God's Awesome Promise

By Gerald S. Sumeracki

   Does “He” keep promises? Can “He” be trusted? What about past promises….were they kept? 
Treat yourself to a good read to find out, the Bible is strewn with fulfilled promises 
and those yet to be fulfilled.


   The one specific promise of God I’d like to comment upon is the promise beyond all promises 
in my estimation. This promise is absolutely awesome in scope, limitless in application, a 
promise made to each and all with but one condition, that we love God.


   For those well versed in God’s Holy Word, affirmation of any truth is made absolute though 
a confirmation. When God reiterates a promise in scripture, that promise is confirmed and 
assured, for God cannot lie. A confirmed promise can be counted on with total certainty.


  First mention of the promise of which I speak is made in Isaiah 64:4 and is reiterated and 
confirmed in 1 Corinthians 2:9. That promise declares, “Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, 
nor has it entered the mind of man, the wonders which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

  
   Let those words soak in a bit, read them with a visionary’s mindset … nothing ever seen by 
mankind, absolutely nothing from the very beginning till now; nothing sensed by man’s ears 
from a chirping cricket to a symphony; nothing thought of or even imagined by the most 
creative minds … NOTHING can compare to what God has waiting for those who love Him.


Ahhh!! What’s the deep meaning of those five words, “for those who love Him?”


   Now if you, the reader, have no deep interest in God or have no desire to develop one, 
kindly give this to someone else to read, you will by no means be edified or encouraged by 
what follows … it would be a waste of your time … really.


   OK…on into the meaning of “…for those who love Him.” Ask those who believe in God to give 
you an explanation of what they think loving God means and I expect you will be given a wide 
range of answers. “To respect Him.” “To be obedient to His rules.” “To place Him above all 
in one’s life,”etc. But what does God say about how we are to show our love for Him? Being 
the Lord God Almighty, had we not best follow His directions on this issue rather that putting 
our wills and preconceived notions before His desires?


   By seeking to know what God desires of us and being obedient will ultimately lead us to Him. 
Knowing and choosing to be disobedient or just failing to seek leads to … but you no doubt 
already know the alternative to God’s Heaven.


   The “ultimate” promise of God is reserved for all those who love Him as I’ve mentioned. 
God refers to those who love Him as His children, offspring due to their acceptance of His 
provisions as exercised by their faith and trust. Through His provided means they have entered 
into a personal relationship with Him as a son or daughter.
 

   God is perfectly fair with His creation and pulls no punches; salvation and eternal life 
in the place of “Wonders” can be and is assured to all who love God……really love Him. Becoming 
God’s child in simplistic terms is really not God’s choice. He offers all of us the right to 
become adopted children in His family but it is only through our choice and acceptance that 
this can occur. We totally control our destinies.


   If we want to know how to love God we must go to God’s Word to find out how his adopted 
children are to express that love. There’s a simple word we use in the English language that 
is a focus of the means God uses to link Himself to His children….a word that must necessarily 
flow from a person’s will to please the Almighty…that word is obedience.


  Does this mean that we must suppress our wills and make ourselves subservient to the 
Almighty?
 
                                         Absolutely!
 
                                                                  
                           (Don’t panic yet…Good News is coming.)


   At one point in Christ’s ministry He was asked by His followers just how they should pray 
to Father God and He gave them what we now call the “Lord’s Prayer” in answer. In that prayer 
these words are expressed, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 
Knowing how God’s will is followed in Heaven is the best place to start if we are to understand
how His will is to be followed in this life.


   So how is God’s will followed in heaven by all those in His presence? The answer is really 
simple…perfectly and willingly.


   You might ask (I’m sure you will) how an individual’s will can be exercised in Heaven if 
only God’s will is done….fair question with a simple answer. Let me explain it through this 
analogy.
 

   The medical profession has extensive evidence that certain practices reduce health and 
eventually shorten one’s lifespan. Excessive eating, alcoholic excess, drug use, smoking, 
lack of exercise, etc. have all been proven to cause major problems for individuals who 
continue in these practices. Do you think we as rational thinking beings heed this evidence 
to provide ourselves with a longer life and better health? Not a chance for most. The well 
intentioned will of those who know what is best for us is trumped by our own wills as we seek 
to wallow in our self interests and habitual pleasures.
 

   We have experts trying to help us be healthy and live a good life but we decline their 
advice to go our own way neglecting the truth that we know in our hearts is right.
 

(Are you getting the picture of a perfectly loving God trying to get his creation to live 
rightly so He can bless us beyond measure? Do you see our self seeking reasoning for 
disobedience or unwillingness to buy into His desires for us?)
 

   The difference between those who have already reached Heaven and those who are still locked 
in these “tents of flesh,” is that they have reached the “wonders,” and realize the ultimate 
reason for which they were created, to be with God in the place He prepared for us. Coming to 
the knowledge that God desires nothing less than perfection for mankind and provides just that 
brings all who achieve Heaven complete fulfillment. For them to want less for themselves would 
be pure foolishness….as it should be here in this life for those who will but look beyond their
noses. Life is very short and eternity limitless…..only a fool lives in the present and pays 
no attention to the eternal.
 

   In reality, life is a testing ground with but two options relative to spiritual matters, 
either we place God on the throne of our hearts or we place ourselves on that throne. We live 
God-centered lives or self-centered lives. We love God above all or place Him below or outside 
of His rightfully place in our lives.
 

   It is our wills that determine our eventual destiny, be that Heaven or Hell, God provides 
the ultimates and the means…it will be the choices we make to either love Him or ignore Him 
that will determine the results. God does NOT predetermine where each of us ends up, He wills 
we all achieve Heaven but He will honor one’s will to do otherwise.
 

   At death, our choice becomes permanent.


   Here’s a little curve ball. Did you know that the scriptures of God plainly state that it 
is impossible to please God by just obeying His Laws?
 

                                         WHAT?
 
That’s right; God’s Word states that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory!


   Sorry if I’m confusing you. I’m sure you’re asking where I’m going with all this but I 
promise clarification.


   I’ve got some Good News … no GREAT NEWS … for those of you have been faithful to this point …
God in His loving-kindness has given all those, who diligently seek to know and love Him, a 
path out of the jungle of despair ... a way to deal with the sin issue in our lives once and 
for all and assure ourselves of salvation! It is the Way, the Truth and the Life that leads 
to fullness and eternal joy.


   God, being God, has complete knowledge of all who have loved Him, currently do and will 
love Him in the future……that is an attribute that only God possesses. Take the time to look 
at John 6: 44-45. In this scripture it plainly states that all those who draw near to the Lord 
are promised eternal life. It also says that none, other than those who are drawn by the 
Father, can come to the Lord and experience the spiritual teachings that brings forgiveness for 
sins and salvation.
 

  One has to search his/her heart at this point and ask … am I being drawn? Are you 
interested in a spiritual bonding with God? Are you searching for answers to deep questions 
of the heart concerning how God wants you to relate to Him? Are you reading the Bible, asking 
spiritual questions of those you know exhibit or proclaim a love for God? If not, chances are 
good that due to your hardness of heart the Lord God cannot break through to you and His offer 
of forgiveness and salvation will continue to elude you. It is the responsibility of each one 
of us to open ours hearts to God on a willing basis …we can keep Him out our entire lives 
should we choose to … however, doing so will result in an eternal separation from him and 
those wonders He has promised and prepared.


   If you are open to learning about the Lord and open to His teachings about the things of 
God, be encouraged by this next promise of scripture. Check out John 6: 29 and John 6: 39-
40. When the crowds asked the Lord what God wanted of them, He said: “This is the will of 
God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” In verse 39 He goes on to say “and this is the 
will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise it 
up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and 
believes in Him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.”


   What this boils down to is this, God in His great love for mankind provided redemption 
and salvation apart from any and all works of man. That redemption and salvation came
through the Incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s very manifestation and 
presence among us for the purpose of opening the gates of heaven to all who would willingly 
accept His gift of Jesus.


   For most of us it is difficult to imagine God doing what is plainly stated in the Bible, 
His becoming one of us, living as one of us and dying a physical death to accomplish a work 
to cover all who would but believe, trust and accept. Man in his pride and self sufficiency 
finds it hard to imagine a God that expects nothing from us except expectant faith, trust and 
obedience … most think God must want and expect more … but in reality He doesn’t. God simply 
desires relationship with us through the means He provided … Jesus the Lord.


   God is the beginning and end of all. He created all, set the rules, gave man free will and 
intelligence plus a heart that has a void only He can fill. Man can choose to fill that void 
with any and all manner of things except God for an entire life and loose the very reality 
he was created for. God has provided the means to fill that void perfectly with the person 
of Jesus, the Christ.
 

   “Believe it or Not!”
 

   Ultimately is comes down to just that. Either we believe that God loves us so much that He 
provided a means for us to achieve relationship with Him through Christ Jesus, and act on 
that belief, or we do not. The Almighty went through a lot to place a path before us that 
plainly leads to His wonders and joys…..we have but to choose it.


   Hope to see you in Heaven to experience the “wonders” that God has prepared….I know I’ll 
be there through the merits of the One I know as brother and friend… Jesus my Lord and all 
providing God.


   All praise and thanksgiving to the one true God in whose Name we find redemption,salvation 
and eternal life, the Name above all names given in Heaven or on earth … the mighty Name of 
Jesus.


                                       Amen and Amen!