Faith Is Mandatory

 As we have continued our look into the book of Hebrews, we have reached chapter 11.  Until now we have considered how the New Covenant that centered on the work of Jesus far excels the Old Covenant centered on the work of man.  Now we arrive at the solitary ingredient that must be mixed in to activate this New Covenant.  Faith.  For us to enter into this new and glorious contract between God and man, we must have faith.  

Faith can be defined in a variety of ways.  It can be defined as to trust or to rely on.  It has been defined as "having a settled persuasion regarding a matter" or even "persuaded to the point of action".  Faith does not require physical muscle but belief muscle.  Its beginning is found in a heart conclusion having been confronted with God's revelation.  Its completion is seen in the change that occurred in our lives.  Hebrews 11:1 introduces us to this word "faith".  However, it is not really a definition of faith but what faith does.  It reads, "Now faith is the substance of thing hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".  

Let's unpack this description of faith.  It is something. It is the substance of something.  The Greek word for substance is "hupostasis" - stasis meaning under and hupo (defining the stasis) meaning stand.  So, to "stand under".  So, something upon which something stands or a foundation - the firmness of a thing so as to build upon it.  Now this substance is one of "things hoped for".  There are many things hoped for, but particularly in the Christian life, we hope for eternity with God, Christ's return, God's judgment of the earth, etc.  Taking this into our verse, these things we hope for are substantive - they are firm and I can build upon it. So, faith takes the future promises of God and makes them present realities on which to build my life.  Faith changes the way I live.

The second description of faith calls it the evidence of something.  Evidence means conviction or surety.  Thayer defines it this way, "that by which invisible things are proved and we are convinced of their reality".  So, we are convinced of "things not seen".  The unseen things of the Christian life become visible.  In the Christian life, I cannot see the things that Jesus has done for me.  I have a record of what He has done, but I cannot see them.  Faith takes the unseen work of Jesus on the cross for me and convinces me of its reality.  God said that Jesus died to pay for ALL of my sin.  He tells me to repent and believe in Jesus and I will be forgiven by God.  

We notice that faith is not without reason or without evidence.  It is responding to something that God has said.  We know that God is real and that He only speaks truth.  Scripture is written by 42 people over 1500 years telling me one great story.  It speaks of miracles that happened, prophecies that came true, lives that were forever-changed.  It is upon this fixed witness that faith awakens.  We must have faith.

He Found Fault With Them

In our home group, we are going through the book of Hebrews.  This obscure book has a clear purpose - to bring believing Jews onto the better foundation of Jesus.  It is a powerful argument of the new covenant (covenant means contract) in Jesus Christ being far, far superior to the old covenant given through Moses.  The Law (nothing else) came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).  It has been useful for us to go through the book and place two columns on the whiteboard to consider just how many contrasts are seen between the old and new covenants.  

In Hebrews 8:7-12, we find one contrast regarding the problem of people.  People have a big problem.  It is called sin.  Sin is the corrupt nature within all people that causes us to completely disobey God's Law.  The old covenant was essentially a list of rules for Israel - hundreds of rules that God asked them to follow.  The people at Mt Sinai agreed to follow them and so they entered into a covenant.  If Israel obeyed the Law, then God would bless them.  If they did not obey and thus break the contract, then God would forsake them (Deut 31:16,17).  Now, because people are sinful, their corrupt nature chaffed against God’s divine Law and caused them to disobey entirely.  So, He found fault with them, not the contract. 

Now, God loves people.  He LOVES people.  But sin had broken the ability of God to have a loving relationship with people.  God is loving but He is also just and cannot be in fellowship with any form of sin.  However, God’s people didn’t want a relationship.  Because of their nature, they preferred sin.  Even if they knew God’s laws, they didn’t want to obey them.  Further, they wanted a relationship with anyone or anything but God.  People also needed human teachers to help them relate to God - and that didn’t work.  Finally, people just couldn’t get rid of the problem of sin that killed the whole idea of relating to God.  So, God needed to change the very nature of people.  The contract could not depend on man’s effort or ability - he has none.

So, God made a way.  He took the problem of people out of the way.  He took sin out of the way.  The New Covenant speaks to people’s deepest problem - sin.  Jesus died on the cross to take my sin out of the way.  So, the new covenant no longer depends on my obedience to Laws, but my belief in Jesus.  I exchange working for a relationship with living in a relationship by receiving Jesus into my heart. 

Now I find that I have an awareness of what He wants me to do AND I want to do it.  Second, I find that I want to be in a relationship with Him and with no other.  Third, I find that I don’t need to rely on anyone to teach me what He wants but He instructs me directly by His Spirit (though he still uses teachers in our lives).  Finally, I find that the problem of my sin has been removed.  I know that He is full of mercy and remembers my sin no more.  This is the power of the New Covenant.  This is now CHRIST IN ME.  

Going Deep

 Job.  A season of pain and misery for no apparent reason.  As he wrestles with why he is suffering, Job is inspired by God to go deep down into the mines of the earth for more insight.  His pondering of the unseen mining realm begins in Job 28:1.  Mines are dug into places of intense pressures far below the surface of the earth.  Men dig deep into the crust of the earth searching for valuable gems - gold, silver and other minerals.  These valuable items are of great value, but they need to be purified.  Man searches every recess in the dark and forgotten caverns of the earth for anything valuable (v 3,4).  Job's pen began to flow as he identified with the pressures deep down in the mines.  Maybe there were areas in his own heart that he had not yet seen and were yet being purified.  

The surface of the earth is the place of our routine lives - the visible, the known.  I tried on a new pair of pants.  We had tacos for dinner.  Our daughter is at a friend's house.  Here, at the surface, bread is produced.  Bread is found in the routine paths of our lives.  We may eat bread daily.  It is a common food.  This is the area of the visible, the known.  But deep under the crust of the earth, something is going on that no one sees or even thinks about.  The earth is moving deep beneath our feet creating intense heat and pressure.  And deep down there, sapphires and gold are created (v 5,6).  

It is interesting that the animals mentioned are predators - falcons and lions (v 7,8).  They are scouting out the surface of the earth, looking to capture their prey.  Maybe we have been around people who have desired to take advantage of us.  People looking for our weak spots to accuse us or take us down  They can add to the pressures of our lives and maybe Job's friends fit into this category.  However, they cannot see the activity going on deep beneath the surface, things that reside in the depths of our heart.  Sometimes even we cannot see the things that are going on deep within us.  

Job then considers how man will go to extreme lengths to clench the valuable gems deep down.  He overturns mountains at their roots, cuts channels out of rocks and dams up streams from trickling.  Mining is a massive undertaking with a goal of bringing out the hidden gem into the light (v 9-11).  God will arrange the same for us at times.  And here we find the end of the mining process.  All that pressure and heat in the unseen realm produced something of extreme value that has now been brought into the light.  It has come into the realm of the seen on the surface of the earth for people to see.  There was an unseen place within Job's vast heart that needed the touch of God.  So infinite are His ways (so all-seeing and all-knowing) that He would bewilder us for no apparent reason, touch an unseen place and bring us forth as gold (23:10).  He goes deep.