{"id":29048,"date":"2023-12-06T22:00:52","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrews-10_26-31-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-11-29T11:24:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T18:24:05","slug":"hebrews-11_1-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrews-11_1-7\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Faith?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrews 11:1-7 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011:1-7.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a011:1\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0In the previous verse (Hebrews\u00a010:39), the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0channeled his inner football coach and encouraged his readers to keep on fighting the fight of faith.\u00a0\u00a0He told them \u201cwe are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved\u201d (Hebrews\u00a010:39).\u00a0\u00a0Now the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0goes on to explain what faith is.\u00a0\u00a0His definition, as translated by the NIV: \u201cfaith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see\u201d (v1).\u00a0\u00a0I believe this verse shows us there are two parts to faith.<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0faith is being \u201ccertain of what we do not see\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0In other words,<\/strong>\u00a0faith is using your imperfect sight to draw a conclusion based on the evidence available to you.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Say you\u2019re sitting on a jury trying to decide whether or not to convict someone of a crime.\u00a0\u00a0There will be an element of faith involved in your decision.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s because you were not there when it happened and you did not see what happened.\u00a0\u00a0Your sight is imperfect and the evidence in front of you is limited.\u00a0\u00a0All you can do is hear the evidence and make the best judgment you can.\u00a0\u00a0And if you convict the person being charged, you\u2019re doing so because, based on the evidence, you are certain beyond a reasonable doubt of something you did not see.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s the objective part of faith: you\u2019re using your imperfect sight to reach a conclusion based on limited evidence.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a second part to faith which is more subjective and personal.\u00a0\u00a0Faith is \u201cbeing sure of what we hope for\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>There is an element of desire involved in faith.\u00a0\u00a0You want something that you don\u2019t have yet.\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019re hoping something will happen, and something in you is sure you\u2019re going to get it.\u00a0\u00a0In other words,\u00a0faith is believing that something you hope for in your heart has happened or is going to happen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So when verse 6 says, \u201cAnd without faith it is impossible to please God\u201d it is this kind of two-part faith that the writer of Hebrews, a faith that involves both the objective and the subjective, both your head and your heart.\u00a0 God-pleasing faith is ultimately not neutral and dispassionate but has something personal at stake.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 11:2-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This is what the ancients were commended for.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2-7: To illustrate what it looks like to have faith that pleases God, the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0begins to list examples of faith we see in Genesis, the first book of the Bible:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He starts by saying that by faith we believe that God made the universe out of nothing, as described in Genesis\u00a01;<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because he believed in the Lord, Abel by faith brought the best he had to sacrifice to the Lord in Genesis 4.\u00a0\u00a0His example of believing God and giving his best to God \u201cstill speaks\u201d (v4) an important lesson for us today;<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Unlike many of his ancestors before him, Enoch \u201cwalked with God\u201d in Genesis 5:21-24.\u00a0\u00a0In other words, by faith Enoch believed in God and maintained a close relationship with God.\u00a0\u00a0In so doing he \u201cpleased God\u201d (v5) and was taken away by God instead of dying;<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Unlike his neighbors around him, Noah (v7) believed God and by faith obeyed God\u2019s instructions to build an ark in Genesis 6.<\/p>\n

Notice that in the case of each of these three men — Abel, Enoch and Noah \u2013 the faith they exercised on earth had eternal implications.\u00a0\u00a0Abel was \u201ccommended as a righteous man\u201d (i.e. worthy to be with God) (v4).\u00a0\u00a0Enoch lived on with God into eternity (v5).\u00a0\u00a0Noah became \u201cheir of the righteousness that comes by faith\u201d (v7).<\/p>\n

Likewise,\u00a0when you and I place our faith in Jesus, like Abel God commends us as righteous, like Enoch we get to live on with God in eternity, and like Noah we become heirs\u00a0of God’s righteousness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>As Paul says, it\u2019s \u201cnot having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is\u00a0through faith<\/em>\u00a0in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is\u00a0by faith<\/em>\u201d (Philippians 3:9).<\/p>\n

Father, thank You for showing us through Your Word what faith looks like.\u00a0\u00a0May I live each day with faith that pleases You. In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Hebrews\u00a011:1-7.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a011:1\u00a0(NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0In the previous verse (Hebrews\u00a010:39), the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0channeled his inner football coach and encouraged his readers to keep on fighting the fight of faith.\u00a0\u00a0He told them \u201cwe are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved\u201d (Hebrews\u00a010:39).\u00a0\u00a0Now the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0goes on to explain what faith is.\u00a0\u00a0His definition, as translated by the NIV: \u201cfaith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see\u201d (v1).\u00a0\u00a0I believe this verse shows us there are two parts to faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29051,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29048\/revisions\/29051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}