The Two Wolves - Pt 7

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. 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. (Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV).

Yesterday I said “hope is faith in the future tense.” In our reading today, the writer says it is more than that. It is also the “conviction of things not seen.” It is true that some of these things are not future. He uses the reference to creation to remind us of this truth (v. 3). Faith can look back (to creation) as well as forward. So faith is the larger idea. It includes hope, but is more than hope. You might put it this way: faith is our confidence in the word of God, and whenever that word has reference to the future, you can call our confidence in it hope. Hope is faith in the future tense. There are some important principles at work in this truth. First, as we understand this we can better possess the true nature of biblical hope. Most of us know that biblical faith is a strong confidence. Doubt is the enemy of biblical faith. But if hope is faith in the future tense, then we can see more clearly that hope, too, is a strong confidence and not just wishful thinking. Second, it is important to see this relationship between faith and hope in that it shows how indispensable hope is. We all know that we are saved by grace through faith. Faith is necessary for our salvation. But we don’t as often speak of hope in those terms. But we should. Hope is an essential part of faith. Take away hope and the definition of faith in our reading is destroyed. We are not merely saved by grace through faith. We are saved by grace through hope. Sometimes we can find ourselves stuck in a conversation, trying to explain why God did this, or why He allows that. You know the usual arguments, ‘if God is so loving why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?’, and all the variations to that one sentiment. Usually when those kinds of questions start being asked the conversation can devolve to a point where you finally realize that it doesn’t matter what you say or evidence you present, the person refuses to be convinced, that by faith we believe in God, that He is full of loving-kindness, but more than that He IS love. The impact of this truth is that God is much more than someone who shows love toward His children. His very nature and character is love. He can do nothing less than love. Because He is perfect in every way, this love is also perfect. We never need wonder “why?” He is love, and all that occurs is rooted and founded in that love. This makes all things work together for our good!