On June 13, 1997, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win the Championship. The score was tied with 28 seconds to play in the game. The Bulls had the ball. Michael Jordan, who was the best player in the NBA, was expected to take the shot for the lead. Everyone believed that to be the case. Jordan had the ball and got double teamed. With the shot clock running out, Jordan passed the ball to a wide-open Steve Kerr who took the shot and made it with 5 seconds to go. It gave the Bulls a 2-point lead. The Bulls went on to win the game.
Steve Kerr, who has a sense of humour, had a funny response at the Championship parade to explain why he, instead of Jordan, took the shot.
“A lot of people have been asking me about the shot the other night, and there have been some misconceptions about what actually happened. I wanted to clear it up. When we called timeout with 25 seconds to go, we went into the huddle and Phil told Michael, ‘I want you to take the last shot.’ And Michael said, ‘You know what Phil — I don’t feel real comfortable in these situations. So maybe we ought to go in another direction — why don’t we go to Steve?’ So I thought to myself, ‘Well, I guess I gotta bail Michael out again … anyway, the shot went in and that’s my story. And I’m sticking to it.”
https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/steve-kerrs-michael-jordan-nba-title-parade-roast-shows-trust-earned
Earlier that same year, there was a commercial that stated that Michael Jordan took 29 shots near the end of the game to win and missed. Of course, Steve Kerr jokingly said we can’t take any chances and make that 30.
As great as Jordan was, he was not perfect. No one is perfect. No one can guarantee victories all the time — and that is the truth –not just in sports. No one can make guarantees in any aspects of life on a consistent basis.
As such, only God can provide guarantees. There are countless examples of His guarantees in the Bible that demonstrated his perfect record. Let’s look at one example from Genesis 17:1-8…
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:1-8 (NLT)
God guaranteed Abraham that he would have countless descendants and be the father of a multitude of nations. Keep in mind that Abraham was 99 years old and did not have any children at this point in his life. This is not exactly the time in life to be starting a family, but God can display His power and His control over everything. Abraham and his wife Sarah became parents to Isaac in their old age. Isaac would then have 2 sons…Jacob and Esau. The guarantee would start to blossom after Jacob had 12 sons of his own that would be the origin of the story of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Can you imagine if an athlete could make a guarantee at the beginning of the season that their team could win a championship? This just does not happen because humans do not have that power. None of us can predict the future. Only God can do that.
There is no defense out there that can stop any plan that God has in place – and that’s the truth.
Amen.
The Genesis Man Project 