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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By 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.
Hebrews 11:1-3
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
This first week in Advent, we have been focusing on the matter of hope through five messages so far. We have two left before we move onto the theme of peace.
Today, we turn to the eleventh chapter of Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, a chapter famously known as “the faith chapter”. Before it goes into a list of renowned Old Testament figures who stood out because of the faith they displayed in God, we find these three lead in verses. Look again at them now:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By 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. Hebrews 11:1-3
We should note here how faith is a by-product of hope, a “confidence in what” someone places their hope in. Running this out logically, we can see then that faith doesn’t happen if hope doesn’t exist for without hope, we have nothing to have “confidence in”.
It’s also important to see how the scriptures make it clear that hope and faith share this in common. They both are associated with things that are unseen and I would also add, unknown.
In other words, it’s easy to have faith and hope in things that are tangible, known quantities.
We work for a company or organization where our pay is guaranteed and so when payday comes, our money ends up in our hands.
We wake up every day to light from the sun, even when the days are cloudy, and go to sleep when it’s dark with the moon and the stars in the sky overhead.
We cycle through seasons every year with most people experiencing all four with their associated temperature changes, hotter in the summer and colder in the winter with spring and fall being more transitional.
We can sit in a chair, drive over a bridge, and stand on the ground with the assurance we will be supported.
There are many examples like this we can turn to and see where it doesn’t take much faith or hope in those instances. In fact, they are so automatic that we rarely even think about them because we’re so sure they will just happen as they always do.
But what about when someone becomes afflicted with a serious disease like cancer where the prognosis was fifty-fifty that they could survive or die?
Or when a person has everything going for them with a good career and then abruptly loses their job with a lot of expenses that still need paid monthly?
Or a husband or wife who suddenly learns that their spouse is having an affair on them and has decided to leave the marriage, even with children still growing up in the household?
These are just a few real life examples of how life can turn upside down on someone in a hurry, times when someone can find themselves hoping in something they can’t see as they seek to develop faith in the midst of difficulties.
It’s not easy, right?
If you’ve ever been there like me, you know it’s not. We don’t have the requisite strength or courage to handle these hardships when they come and believe me, they will come if you live long enough. This is why it’s important to remember what we covered in yesterday’s message, that hope can help us focus on the Lord who is the only perfect certainty that we have.
Going back to our passage from Hebrews, here’s what we find in verse 3:
By 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.
Here, a believer’s hope in God and His Word leads them to understand how the universe they live in was formed, not from some “big bang” theory or any other crazy scientific theory but rather through the command of the Lord. He and He alone made what we see and know, the visible, from utter nothingness, the unintelligible.
In other words, those who believe in God know that He can make anything happen out of hope in Him and this hope is best expressed through faith and trust that He can handle whatever we’re going through.
He can make the way so cancer can be healed and remission can occur, bringing life out of uncertainty where death was a probability.
He can open a door for someone to find a new job in their career field, a job where the income level helps support the bills and other expenses needed.
He can either mend broken marriages or if one spouse decides to follow their own will and go their own way, then he can provide a new, more Christ-centered partner for the abandoned husband or wife, one that will be obedient to the scriptures and love their mate with fidelity and spiritual integrity as the Bible commands.
Friends, as you read through the rest of chapter 11 in Hebrews, you will see documented, real life examples of people like you and me who faced tough trials, challenges, and/or decisions and made it through because of faith born out of the hope they had in their God.
Abel brought the more appropriate offering than his brother Cain out of His hope, faith, and respect for God, and although he was murdered, his story still inspires others to follow his lead.
Noah built an enormous ark on dry land because God told him to, speaking about a great flood that seemed improbable in that mostly arid region. This flood would wipe out all mankind but Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, as long as an ark full of pairs of living creatures survived, all because Noah placed his hope and faith in the Lord.
Abraham left his home country with his family and possessions in tow to go to a place that was unknown at the time of his departure. He simply hoped in God with faith, trusting that He would lead them safely to the place He wanted them to be.
You can go on to read more on this as the scriptures move from Isaac to Jacob to Joseph, from Moses and the Israelites to even a prostitute named Rahab and her act of hope and faith in God found in the story of the Israelite conquest of the city of Jericho.
Today, we too can add to this list of those who maintained their hope in the Lord in the midst of hard circumstances and fully experienced His power through faith in His ability to do all things. Unlike the Old Testament saints, we have an additional hope that can only serve to strengthen and fortify our faith. This hope is at the center of this Advent season, the Savior Jesus, whose birth we are preparing to celebrate with excited anticipation. It’s this hope that sets us free from the uncertainties of this worldly existence, a hope that produces faith in a better life yet to come, the eternal life promised by a God who loved us so much that He didn’t wish for us to perish in Hell but rather experience eternal life with Him forever when this life ends, all through just simply believing in His Son (John 3:16).
Today and every day, let us rejoice and give thanks for the hope we have in Jesus, the hope that leads to a faith that is sure that what God has guaranteed will come to be.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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