Friday, August 15, 2008
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The Faith Hall of Fame
"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" (Hebrews 11:6).
Hebrews 11 begins by saying that, "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1), and a better definition of faith is hard to find. Faith has been an important element, if not the most important element, since the beginning of time. "By faith . . . the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible" (Hebrews 11:3). In other words, the whole of creation came into being as God exercised his faith and spoke it into existence! Without faith, there would be nothing!
And faith, says the writer of Hebrews, "is what the ancients were commended for." It is the one thing that really gets God's attention. And then he begins to inaugurate people into the Faith Hall of Fame. Abel for offering a better sacrifice. Enoch for pleasing God. Noah who built an ark in holy fear to save his family. Abraham obeying and going to the place God would show him. Making his home in the promised land and believing that even though they were old, he and Sarah would give birth to the child of promise. He later offered his son, Isaac, by faith, and figuratively at least, received him back from the dead. Isaac for blessing Jacob before Esau by faith. And by faith Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph. Joseph prophesying the exodus and saying that he wanted to be buried in the new land. Moses was hid by faith and by faith, and later cast his lot with his own people by faith when he was grown. He kept the passover by faith and Israel's firstborn were spared. By faith the nation of Israel passed through the sea on dry ground. By faith the walls of Jericho fell. By faith, the prostitute Rahab's life was spared. It is all by faith!
"And what more shall I say?" says the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:32). What about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtath, David, Samuel, and the prophets, not to mention countless others who go unnamed? These are the ones,
"who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them" (Hebrews 11:33-38).
The world is truly not worthy of any person of faith. People of faith have something that is not of this world and cannot be confined to it. And, while all of these people were commended for their faith and received a tangible return on it, "yet none of them received what had been promised" (Hebrews 11:39). There is an element of faith that awaits the future to see its full effect. Jesus said that "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields — all things motivated by faith — for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age . . . and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). Faith has a reward in this life but even a hundredfold return does not fulfill faith. Faith's full reward awaits the life to come.
So don't worry if you do not see everything that you are believing for in the here and now. All of those in the Faith Hall of Fame didn't either. At the same time, your faith is not for nothing. Some of it will come to pass here on earth but much of it will be saved for eternity "in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20). The fullness of what our faith has accomplished will be demonstrated when God assembles all of his people of faith together in heaven.
"God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . . . " (Hebrews 11:40-12:1).
Faith is eternal. It is about that which is unseen. And yes, I hope that your faith and mine accomplishes great things while we are here on this planet. But that is not all that there is. We don't have to see it all here. Our faith takes us "forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10), where we will all be together for eternity to celebrate all of faith's victories!
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