The Essence of Faith - Pt. 2

 

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).

 

The writer of Hebrews gives his readers 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. It is meant to deepen our confidence in God's promises so that we turn from the fleeting pleasures of sin and live out the radical kind of love that comes from having our hope in God. The Apostle Paul writes something similar to the Colossians:

 

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. (Colossians 1:4-5 ESV).

 

The chapter in Hebrews begins with a definition of faith that links it with hope and then goes on to show how this hope gave power for all kinds of radical obedience.

 

Perhaps the important thing to see here is that the power to sacrifice and love and joyfully accept the seizure of your property, which we saw earlier, is called "faith." Faith is the assurance of things hoped for - that is, faith is the confidence that "you have a better possession and an abiding one." There's the link between the life of sacrificial love and the hall of fame later in the chapter. When we begin to read all of these examples, we see a catalogue of people who illustrate that this kind of faith - the assurance of things hoped for - really makes a difference in life.

 

I heard one definition that is very clear: “Faith is seeing light with your heart, when your eyes only see the darkness.” The great news is that this faith is a gift of God to His children (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9). Our only task in this exchange is the acceptance of the gift of faith and trusting our future to His good purpose and will.