A Faith Foundation
A Lesson on Hebrews 11:1, 3, 6, 39-40 From Sunday, November 3, 2024
Key Learning: A Faith Foundation can lead to a Hopeful Future and a Loving Lifestyle!
Scripture
Hebrews 11:1,3,6,39-40
By Faith
"By faith" means trusting in God's promises, acting on that trust, and experiencing the supernatural power of God in our lives. It's a powerful demonstration of God's faithfulness and His ability to work in and through His people.
The people named in Hebrews 11 as acting by faith, had faith “because, while they looked to the evidence of what God had done and was doing, they also looked forward to the fulfillment of what God had promised.” (Peeler, Hebrews, p. 355.)
None of the “by faith” people got what God promised while they lived out their lives. God’s promises moved to a better dimension as Jesus, the Living Word of God, became flesh and moved into our neighborhood.
The examples in chapter 11 are,
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob , Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel.
Three Key Learnings
FAITH is about what has happened already, what we have experienced in our relationship with God, and what God has promised about which we have assurance and conviction.
God spoke to bring the world into existence. The Galaxies are the result of God speaking—God’s word.
John 10:27—“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
Faith is the firm foundation. “Faith trusts in the unseen, the communicated but not the visual word of God.” (Peeler, Hebrews, p. 306.)
“God acted. The faithful saw the action and therefore trusted that
God would bring to pass promised future actions.” “Faith is based on things very tangible” (Peeler, Hebrews, p. 306)We can have faith in God because we can see what God has done.
Question: Is taking the risk of moving forward “by faith” easier when we have great dependence on God or when we feel self-sufficient?
For we walk by faith rather than by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
We are not Doubting Thomas. “Doubting Thomas” = John 20:24-29.
Faith is the proof, the assurance, of those things we do not see.
“Faith is looking at God and trusting him for everything, while hope is looking at the future and trusting God for it” (NT Wright, Hebrews for Everyone, p. 87)
HOPE is about the things which will happen because of God’s promises for which we need patience and trust.
Our firm foundation allows for us to confidently look ahead for the things for which we hope.
Without faith we have no hope for the things we are to yet see and experience.
“Faith is that which looks backward, and as a result it allows hope that looks forward.” (Peeler, Hebrews,p. 307)
Hope requires patience and trust.
In the “Who” of Jesus we have everything we need to express trust.
Having faith is definitely tougher during seasons of suffering.
LOVE is our character and nature. Having love for everyone is non-negotiable. We may not like their actions nor their character and nature but having love for them is still essential.
From I Corinthians 13: 1-3 The Message: If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Are we looking for love in all the wrong places or to be expressed in all the wrong ways? “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” in 1980 by Johnny Lee as part of the moved, “Urban Cowboy”.
Life Applications
View the picture at the top and remember: “You either see God in all or don’t see God at all.”