Jesus, The Object of Our Faith

The Importance of Faith - Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Faith give us confidence for the future which cannot be known with certainty

Faith gives us assurance of things we cannot see or understand

Why is this faith necessary?

These two arenas (the future and the unknown) make up a major part of what impacts our lives

We must be able to make confident decisions in these two arenas.

Without this confidence we would be incapacitated

Priority of evidence over guarantees - Heb 11:3

Hebrews 11:3 NIV

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.

This assumes that the evidence points to God’s intelligent design of creation

This acknowledges that all we see was created from an invisible source (creation ex nihilo, out of nothing)

We must follow the evidence but we cannot demand full understanding or guarantees

In the arenas described previously, the evidence will lead to a dependence on God

Priority of worship - Heb 11:4

Hebrews 11:4 NIV

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

The story referenced is from Genesis 4:4

Genesis 4:4 NIV

And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

Abel’s offering was consistent with God’s requirement of a blood sacrifice

Abel’s faith was a consequence of his worship of God

Our worship will either strengthen our faith or if we turn to idolatry, destroy our faith

Worship is more than music

Priority of relationship - Heb 11:5-6

Hebrews 11:5–6 NIV

By 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. And 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.

The reference of Enoch is found in Genesis 5:4

Genesis 5:24 NIV

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Enoch pleased God which can only be done through faith

Two requirements of this faith that pleases God

Believe in the existence of God

Believe in the gracious nature of God

If we believe these two things, we believe in God as He is

This belief naturally results in a wholehearted commitment to God

Priority of obedience - Heb. 11:7

Hebrews 11:7 NIV

By 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 is in keeping with faith.

The reference to Noah - Genesis 6:22

Genesis 6:22 NIV

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Noah’s faith was rooted in “holy fear”

His actions demonstrated his righteousness

Without obedience to God we cannot please God

When we obey God, we demonstrate “holy fear” coming from a proper understanding of God

Priority of belonging - Heb. 11:8-10

Hebrews 11:8–10 NIV

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Abraham saw himself as a foreigner wherever he was

We are also not citizens of this earth, but of heaven

Faith allowed Abraham to go through life without attachments to things, people or places.

People of faith may not all realize the promises of God in this life - Heb. 11:13

Hebrews 11:13 NIV

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

People of faith look forward to their future with God and the fulfillment of His promises - Heb. 11:14-16

Hebrews 11:14–16 NIV

People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Faith is seeing things through God’s eyes - 2 Cor. 4:16-18

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NIV

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

A warning for those who fail to put their faith in God - Hebrews 10:26-31

Hebrews 10:26–31 NIV

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.