Now, in Hebrews 11 we begin to see the foundation for moving forward: Faith. Unlike the previous chapters that discussed all that Jesus is and why He is the last High Priest and the Perfect Sacrifice and Above the angels, this chapter now focuses on how we believe all that to be true.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The word substance above is actually a compound word in the original Greek. It means "setting under or support", and "the essence of" or "confidence." So, if I were to insert the definitions in the sentence above (remember doing that in grammar school?), it would read something like this:
Now faith is the support set under our hope, the essence and confidence of things not seen.
Our faith is the foundation of everything else in our walks with Christ and allows us to believe everything the author of Hebrews has reiterated in previous chapters.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
Faith allowed the elders, the forefathers such Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, etc. to obtain a good testimony. Faith allows us to understand and believe that God made the heavens and the earth and by His breath He made everything (v. 3). Consider this;
Can you even imagine hearing God tell you to take your only son..The son of God's promise to you...up a mountain and prepare to sacrifice him because God asked you to? Abraham did. But maintained his faith the entire time saying God would provide the ram for sacrifice. And God did. Or Imagine being Noah in a land where there hasn't been rain...and the I Am commands you to build a giant boat. Can you hear the ridicule and insults and heartache he must have experienced? What about his wife and children...can you imagine what they went through as well? All the while, he never stopped building the Ark. He saved a pair of every animal on the planet and his family because he had faith and believed what the Lord told him.
And their faith produced within them a good testimony. We have talked a lot about having and sharing our testimony and remembering what God has done for us throughout our lives. We should never forget where we came from or the grace and mercy of our God. Our testimonies are faith builders for ourselves and they are faith builders and encouragement to others.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We cannot even please God without faith. Jesus even said,
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
It takes to faith to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of the One Living God. It takes faith to believe that we have salvation and eternal life. It takes to faith to believe the word of God is true and the inspired Word of God. With God all things are possible, but without Him, we cannot do anything. Hebrews 11:7 says that Noah moved with "godly fear" in obedience through faith.
Have you lost your godly fear? We should fear the Lord with a healthy reverence for His power, His might, and for who He is. This is not an unhealthy fear of His retribution, but we also should understand that as verse 6 says, He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The verse didn't say when we feel like seeking Him, or occasionally seek Him, but it :said 'diligently.' Diligence is "careful and persistent work or effort." How much time do you devote to seeking Him? Do you carefully and persistently work or give the effort to seek His face, His will for you, His righteousness?
I will be honest, sometimes I let life distract me. My prayer life isn't what it should be all the time, every day. I let the things of this world overwhelm me from time to time. I don't lose my faith...I just forget to keep my eyes focused on where my help comes from. I forget to "carefully and persistently work or give effort to" seeking His face and taking comfort in the shadow of His wings while drawing on His strength to get me through.
Does that sound like you today? Don't let it...Our faith allows us to overcome the obstacles placed in front of us by the enemy. Our faith tells the heavenlies where our hope lies...and remember Hebrews 6:19
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
Remember how 11 started out? "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.." Keeping your faith strong and diligently seeking the Lord allows your hope to stay firmly anchored. Without faith to believe that what God says is true, we cannot have hope for our future. Yet, God has hope for our future...because He knows the end picture. We have faith that Jeremiah 29:11 is true that God does have plans for us...plans for a future and a hope!
Do you see how it all comes back around to believing, with no doubt, that Our God is a Great God with only our best in mind? None of this works for us if we do not approach with a child like faith. Our children have the utmost trust in us and they have the faith, knowledge, and confidence to know that we as their parents will never harm them, put them in harm's way, want the best for them, and we will defend them with our final breath. But isn't difficult sometimes to have that same kind of faith, trust, knowledge, and confidence in God? Yet that is what He asks of us.
Matthew 18:3 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
So...as adults why are we so skeptical of what our God can do...and what His Word says He can do? We must return to that same faith of a child that believes only the best of her parents. Yet, we have been let down so many times, abused by people, thrown away by people...that we begin to assign human attributes to a God that is omnipotent and omniscient and is wholly and completely the I AM.
We must be willing to humble ourselves enough to let our walls down, God can break through them anyway, and allow our God to show His love and kindness, and grace and mercy to us. Seeking Him will our relationship with Him to grow and develop into something more than just savior. Don't you long for more with Him? I know I do.
So, tomorrow we look further at faith in Chapter 11. In the meantime, join the discussion on Facebook and tell us what faith is to you and what it means to you.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The word substance above is actually a compound word in the original Greek. It means "setting under or support", and "the essence of" or "confidence." So, if I were to insert the definitions in the sentence above (remember doing that in grammar school?), it would read something like this:
Now faith is the support set under our hope, the essence and confidence of things not seen.
Our faith is the foundation of everything else in our walks with Christ and allows us to believe everything the author of Hebrews has reiterated in previous chapters.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
Faith allowed the elders, the forefathers such Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, etc. to obtain a good testimony. Faith allows us to understand and believe that God made the heavens and the earth and by His breath He made everything (v. 3). Consider this;
Can you even imagine hearing God tell you to take your only son..The son of God's promise to you...up a mountain and prepare to sacrifice him because God asked you to? Abraham did. But maintained his faith the entire time saying God would provide the ram for sacrifice. And God did. Or Imagine being Noah in a land where there hasn't been rain...and the I Am commands you to build a giant boat. Can you hear the ridicule and insults and heartache he must have experienced? What about his wife and children...can you imagine what they went through as well? All the while, he never stopped building the Ark. He saved a pair of every animal on the planet and his family because he had faith and believed what the Lord told him.
And their faith produced within them a good testimony. We have talked a lot about having and sharing our testimony and remembering what God has done for us throughout our lives. We should never forget where we came from or the grace and mercy of our God. Our testimonies are faith builders for ourselves and they are faith builders and encouragement to others.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We cannot even please God without faith. Jesus even said,
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
It takes to faith to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of the One Living God. It takes faith to believe that we have salvation and eternal life. It takes to faith to believe the word of God is true and the inspired Word of God. With God all things are possible, but without Him, we cannot do anything. Hebrews 11:7 says that Noah moved with "godly fear" in obedience through faith.
Have you lost your godly fear? We should fear the Lord with a healthy reverence for His power, His might, and for who He is. This is not an unhealthy fear of His retribution, but we also should understand that as verse 6 says, He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The verse didn't say when we feel like seeking Him, or occasionally seek Him, but it :said 'diligently.' Diligence is "careful and persistent work or effort." How much time do you devote to seeking Him? Do you carefully and persistently work or give the effort to seek His face, His will for you, His righteousness?
I will be honest, sometimes I let life distract me. My prayer life isn't what it should be all the time, every day. I let the things of this world overwhelm me from time to time. I don't lose my faith...I just forget to keep my eyes focused on where my help comes from. I forget to "carefully and persistently work or give effort to" seeking His face and taking comfort in the shadow of His wings while drawing on His strength to get me through.
Does that sound like you today? Don't let it...Our faith allows us to overcome the obstacles placed in front of us by the enemy. Our faith tells the heavenlies where our hope lies...and remember Hebrews 6:19
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
Remember how 11 started out? "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.." Keeping your faith strong and diligently seeking the Lord allows your hope to stay firmly anchored. Without faith to believe that what God says is true, we cannot have hope for our future. Yet, God has hope for our future...because He knows the end picture. We have faith that Jeremiah 29:11 is true that God does have plans for us...plans for a future and a hope!
Do you see how it all comes back around to believing, with no doubt, that Our God is a Great God with only our best in mind? None of this works for us if we do not approach with a child like faith. Our children have the utmost trust in us and they have the faith, knowledge, and confidence to know that we as their parents will never harm them, put them in harm's way, want the best for them, and we will defend them with our final breath. But isn't difficult sometimes to have that same kind of faith, trust, knowledge, and confidence in God? Yet that is what He asks of us.
Matthew 18:3 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
So...as adults why are we so skeptical of what our God can do...and what His Word says He can do? We must return to that same faith of a child that believes only the best of her parents. Yet, we have been let down so many times, abused by people, thrown away by people...that we begin to assign human attributes to a God that is omnipotent and omniscient and is wholly and completely the I AM.
We must be willing to humble ourselves enough to let our walls down, God can break through them anyway, and allow our God to show His love and kindness, and grace and mercy to us. Seeking Him will our relationship with Him to grow and develop into something more than just savior. Don't you long for more with Him? I know I do.
So, tomorrow we look further at faith in Chapter 11. In the meantime, join the discussion on Facebook and tell us what faith is to you and what it means to you.
