A few days ago, Hudson asked, “Hey Dad, am I going to get another Lego set?”
I replied, “Well, buddy, probably at some point you will receive more Legos. But I’m not sure when you’ll get them or what, specifically, you’ll receive.”
My response wasn’t quite what Hudson was looking for, as you might imagine. He wanted a “yes,” accompanied by a precise timeline for receiving the goods.
Now, usually, when my children get a “yes and no” or “I’m not sure” kind of answer from me, they immediately dart off toward my wife to see if they might obtain a more favorable outcome. The “yes and no” goes back and forth like a ping-pong ball until Stephanie and I have a moment to arrive on the same page. We’ve also learned to use our favorite kid-decoder question: “Have you already asked mom/dad? What did they say?” Bingo.
Truth Be Told!
Yet we live in a world full of non-answers, “yes and no,” and “I’m not sure.” One very well-known politician recently said, “truth isn’t truth!” A seasoned lawyer once told me, “Justice happens by accident and the best liar usually wins.” Everything seems up for grabs lately. Our culture’s current discourse, which displays such a lack of integrity and morality, leaves many people with a sense of confusion – even utter bewilderment. All this reminds me of Pontius Pilate’s famous interrogative phrase, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
Duplicity seems to be the gasoline that fuels our nation’s law-makers. Scientists make myriad “probable” estimations. Hollywood stars swim in a sea of relativity.
But it is not so with God and His good news given to an uncertain, questioning, wondering world. The apostle Paul wrote to the new believers in Corinth:
“But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us – by me and Silvanus and Timothy – was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.” (2 Corinthians 1:18-19)
There is no “yes and no” with the Gospel. The “word” that Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy preached was clear and certain, tried and true – certainly more secure than FDIC-insured bank accounts, Wall Street, or the winds of legalese blowing through Washington, D.C. and over the airwaves.
How do we know the Gospel is not up for grabs? Paul goes on to explain,
“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
What God promised about the coming Rescuer long ago is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. God doesn’t say, “yes and no.” He shouts, “Yes!” across the horizon about His Son.
But it gets even better.
Look at the last line of verse 20 again. God does not give us a “yes and no,” but “Yes and Amen.” The word Amen in NT Greek means, “verily, truly, so let it be, or may it be so.” Therefore, through Christ, the will of God for the glory of God to be magnified and displayed through His people is coming to pass. It is so… even now.
God’s gospel is worthy of our trust because He is trustworthy. In a “yes and no” world, we can believe in the promises of God for the future because the past proves He is faithful.
He rescued us in Christ. He secured us in Christ. He commissioned us in Christ. He will bring us home with Christ. YES!
