The Glad Tidings

Confirmed by an Oath of God

“When God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself; ... for men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:13-20. Compare Genesis 22:15-18. GTI 134.1

It was the oath of God, therefore, that confirmed the covenant made to Abraham; that promise and oath to Abraham are our ground of hope, our strong consolation; they are “sure and steadfast,” because the oath sets forth Christ as the pledge, the surety, and “He ever liveth.” He upholds all things by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3. “In Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:17, R.V. Therefore, when God “interposed Himself by an oath,” which is our consolation and hope in fleeing for refuge from sin, He pledged His own existence, and with it the entire universe, for our salvation. Surely a firm foundation for our hope is laid in His excellent Word. GTI 134.2