Just as He Promised
By: Tiffany Dickerson
We live in a world that loves to make promises. Some are inconsequential, like the pinky swear of young friends on the playground. Meanwhile, others are weighty, requiring binding contracts and court dates. But from the smallest of promises to the largest, mankind has a propensity for breaking them, despite the best of intentions.
Indeed, there is only One who can claim to fulfill all His promises at all times. Across the pages of Scripture, God reveals His sovereignty and faithfulness throughout history, culture, and prophecy leading to ultimate promise fulfillment in His Son, Jesus Christ. This Advent season, as we worship the Messiah in the manger, we will study God’s intentional plan to send Jesus, just as promised.
The narrative of Christ’s birth, and the events surrounding it, are found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But God had promised the birth of the Messiah long before and in many ways throughout history. In our new Advent study, Just as He Promised, we will journey across Scripture and dive deep into the texts of Matthew and Luke to study the birth narrative of Christ chronologically, historically, culturally, and prophetically. Below is a brief overview of these aspects which will teach us day after day that God has kept every one of His promises and we have certainty and hope that He will keep them until Christ returns.
- Chronological: Just as He Promised walks through Christ’s birth narrative in the order the events occurred. This means, we will go back and forth between the Matthew and Luke accounts. The Holy Spirit led Matthew and Luke to record the various aspects of their accounts to help us better understand Christ’s coming. By studying them in order we grow in our knowledge of the Word and God’s promises.
- Historical: So often we relegate God’s sovereignty to biblical history, but God is sovereign over all history. He is the Author who raises kingdoms up and brings them low. He uses all of history for His purpose to send Christ. Just as He Promised will share the importance of kingdoms, languages, and cultural advances to show that Christ came at the perfect time in history to provide salvation and fulfill God’s promise of redemption.
- Cultural: Studying the societal norms of the first century enhances our understanding of Christ’s coming. Cultural customs, traditions, and habits enable us to better comprehend the author’s intent for their original audience and unlock an unfamiliar time period for readers today. Just as He Promised will unpack multiple societal norms to observe God’s mighty hand at work within culture.
- Prophetic: The Old Testament is filled with prophecies concerning Jesus, and many of them pertain to His birth. From Genesis to Malachi, Just as He Promised will identify the various prophecies concerning Jesus’s birth and how He fulfilled them. God foretold the time, place, purpose, and nature of Christ’s birth, declaring His faithfulness to His promises.
We hope you join us this Advent season as we unwrap the glorious promises God has made across time and Scripture.
God sent His Son at the perfect moment in history to redeem and restore.
In Galatians 4:4, the Apostle Paul says, “When the time came to completion, God sent his Son.” The time of completion is marked by God’s intricate plan of redemption to draw mankind back into His presence through Jesus Christ. We worship the baby in the manger because He is the Savior of the world, just as God promised.
Additional Resources for Resting in God’s Promises This Advent:
