{"id":5994,"date":"2019-10-29T20:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T03:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=5994"},"modified":"2019-10-27T17:41:47","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T00:41:47","slug":"hebrew11_1-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrew11_1-7\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Faith?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrews 11:1-7 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is Hebrews 11:1-7.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1, 6:\u00a0\u00a0In the previous verse (Hebrews\u00a010:39), the writer of Hebrews channeled 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 Hebrews goes 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 you\u2019re 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

It is this kind of faith \u2013 one that involves both your head and your heart, one that is ultimately not neutral but puts something personal at stake \u2013 that pleases God. That\u2019s why verse 6 says, \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebrews 11:2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This is what the ancients were commended for.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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

    \n
  • He starts by saying that by faith we believe that God made the universe out of nothing, as described in Genesis 1;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \n
      \n
    • Because 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;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      <\/div>\n
      \n
        \n
      • Unlike 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;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        <\/div>\n
          \n
        • Unlike his neighbors around him, Noah (v7) believed God and by faith obeyed God\u2019s instructions to build an ark in Genesis 6.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\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\u00a0<\/strong>of God’s righteousness<\/strong>, and as Paul says, \u201cnot having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith\u201d (Philippians 3:9).<\/p>\n

          \n
          <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
          Heavenly 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><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
          <\/div>\n
          <\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

          Today\u2019s passage is Hebrews 11:1-7.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

          Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)\u00a0
          \n1\u00a0\u00a0Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.\u00a0<\/p>\n

          On verses 1, 6:\u00a0\u00a0In the previous verse (Hebrews\u00a010:39), the writer of Hebrews channeled 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 Hebrews goes 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,\u00a0faith is using your imperfect sight to draw a conclusion based on the evidence available to you.\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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5994","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\/5994","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=5994"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6018,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5994\/revisions\/6018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}