do you have to do to receive the promises? Believe them. Trust that God will keep His Word. God does not deal with us on the basis of our performance, but on the basis of His promise.

III. The promise of Easter is of a third birthday.

A. The writer J.I. Packer says that every Christian has three birthdays. Our first birthday is, of course, the day of our birth. I can see and feel and feed and shout in this physical world. That is my first birthday. If you are a Christian, your second birthday is when the Bible says you are born again spiritually. Just like you leave the dark womb when you are born physically on your first birthday so you leave spiritual darkness when you are born again. You no longer love sin and darkness. You are changed so that you love Jesus as your greatest treasure in life. Your third birthday will be the day when your heart stops beating. For Christians, death is not a time of moving from the light of this world into darkness. It is a time of moving from darkness into light. Because Jesus rose from the dead on Easter you too will rise from the dead if you trust in Jesus.

Application:
If you are not yet born again, place your faith in Jesus today.

Sources:
The letter to the Galatians
Commentaries on Galatians by Philip Ryken and Douglas Moo
“Growing in Christ” by J.I. Packer