God Is Faithful — TDW Kids

Faithfulness and Truth

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When Paul wrote about temptation, he gave one reason for hope: “But God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Long before Paul, the prophet Isaiah sang about the same faithful God.

My God. Isaiah began, “O Lord, You are my God” (Isaiah 25:1). He did not only know about God. He knew God as his own.

Praise first. “I will exalt You, I will praise Your name” (25:1). To exalt God is to lift Him up and honor Him above everything.

Wonderful things. Isaiah praised God “For You have done wonderful things” (25:1). He remembered what God had already done.

Plans from long ago. “Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth” (25:1). God’s counsels are His plans. He made them long ago, and He carries them out.

What faithful means. A faithful person keeps his word. You can count on him. God is faithful in everything He says and does.

A strength. “For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress” (25:4). God is strong for people who are weak.

A refuge. Isaiah also called God “A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat” (25:4). A refuge is a safe place to run when danger comes.

The storm against the wall. Isaiah said the attack of cruel people is “as a storm against the wall” (25:4). The storm beats on the wall, but the people inside are safe.

When temptation blows. Temptation can feel like a storm. The faithful God is the shelter you can run to.

Remember what He has done. Isaiah’s song looked back at what God had already done. When you remember how God has helped you before, it is easier to trust Him the next time you are tempted.

From the beginning. Moses told Israel that the Lord “is God, the faithful God” (Deuteronomy 7:9). He has always been the same.

Our sin. We have not always been faithful to God. All of us have broken our word and sinned.

God’s faithfulness to sinners. God still kept His promise to send a Savior. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

What to do. Tell God, “You are my God,” and trust Him to be your shelter when temptation comes.

Paul’s promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 rests on one fact: “But God is faithful.” Isaiah 25 is a song about that faithfulness, sung by a prophet who had watched God keep His word.

A personal confession (25:1). “O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name.” Faith begins when the God of the Bible becomes “my God.”

Remembering His works. “For You have done wonderful things.” Praise looks back at what God has already done and draws courage for what is ahead.

Counsels of old. “Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” God’s plans were set long ago, and they are carried out exactly as He intended. Nothing He has said falls to the ground.

Praise first. Isaiah begins with worship, not with his problems. A heart that remembers God’s faithfulness is harder to pull away from Him.

Faithfulness and truth. The two words belong together. God is true in what He says and faithful in doing it.

Ma’oz (25:4). “For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress.” “Strength” is ma’oz (say: mah-OHZ), a stronghold, a fortified place to run into.

Refuge and shade. He is “A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat.” God is shelter in both kinds of trouble, the sudden blast and the long, wearing heat.

The storm against the wall. “For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” The wall takes the storm; the people behind it are kept.

Applied to temptation. Temptation can come like a sudden gust or like days of steady pressure. The faithful God is a stronghold in both.

The same God. Moses had said the Lord “is God, the faithful God” (Deuteronomy 7:9). From Moses to Isaiah to Paul, His character has not changed.

Unfaithful people. Israel in the desert and every one of us have been unfaithful. Sin is a broken promise to God.

God’s greatest faithfulness. He kept His word to send a Savior. Christ died for our sins on the cross and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Through faith, unfaithful people are forgiven.

Application. Write down three times God has been faithful to you or your family. Read the list the next time you are tempted to think He will not help.

Kept Strong to the End

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In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says, “God is faithful.” He said the same thing near the start of his letter, and there he promised that God would keep the believers in Corinth to the very end.

A thankful start. Paul wrote, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:4). Grace is God’s kindness we do not deserve.

Every gift. Paul said they had been “enriched in everything by Him” (1:5). God had given them everything they needed.

Kept to the end. Jesus “will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:8). To confirm means to make strong and steady.

Blameless. Blameless means no one can accuse you. Jesus can make His people blameless because He has paid for their sins.

The reason. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:9). Fellowship means sharing life together. God called them to belong to Jesus.

Grace from start to finish. God gave the Corinthians grace at the beginning, and He would give them grace all the way to the end.

Not by their strength. Paul did not say the Corinthians would keep themselves strong. He said Jesus would confirm them. The work belongs to Him.

A church with problems. The church in Corinth had many problems. Paul still said God would keep them, because it depended on God.

The day of the Lord Jesus. One day Jesus will come again. On that day everyone who trusts Him will stand before Him forgiven and glad.

Not yes and no. In another letter Paul wrote, “But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No” (2 Corinthians 1:18). God does not say one thing and then do another.

Always yes. Paul said that Jesus, the Son of God, was not yes and no, “but in Him was Yes” (1:19). Jesus always does what God has promised.

Every promise. Paul added that every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Jesus (1:20).

Our sin. We often say yes to God and then do no. That is sin, and it makes us unfaithful.

Jesus did it. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Everyone who trusts Him is kept by Him.

What to do. When you feel weak, remember that Jesus keeps you. Thank Him, and trust Him to finish what He started in you.

Paul wrote “God is faithful” to the Corinthians about temptation (10:13), and he had told them the same thing at the start of the letter (1:9). There he applied it to the whole Christian life, from God’s first call to the final day.

Grace given (1:4). “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus.” Paul thanks God first, even for a church with deep problems.

Enriched (1:5). They were “enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge.” God had richly blessed them.

Gifts for the road. The riches God gave were not for showing off. They were for serving Him faithfully until the end.

Bebaioo (1:8). Christ “will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Confirm” is bebaioo (say: beh-bye-OH-oh), to make firm, like a promise backed by a guarantee.

From first to last. Paul’s confidence covers the whole road: grace given at the start (1:4), gifts along the way (1:5) and a sure finish (1:8).

Blameless. Blameless does not mean sinless in this life. It means no charge will stand on that day, because Christ has answered for His people.

The ground (1:9). “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The One who called them will finish what He began.

A troubled church. Corinth had divisions, pride and sin. Paul’s confidence was not in them but in God.

Yes and No (2 Corinthians 1:18). “But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No.” Paul’s message was steady because God is steady.

In Him was Yes (1:19). The Son of God, Jesus Christ, “was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.” Every word of God finds its answer in Jesus.

All the promises. Paul goes on to say that all God’s promises are “Yes” in Christ (1:20).

Our unfaithfulness. We often say yes to God with our lips and no with our lives. Sin is that broken word.

Kept by Christ. Christ died for our sins on the cross and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Those who trust Him are kept, not by their own grip but by His.

Application. Read 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 on the days you feel too weak to keep going.

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.