Heb 11:1-3 The Context of Faith
Notes
Transcript
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
A second cousin of mine with her teenage son and his friend were strolling at a park near a giant tree when suddenly… she heard a weird cracking noise, she turn to the boys with an extremely distressed expression and screamed …run…. As they were running a branch the size of a tree barely brushed their bodies. If they had not run the three of them would have been fatally crushed.
If their story would have been in the news the focus likely would have been on the unbelievable mother instincts. For us, we know that this was God’s hand of protection in giving her the insight and the urge to run away from the strange cracking noise.
However, when we pause to look and understand the context we will have an even greater insight into the amazing work of God. The same is true when we understand the amazing Scripture passages in their context. We will be able to have a greater grasp of the amazing truths that God reveals in His word.
Now we come to probably the most famous chapter of the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 which often is known as the faith chapter. You probably heard a sermon on this chapter before. It is a favorite chapter for many, there are many believers that when they think of the Hebrews letter they think of this chapter.
Even though there is nothing wrong with studying or preaching on a specific chapter isolated. I find it so beneficial to study and preach it systematically verse by verse. When we come to difficult passages there is no way to avoid them, so you end up teaching the whole counsel of God, and no one can say that you selected certain passages because of ill motives.
Often, I have seen God orchestrating the selection of songs, devotionals, and situations in life that fall in place just at the right time as we get to the next verses that we are studying. Furthermore, it is beneficial to study verse by verse because when we come to passages that we are very familiar with, we might have a better understanding because we are having a better grasp of the context of the familiar passage.
Like chapter 11 of Hebrews. It is an amazing passage and chapter by itself. It is so encouraging to look at the heroes of the faith and be emboldened by their example. However, this is not the first time we are studying this letter, it is going to be more than a year since we started studying the Hebrews letter. I hope you have come to appreciate and love this letter the same way I do, and as we continue our journey through Hebrews it has become evident that God is challenging us to a radical Christianity. To view Christ as He is, highly exalted, worthy of everything and anything. As Paul says in Philippians “That to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. While here in Hebrews one of the core messages is that if we have Christ we have everything. If we don’t have Christ, we have nothing.
The kind of faith that the Book of Hebrews calls us to live is radical. The context of the faith described in chapter 11 is not out of a vacuum, but it has already been described in this letter to some extent. The study of Hebrews should produce in us a faith like what is described in a few verses prior in 10:34 when it says:
34 “For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one”
This radical faith in Jesus or seeing the true reality of Christ's worth and value should cause a follower of Christ to rejoice when all their possessions are taken away.
We might ask how someone can rejoice when they lose everything. It is because their eyes are fixed on their greatest possession, their greatest treasure. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So the whole book of Hebrews is written to give foundation to the hope that is the foundation of a life of radical, risk-taking, sacrificial love, and faith.
What more can the author of Hebrews say than he has already said to help us have this hope so that we live out this radical love? Chapter 11 is the answer: the author can give us examples of people who have laid hold on the future reward of joy with God in such a way that it makes a great difference in their lives here and now. That's what chapter 11 is. It is meant to deepen your confidence in God's promises so that you turn from the fleeting pleasures of sin and live out the radical kind of love that comes from having your hope in God” (Piper)
Heb 11:4 until the end of the chapter is a catalog of people that demonstrates this kind of faith, but before the author gives the examples there are these introductory verses about what faith is.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
These verses give us a two-fold definition of faith. "Now faith is (1) the assurance of things hoped for, (2) the conviction of things not seen." However, before we get into the biblical definition we should address what we are told in the world over and over what faith is.
We are told that faith is believing against all odds. That faith is a private thing, it doesn’t belong in the public setting. That faith is believing against all evidence. That we should have faith in faith. All of this is baloney… plain foolishness…it is putting your trust and your confidence in yourself or in nothing. If you are going to have this kind of faith is better to have no faith at all…
If you want to have faith it is better to be a biblical solid faith. Biblical faith is the opposite of all this. Biblical faith is believing because of all the evidence… It is believing because of all the odds. Biblical faith is not limited to us, but it affects everything and everyone around us, it affects everything in our context. Biblical faith is based on a person, it is our trust in Jesus of Nazareth.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
The word for "assurance" in the first definition ("the assurance of things hoped for") and the word for "conviction" in the second definition ("the conviction of things not seen"), are unusual words and very difficult to translate into English.
You may know that King James Version says: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." These words "substance" and "evidence" are, in fact, very serious and important translations.
There are some in-depth studies about these two words (assurance and convictions) in Greek and their definitions. As I’m explaining these things I just want you to be aware that most of these conclusions are not original from me, but are a mix of different authors, but specially from Piper.
Let's start with the second definition first: "Faith is the conviction or (the evidence) of things not seen." The word for "conviction" or "evidence" is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. Outside the New Testament, its normal use is "proof" or "argument" or "evidence" - something objective - about the world rather than subjective about how we feel about the world.
But what about the meaning here in verse 1? Most translators don't use the old word, "proof" or "evidence," because it doesn't seem to make sense. How can faith be evidence or proof? Faith needs evidence, doesn't it? But let's look at the illustration of this definition of faith in verse 3. Verse 3 is directly related to this definition of faith as "the evidence of things not seen." It says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
SLIDE V3
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Do you see the connection? Verse 1 says "faith is the evidence of things not seen," and verse 3 says that faith understands that the world - what is seen - was made out of what is not seen - the word of God. So verse 3 is a specific illustration of the definition of faith in verse 1b.
Here's the question: How do we know that God made the world out of nothing that is seen? Not only were we not there when it happened, but, even if we had been there, we would not have been able to see the act of creation, because you can't see the word of God. So how can we know or "understand" that the universe was created by the word of God? How can we know that "what is seen was made out of things invisible" - namely the word of God?
Verse 3 answers, "by faith." "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God." Now this starts to sound a little more like the old King James translation of verse 1 might make sense after all. If "faith is the evidence of things not seen," then it might make sense to say, "By faith (by evidence) we understand that the universe was created by the word of God." But if we take the newer translation ("faith is the conviction of things unseen") and say, "By conviction we understand that the universe was created by the word of God," then it just sounds like we are reasoning in a circle: I have the conviction that God created the world, therefore I understand that he did create the world. And I understand that he created the world, therefore I have the conviction that he created the world.
So the crucial question is: How is faith "evidence" of things unseen, namely, that God created the world by his word? There is a clue from the one other place in the New Testament where God's invisible attributes are said to be "clearly seen" by man, namely, Romans 1:20. "Since the creation of the world [God's] invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made." The word "understood" here in Romans 1:20 is the same word as in Hebrews 11:3, "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God."
So there in Romans 1:20 it says, "we understand the invisible attributes of God by what has been made." And here in Hebrews 11:3 it says, we understand the invisible word of God behind creation by faith. Romans 1:20 seems to say that the evidence that God made the world is the things made - they clearly point to a Maker. Hebrews 11:3 seems to say that the evidence that God made the world is faith. Now think about this for a moment. What shall we make of it? Here's what I make of it. Faith - at least in part - is the spiritual seeing or perceiving of the fingerprints of God on the things he has made. Now the fingerprints of God on the things he has made - the order, the beauty, the greatness, the "irreducible complexity" are the evidence that God made the world. But so is the seeing of these fingerprints a kind of evidence. It's just the other side of the coin. If you ask me, "How do you know that in Spokane, WA there is a beautiful state park?” I will say I saw it over a month ago while I was there. The seeing is evidence that it is there.
That is the way faith is the evidence of things unseen. We all look at the same fingerprints, but some see and some don't. Those who see have the evidence - the testimony - in themselves.
I’m horrible at finding things in the kitchen…, especially in the pantry…. Often Leanna will tell me to go and get something from the pantry while she is cooking. After much searching, I’ll say we must not have it because I can’t find it. To Leanna’s dismay often it was right on my nose. In this scenario if I ask Leanna how do you know we have it, she will say because I see it… and I say, where? I can’t see it.
Her seeing is the evidence. I might not see it, but that won’t change her confidence, her faith that it is there, or the truth of the reality of the existence of the can of soup in the pantry relies on her seeing, not my inability to see it or find it.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
That is what it is like for some to look at God’s creation. Some see chaos, shapes, rivers, trees, birds, and flowers. Others have a deeper view and suddenly God’s fingerprints are everywhere. What is the evidence? We see it, it is as sure as the existence of the can of soup in the pantry, that for my life I couldn’t find it.
Now we know how faith is the evidence of things not seen. What about the first part, that faith is the assurance or substance of things hoped for?
It may be that all this means is that faith is a deep confidence that the promises of God will come true so that we bank on them. That would be enough to free us from the fears and greed and worldliness that block the flow of radical, risk-taking, sacrificial faith. If we have a strong conviction that God will care for us and bring us to glory and fulfill all his promises to us forever, then we will be free from self-indulgence and free for serving others.
But there is more. The word "assurance" here can mean "nature" or "substance" or "reality" or "essence" in other places, for example, Hebrews 1:3 ("exact imprint of God's nature"). If that is what is meant here, then we should think like this.
What could the "substance" or "nature" of things hoped for mean? Piper says that “I think it could mean that faith apprehends the goodness and the sweetness of what God promises so clearly that this goodness and sweetness are substantially present in faith. In other words, faith grasps - lays hold of - God's preciousness so firmly that in the faith itself there is the substance of the goodness and the sweetness promised.”
Faith doesn't create what we hope for - that would be a mere mind game. Faith is a spiritual apprehending or perceiving or tasting or sensing of the beauty and sweetness and preciousness and goodness of what God promises - especially his own fellowship, and the enjoyment of his own presence.
Faith does not just feel confident that this is coming someday. Faith has spiritually laid hold of and perceived and tasted that it is real. And this means that faith has the substance or the nature of what is hoped for in it. Faith's enjoyment of the promise is a kind of substantial down payment of the reality coming.
All of this talk and thinking about faith might seem like we are just working through concepts and definitions, but this is extremely practical, it defines and affects everything in how you live, that is why the author of Hebrews goes on to give example, after example for the whole chapter of people that live out this biblical faith.
The context where we live out this biblical faith matters. Remember what happened to my second cousin and the two boys, how their life was spared? It actually happened only a few years ago. However, when you look into the context you will be amazed of God’s hand. When my second cousin was only a child she remembered her mother telling her of a death of a distant relative dying from a tree falling long after a storm. The day when they were walking by the tree was a few days after a storm and God brought the memory back to her mind just in the right moment so they would act and their lives would be spared.
Your biblical faith is not isolated it is in a context. What you say to someone, praying for others, you might not see the results right away, it might take several years as they will just happen to be near a giant tree and God might bring back a memory and they turn their lives to Christ and you were instrumental and you didn’t know.
Therefore, live out your faith with great confidence and assurance of what truly there is, that Jesus is alive and He truly died for you and me, and pray and tell others with great confidence that God’s word will not return void, but it will accomplish everything that God intended.
The word that comes out of God’s mouth, it shall not return to God empty, but it shall accomplish that which God purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which God sent it.
God is orchestrating your life, you are here this morning not just because it happened to be, take hold of this biblical faith and live it out with great confidence and boldness because it is grounded on truth and reality. There is a day coming when our faith will be sight and we will experience and see the reality that now we confidently hold by faith. There is a day coming when we will receive God’s commendation when God will say “Well done, good and faithful servant”