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HOLY HELP FOR THE HOPELESSCOMES THROUGH FAITHHebrews 11:1-7INTRODUCTION The noun “faith” is used 243 times in the NT. The corresponding verb, “to believe” or “to have faith” is used an additional 241 times. No one doubts (no pun intended) that faith is a critical word and concept when it comes to understanding Christianity and the Christian life. Yet I don’t think it is too strong to say that misunderstanding of what faith is and what it does are at epidemic proportions in the world at large and within the Christian church. Many conceive of faith as power. Faith we are told creates reality. It brings into existence circumstances and events that would not exist if not for faith. It is a positive outlook on the future, which brings what is preferred into existence. But faith is not power. Others conceive of faith as simply assent to statements of truth. Faith is being able to say the apostle's creed and agree with what it says. But faith is not simply assent to truth. Faith is trust in or reliance upon the faithfulness or trustworthiness of someone or something. Faith is not strong. It trusts in or depends upon another who is strong. Jesus makes this so clear when he says that a small faith, like that of a mustard seed, in a faithful God can move mountains. Faith doesn't move mountains. God moves mountains. It is not the quantity of faith that matters but the object of faith. And faith doesn't simply say something is true it depends upon its truthfulness. In our letter to the Hebrews we have moved from a description of who Christ is and what he has done into that portion of the letter that aims to tell us what difference it should make in our lives now. The primary aim of the letter and particularly of this portion of the letter is stated in 10:35-36: “Do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” The necessity of patiently enduring whatever suffering comes our way while doing God's will is the hallmark of those who inherit what God has promised. We must not abandon Christ and his church. We must patiently and faithfully continue to love God and others so that we can gain that promised eternal inheritance. How do you keep on loving Christ and his people when doing so only brings suffering into your life? The answer is that we must live by faith. Chapter 10 ends with the author quoting several lines from Isaiah and Habakkuk to prove that the way to persevere in love in the face of suffering is to live by faith. Now in chapter 11 he aims to show what faith is and what faith does. He does this by a skillful tour of the OT, beginning with Genesis 1:1. By setting forth a chronologically organized litany of OT characters he aims to demonstrate why it is that we must have faith and what will happen to us if we do. He aims to use the OT to prove that what Habakkuk says is true, “my righteous one will live by faith.” When you live by faith you will be a person who "joyfully accepts the plundering of your property because you know that you have better possessions and abiding ones." In this opening paragraph (vv.1-7) we are going to see why faith is the only human response that enables perseverance and thus gains what is promised. I need to make one final point before we begin our tour through this "hall of fame" of those who lived by faith. Christ is only mentioned one time in this entire chapter. However, this chapter follows 10 chapters where Christ was the central focus. Therefore, while Jesus is only mentioned one time, we must recognize that the faith being discussed here is faith in Christ. This chapter makes no sense if it is read without reference to Jesus. MAIN POINT Christians must live by faith alone because…
I. Faith brings the future into the present (v. 1) This verse is not so much a definition of faith as a description of what faith does. There are two parallel or synonymous phrases that are connected to faith. “What we hope for” and “what we do not see” are both referring to the return of Christ when he will create the new heavens and the new earth and give his full salvation to all of his people. These events that will occur: the whole universe being restored to its proper condition and function; all who belong to Christ being given immortal bodies and made perfectly holy; the judgment of the wicked; these are hoped for, not presently seen events. However, while not yet seen, these events are the most real and demonstrably factual events in the universe. The fact that this entire universe will be destroyed with fire and a new heavens and a new earth created by Christ are the surest and most certain events in the universe. The reason these events are objective reality is because Christ has come and perfectly fulfilled the conditions set forth by God at the beginning of time. God told Adam that if he disobeyed he and all his descendants would die and by inference, that if he obeyed he and all his descendants would live forever. Adam did not obey and thus died and brought all his descendants into the experience of death. Christ has come and obeyed and thus has obtained that promised life for both himself and for all who trust him. He has died in order to cleanse us from our sins. He has risen from the dead and is now seated at God’s right hand interceding for us. It is because of what Christ has done in the past that the hoped for, currently unseen events that will accompany his return are a certainty. Faith sees who Jesus is and what he has done and what he is doing as described in the earlier portions of this letter and then faith rests on and depends upon the absolute certainty that what has been promised for the future is as certain as the events that have already taken place. So what v. 1 is saying is that faith is sure because these events are sure. Faith is certain because these events are certain. Faith views these future events as absolute reality, completely guaranteed and thus faith acts in the present on the basis of that coming reality. That is what I mean when I say that faith brings the future into the present. Faith "sees" the promised future events as certain and real and then faith acts as though those events are as certain as the sun rising tomorrow. In January of every year many people fill out their tax returns and mail them into the IRS. Those who file early usually do so because they are going to receive a large refund. Once the forms are mailed many begin to plan for how they are going to spend their refund. If they are going to buy a new car, they will begin shopping for a car prior to receiving the refund check. They will negotiate with the car salesman. They may even put down some money to hold a particular car that they like. Is our imaginary couple taking a risk by putting money down? Not really, as the arrival of the check is guaranteed by the federal government of the U.S. Even if their budget is currently very tight they will still make a commitment to buy the car because they are so confident that the $3000 check is coming. They act in the present as if the hoped for future event that is currently unseen, the refund check, is already in their possession. They depend upon the objective reality of the unseen, hoped for refund check and thus they act in particular ways. Faith rests upon the promised future good even though the present circumstances do not reflect that reality and may indeed be contrary to it. John Calvin in his commentary gives an excellent summation of this point: “Promised to us is eternal life, but it is promised to the dead; we are assured of a happy resurrection, but we are as yet involved in corruption (he means a world of disease, decay and death); we are pronounced just, as yet sin dwells in us; we hear that we are happy; but we are as yet in the midst of many miseries; an abundance of all good things is promised to us, but still we often hunger and thirst; God proclaims that he will come quickly, but he seems deaf when we cry to him.” Faith is fixed upon the certainty of the future good promised, not on the difficult present experience. Faith then acts now as if that promised future good is already present. Faith always produces a life in the present that is founded upon the certainty of what is promised in the future because faith is sure that what is currently unseen, Christ returning to make all things new, is certain to happen. What are some of those ways of living that faith produces? In the immediate context the author has suggested at least three things in 10:19-39. There is an open, public acknowledgement that we belong to Jesus, that we are Christians, regardless of the threats of harm. There is an active and enthusiastic participation in the life and worship of a local church. There is a willing and joyful investment of our time and resources in loving and caring for other Christians, despite the risks and inconveniences. Just as those who believe in the reality of a refund check go shopping prior to receiving it, so do Christians who believe in the reality of the return of Christ live worshipful and generous and loving lives expecting that what they will one day receive will be even more glorious because of their investments of love in the present. Christians must live by faith alone because…
II. Faith has always identified the people of God (v. 2) Verse 2 begins with the word “for”, which you can see in the ESV while the NIV leaves it out, again. The point is that “living by faith” didn’t just start with the coming of Jesus. We are not the first people to be in a situation where we act in the present on the basis of a promised future good. Who are the “ancients who were commended?” The word translated “commended” is the passive form of the verb “to testify to”. This verb is used 8 times in this letter and usually it refers to God’s testimony recorded in the Scriptures. Therefore, those who are commended are those who are recorded in Scripture as pleasing to God. Everyone in the OT who is affirmed by God as belonging to him receives that affirmation because of or by his or her faith. In other words, faith has always been the identifying marker of those who belong to God. The people of God are not known by their race or culture or religious practices but by their faith in God's promised Messiah. This has always been true. That means that from the time of Adam to the time this letter was written continuing to the present day the way to identify who belongs to God is by the presence of faith. And this faith rests upon the sure foundation, the objective reality of hoped for but yet unseen events. This verse helps us again see the unity of God’s plan throughout history. God’s people in the OT lived by faith in the future coming of the Messiah and so do we. Jesus and his salvation has always been the object of the faith of God’s people. The only difference is that we have the words of the prophets made more certain by the actual appearance of Christ in history. There has never been a time in the history of the world where God’s people expected God to receive them because of what they did or because of who they were. The people of God have always looked outside of themselves to God’s promised deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ. It has always been on the basis of faith in Christ that God has commended his people, whether we have lived prior to or after the first coming of Jesus. Christians must live by faith alone because…
III. Faith depends on the word of God (v. 3) In verse 3 we are told that faith understands that the universe was put together or ordered by the word of God. Where do we find out that the universe was put into order by the word of God? We find that out in the Bible, in Genesis 1 to be exact. Six times in Genesis 1 God, we are told, “said” and what he “said” came into being. His word ordered the universe and made it fit for human habitation. The first thing that this verse is telling us is that the faith that saves God’s people and that God accepts is faith in what God has said as it is recorded in Scripture. We believe what the Bible says, that is how we know that the universe was made a fit place of human habitation by the word of God. If you do not trust what the Bible says then you do not have a saving faith. In other words, simply believing that there is a Creator is not what this verse is talking about. True faith believes what the Bible says about this Creator, not merely that there is a Creator. Many years ago I was talking with a retired pastor who was trying to set me straight. He told me that it does not matter what you believe, only that you believe. What you were trusting in does not matter because humans cannot know what is true and thus what matters is that you believe. This is the modern idea that faith is power. My faith is what matters not who or what I am trusting in. That is a lie. Faith believes and rests in truth. If what you trust in is not true than your faith is useless because faith has no power in itself but is dependent upon the power of another. Faith rests in God's revelation of himself. Faith is only valuable if it trusts in the true and living God, the Creator who is only truly described in the Scriptures. But this verse is not merely saying that true faith is faith in the Biblical description of God the Creator. What does faith know? Faith knows that God’s invisible word makes visible what was not visible. There was a time when the universe was not visible. This physical, matter and energy universe did not exist and then God spoke and it came into existence. God made the world out of his own invisible and powerful word. Faith knows that it is the word of God alone that creates reality. It is God’s word alone that creates and sustains everything, including the future hoped for and unseen events referred to in v. 1. There was a time when this present reality was unseen and then it became visible by the work of God's invisible word. So faith looks at the present creation and sees in it the promise of a new creation because faith knows that this present creation only exists by the word of God. God has promised in his word to send Christ again and to make a new heavens and a new earth and so faith knows that what God has said God will do and what God has said God is able to do. His word creates that which it commands. Just as his word of command created light, so his word of command in Christ will create the new heavens and the new earth. Christians must live by faith alone because…
IV. Faith alone pleases God and receives his approval (vv. 4-7) In v. 4 he begins the pattern that he will repeat throughout most of chapter 11. He refers to OT saints, describing their faith, while interspersing his own commentary along the way, as in v. 6 in this paragraph. As we examine each individual the first question we need to answer is why does the author pick this person to include in his list of people with faith? What is it about each one that makes him or her a suitable model of faith? Abel is included because of what God said about him and his offering in Genesis 4:4. In the original language the word "commended" shows up twice in this verse (The ESV has this, while the NIV translates the second use of it with "God spoke well"). Again, this means that God testified in the Scriptures to his approval of Abel. We are told that God looked with favor upon Abel and his offering but he did not look with favor on Cain and his offering. The text in Genesis does not say why God looked with favor on Abel and his offering. We know that God did not make a distinction between Abel and Cain merely because of what each one offered. Both animal and grain offerings were commanded in the law. The guiding principle for the author is the quote from Habakkuk in 10:37-38. God is not pleased with those who shrink back which means the opposite is also true; he is pleased with those who have faith. The righteous are those who live by faith in God's promised Messiah. Therefore, when the OT text says that God looked with favor on Abel the only possible explanation is that Abel had faith because God is pleased with faith and hates those without faith. Why would Abel and Cain be an excellent model for these people? First, Abel lost his life because of his faith. His brother's anger and hatred was because God looked with favor upon him. Cain's animosity to Abel is a type or a foreshadowing of the world's hatred of Christ and of his church. This story shows the main point of the author's letter. The whole world is divided between those who have faith and those who do not have faith. Faith in God's promises does not protect you from harm in this world. You may violently lose your life here. People who have faith may be murdered by their brother. However, notice that though Abel died, it is through his faith that he is yet speaking. Now this is first of all a reference to the fact that Abel's story is in the Scriptures. However, there is also a reference to Abel's ongoing existence. Abel, though dead, still lives because he is still speaking. Also, Cain stands as an excellent example of what happens to those who do not have faith in God's promises. They are banished from God's presence and stand under God's curse. Do you want to be Abel who had faith and was murdered but now lives or Cain who had no faith, thus committed an act of murder and therefore suffered God's curse? Enoch is briefly mentioned in the list of descendants of Seth, Adam's son. He is the son of Jared and the father of Methuselah. Two times we are told that Enoch walked with God. The Greek translation of the Hebrew bible, rather than saying he walked with God, says that he pleased God, which is to say the same thing. God walks with, that is, enters into a close personal relationship with those who please him. This is what attracts the author's notice. Here is a man who pleased God. Again, based upon the principle enunciated in Habakkuk, God is only pleased with those who have faith; therefore since Enoch pleased God he must be a man of faith. The other thing that we are told in Genesis about Enoch is that he did not die a natural death. God took him immediately from this earth into his presence in heaven without his having to pass through natural death. This happened to him because he pleased God which means this happened because he trusted in God's promises. How is Enoch's story helpful to the Hebrew Christians and to us? Here is a person who had faith and who did not, as far as we can tell, suffer in this life. In fact, he did not even suffer death. Not every Christian is going to suffer in the same way or to the same extremes. Putting Abel and Enoch next to each other in this way helps us to see that not all who have faith suffer in the same way. God is in charge of suffering and so we don't measure the reality of our faith by the amount of suffering we endure. The point is that we are living on the basis of the promised future good and we are not paying that much attention to how much suffering we endure in comparison to others. In addition, Enoch's being taken also points ahead to the resurrection. This is exactly what will happen to every believer who is alive when Christ returns. All who live at the return of Christ will be directly transferred from earth to heaven, without passing through death, just like Enoch. So the author includes Enoch to show the reality of our hope. Live by faith and you also will be resurrected. In v. 6 the author clearly states the operative principle that he has deduced from Habakkuk and has now shown in the lives of Abel and Enoch. Faith is the only thing that pleases God. It is the dividing line of humanity. It is the only thing that he pays attention to in human beings. As human beings draw near to God, the only ones who gain entry are those who have faith. What is the essence of that faith? They must believe he exists and they must believe that he rewards those who seek him. To believe God exists is not simply to say "I believe in God." Rather, it is to believe in the God who is revealed in the Bible. It is not faith in any god of your own choosing but to believe in the God who actually exists. There will be no one in heaven, successfully drawing near to the God who made the heavens and the earth who in this life believed that the God who exists is named Allah or Buddha or Krishna or any of the other millions of Hindu gods and goddesses. There will be no one in heaven who believes in the tolerant God of our postmodern culture. Only those who believe that the God who is described in the Bible exists will be in heaven. The second part of what must be trusted is that God rewards all who earnestly seek him. This is not saying that faith somehow earns God's favor. Faith does not obligate God to reward us with his presence like a week's labor obligates your employer to pay you your wages. This verse is based upon the previous 10 chapters. We know that the only person who is able to successfully draw near to God in the Holy of Holies is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the perfect high priest and the perfect sacrifice. Therefore, all those who depend upon his perfect life and sufficient death also draw near with him and in him. This was the point of 10:19-21: because Christ died and because he rose and is our high priest we can draw near to God. His once for all sacrifice made us fit for heaven. Now here we see that the faith that unites us to Christ is a faith that believes that God will give to us what he promises in Christ. He will give us himself. He is the reward that we trust Christ to deliver to us. The language here is quit plain. God rewards seekers with what they seek. What is it that we earnestly seek through Christ? We seek God himself. Saving faith trusts the right object for the right reason. Only those who trust Christ to bring them to God will be rewarded with God's presence forever. If you are coming to God through Christ in order to get something else you will not be rewarded. Both Abel and Enoch were drawing near to God by faith in the promised Messiah in order to be with God. Both of them now have obtained that which they sought, eternal life with God. Noah is mentioned next as an example of another one who pleased God through faith. The difference between Noah and the previous two is that Noah's faith is explicitly in what God has said. We were not told how Abel and Enoch knew the promises in which they trusted. However, in the case of Noah God spoke to him and his faith was in what God said. God warned him of things yet unseen. Notice the link here with vv. 1 & 3, confirming that unseen things are the presently unseen fulfillments of God's promised salvation and judgment. God told Noah that he was going to wipe out the earth through a flood, but save he and his family through the ark. Noah believed what God said and then he acted on what he believed. This is the pattern of faith that will be demonstrated time and again in this chapter. God speaks to his people. We believe what he says. That is, we count on what he has said as being absolute reality and thus we live in the present as if that promised future is a certainty. This is what Noah did. He labored at building an ark for 120 years because he believed what God said. Notice that he built the ark in reverent fear. He feared the judgment to come more than he feared the opposition of his neighbors and the loss of time and resources in building the ark. His way of life made no sense if there was no flood. His whole life would be wasted if the flood did not come. This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. If there is no resurrection we are the most foolish of people because we have lived our lives as if the resurrection is a certainty. We've lived like crazy fools if there is no judgment and no salvation. How does Noah's faith condemn the world? By his faith, expressed in his building of the ark, he bore witness to the fact that God was coming in judgment and salvation. When people refused the evidence of his life and, as we are told in 2 Peter, of his spoken testimony, they demonstrated how right it was for God to condemn them and kill them. In other words, when we faithfully live as Christians in this world and bear witness to Christ by our words, we demonstrate how right it is for God to condemn the world for its rebellion against the great and gracious God. But notice also that Noah, by his faith, not only condemned the world but he also became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith. In other words, Noah was declared righteous by God because of his faith in the word of God, just like Abraham, whom we will look at next. The author is connecting his description of faith to the broader description of justification by faith that Paul so ably defends in his letters. Noah is not righteous because of what he does but because of his faith. He trusts God's word that he and his family can escape the judgment through the ark. This word is the gospel, the good news that God has punished sin in Christ and credits his righteousness to us when we trust him. So Noah is made righteous, like us, through faith in the promises of God secured by Christ. Notice he is an heir of that righteousness. What does that mean? It means that God rewards righteous people with an eternal inheritance. What is that inheritance? To live with the holy God in his holy land as a holy people forever. Noah by his faith in God's word gained the inheritance that God has promised to all the righteous. You can see so clearly how Noah is such an apt illustration for these people and for us. He lives by faith in God's promised judgment and salvation. That faith produces a life that is engaged in labor that from the world's point of view is absolutely stupid. His life is a testimony to the certainty of the unseen future events. When that Day of Judgment comes he and his family are safe while the world perishes. The question is again forced upon them and us: what do you want, a life of building an ark by faith in opposition to the world and then eternal salvation or a life lived as you please now and then eternal destruction? There is a labor of love that God calls us to as Christians that the world regards as foolish. Will we live by faith in the certainty of that future salvation and so live as if it is true or will we live like the rest of the world who does not believe that there is a final day approaching? Christians must live by faith alone because…
© Copyright 2007 John Swanson.
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