I am a Jesus pusher!!! Peter assures his congregation “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call,” (Acts 2:39). The Greek word (epangelia) translated promise comes from the Greek word (epangello) meaning “to announce.” It is used only for the promises of God in the New Testament with only one exception (Acts 23:21). It has to do with “the thing promised or a gift graciously given.” It is not a pledge secured by negotiation. Therefore it is contrasted with the Greek word (omnuo) which is an oath or pledge.
God does not need to swear by an oath; therefore we can force Him to keep His promises. The Greek word for promise appears fifty-two times in the New Testament. Every time it refers to God’s promise to us. In the verb form it is always in the middle voice. Therefore, it is an expression of personal preference. In other words, God desperately wants to fulfill this promise. Everything God has done from the start of the Old Testament is to fulfill the promise. We do not have a record of anything God ever did which is not about the promise. His total focus of wisdom, energy, and exceedingly great power is about the promise. He is driven by His love. His own heart becomes the very security of the promise. The promise is a fulfillment of the love for me. He removed every obstacle keeping me from intimacy with Him. He is waiting on my response. The promise is mine. I am His! All He desires for me is mine. His promise is the fullness of the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus completes the promise of God in my life. What a Jesus! I am a Jesus pusher!!!