My wife and I spent time recently with our not quite two year old granddaughter. She likes ice cream, and when she spots the ice cream shop on their street she wants some. Her wise parents often say “no,” or “maybe later,” giving good reasons for waiting and not caving to her immediate desires.

At some point, however, she will learn to look her grandfather in the face and ask for ice cream. Then we’ll turn directly into the shop, because grandpas make for good “yes men.”

When writing to the church members in Corinth, Paul clarified that in Jesus there exists no equivocation, no wavering back and forth.

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.

You might say Jesus is the ultimate “yes man.” God fulfills all his promises in him. Every good thing assured to those who follow the Lord come to fruition through Jesus. Saying “yes” to Jesus opens up a world of “yes” for you and me. As a result God grants his followers a most favored status:

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

God secures me if I trust him. Anointed, sealed, freely given the Holy Spirit, all as a guarantee of his faithfulness. I’ve been branded, and bear the mark of a disciple of Jesus. Saying “yes” to Jesus, following him as a dedicated disciple, opens me up to “yes” after “yes” from the hand of God.

This reality stands opposite to what I hear all around me, that following Jesus is restrictive, close-minded, and anti-intellectual. At first glance this appears to be the case. Jesus himself said, Do not think I have come to bring peace to this earth; I did come to bring peace, but a sword.

But the sword of Jesus cuts away the dross, the entanglements, the drags on my soul. The way to God’s favor and gifts in my life—His “yes”— is through saying “yes” again and again to Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Yulia Matvienko