Hebrews 11:1-12

Hebrews 11:1-12 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 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. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age — and Sarah herself was barren — was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Hebrews 11:13-16 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Faith is knowing there is a God who made all things and understanding this world is not our home, not our permanent dwelling place. Faith believes God wants us as his children, adopted into his family. This kind of faith never rests in self-sufficiency or despair but daily looks to God, believing and trusting in him regardless of the circumstances, knowing God is good. We who are IN CHRIST always look beyond this world, awaiting our final resting place, the City of God. We are aliens and strangers on earth. We never sit down and say, "This is all there is." No, as God's chosen, we resist this faithless idea with a passion. We are like a baby who desires to get out of a crib. As this baby knows, there is a larger world to experience outside of his crib. A Christian knows there is definitely more life out there than we are experiencing on Earth: everlasting life in heavenly surroundings that we cannot imagine or have words to describe.

Faith compelled Abel to offer up a sacrifice of life to God, knowing only a blood sacrifice would appease God's displeasure with mankind. By faith Enoch served God by living a life committed to him, and he pleased God through his life of faith. By faith Noah remained obedient in a wicked generation, and he obeyed God by building an ark in the face of unbelief, ridicule, and scorn. Abraham went to a land he did not own, believing by faith that God would bless his life in his new surroundings. In that land he received the promise that God would bless many nations through his seed, Jesus Christ. These men were looking for a heavenly city, a place not made by human hands. They were looking for God and following him on their earthly journeys.

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. Faith unlocks the door to God's domain. God does not allow us to come to him in any other way. Men try to approach God with sound reasoning, with their rational minds, but God will not accept a belief system based on man's insights and thinking. Manmade systems will never give anyone access to heaven. Only faith in Jesus Christ and his shed blood pleases God. Of course, faith is an anathema to the secular person who stubbornly refuses to believe in God by faith. Carnally minded people sometimes say they would believe in God if they could see him or detect his presence by their senses, but without discernible evidence they do not believe.

God asks us to believe in THE ONE who made something out of nothing, the Creator of the universe. He asks us to walk by faith when we cannot know or see the way. As Christ came in weakness as a baby, we come in our weakness, believing that the God who is beyond our understanding is our God through faith. The unredeemed cannot believe a human baby could become THE CHRIST, the door to God. Concomitantly, they cannot believe faith in God unlocks the door to heaven. But God chose to reveal himself in weakness, not in strength. Out of weakness, in absurd circumstances, He reveals himself. Viewing the world and eternity through eyes of faith diametrically opposes the thinking of sinful man. But the just, the righteous, the holy, shall live by faith. They will see God.