By Faith (Part 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)

 Hebrews 11 begins with this and what an incredible truth to behold. It is completely by our faith that we are able to know God and hope in him, just like those of old. And what's even more incredible about that is they were hoping for the coming of Christ the first time and now we have been blessed with the knowledge of knowing him after his first coming, dying for us, and looking toward his second coming where our redemption and sanctification will be made complete (refer to part 1 here).

The writer of Hebrews then indulges in the examples of the past chosen people of God and how their faith upheld them to accomplish great things for his kingdom, and how their mindset was on the kingdom regardless of what was occurring:

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:13-16, ESV)

Though they had their minds and hearts set on the kingdom, that didn't negate them from present trials and sufferings. Some suffered greatly for him and others triumphed on earth, but all was done for him and through him:

"And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon,Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises,stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us,that apart from us they should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:32-40, ESV)

As we discussed in the previous post, through the sanctification and knowledge that we are already perfected in Christ we can have endurance here and that is clearly seen through the faith we have. For by what else could these people survive these things and why would they want to do so? Why would all but one of the disciples die a martyr's death? And how could they endure it? By faith. Reiterated throughout this entire passage, it was by faith these people suffered but endured and accomplished much for the kingdom of God. I think that is something that we can learn from this. We need to hold fast to our confession as stated in 10:23, unwavering from him as he has to us. We have hope through all things of this world because we are not of it, by the faith we have in Christ and having our minds set on the kingdom of God. Let us not forget that.

The Endurance Found in Sanctification (Part 1)

I have recently been walking through Hebrews and it has been a very instructive and encouraging time, inspiring me to write these next two posts on what I've been learning the past few days. Hebrews 10 gives a powerful representation of the gospel.  I suggest you just read over that entire chapter before continuing with this post because it is surely not one to miss (though none of the Bible is, but you get the point). While reading through this passage, three words stood out me that I wanted to share thoughts on: sanctification, perfection, and endurance. This chapter focuses on the abolishment of the old covenant and the establishment of the new covenant with Christ. A very beautiful thing to see as believers, because of how nothing before him could truly save us and forgive our sins against him, until Christ's perfect sacrifice. When describing the transition we find in v. 10: 

"And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

It was through Christ's sacrifice that we have sanctification. For those who aren't familiar with this term I'll give you a definition. Sanctification means to be set apart or to be made holy. We are sanctified through Christ's single sacrifice and we are made holy through him. What greater person to do so than the most holy himself? Something not to lose sight of. 

Next, we see how this sanctification is perfect in v.14: 

"For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."

 We must not miss a key part of this sanctification: perfected for all time. Christ's death has perfected us forever. If we are his, we cannot lose this and though we may fall consistently, we are still perfected through him because he did it forever. Period. 

Then we find in v.36 the word endurance: 

"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised."

Though we have been sanctified and perfected in Christ, we are still in need of endurance until that day comes to completion. It's just an incredible truth to behold because this life may require a lot of sacrifice and hardship due to the service of our Lord but we must have endurance to survive all that comes and please him through it. We must not get burnt out after all that he has given to us through perfecting us and making us holy. Who are we in comparison to the perfect Son who suffered more that we could ever imagine? With his perfect example and his assurance of our sanctification in him forever, we can live with endurance knowing he is the reward for eternity. Let us not forget this truth in our day to day lives. Let us endure for his sake and his glory alone.

Our Constant

Science and math involve many concepts, formulas, numbers, excessive amounts of memorization and constants. Constants are values that are commonly used for certain situations that do not waver or change, such as gravity, pka values in the dreaded organic, etc. We all rely on them heavily for experiments and most importantly cram memorization only to forget immediately leaving the test (if you want a good laugh, youtube pka value parody) because a lot we will never use again. Constants make our lives easier for the most part. It's one less thing we have to worry about when accomplishing a task. But the question for you and me is, are we relying on our ultimate constant like we so heavily rely on these? Do we even view God as the ONLY constant in our life that never changes? These numbers don't readily change but there are always differences between decimal places between people but God doesn't differ. He doesn't waver. And he has proven it time and time again since creation. 

 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, (Deuteronomy 7:9, ESV)

He has proven time and time again throughout the entire Bible, and our lives as well, his steadfast faithfulness to his people. His promises with Noah where he saved the family and promised to never destroy the earth by flood again (Genesis 9:9-11). His covenant with Abraham promising the great nation that will come from his lineage (Genesis 12:1-3). His covenant with David, following in Abraham's lineage, establishing his throne for eternity (2 Samuel 7). David's throne for eternity leading to Christ, God's only son sent to earth to fulfill the ultimate promise of God redeeming his people in the unmatchable sacrifice of Christ on the cross. 

These and the many others all show that God does not waver from his promises. He has always provided and cared for his people.We have no reason to doubt God,  because he is good and his love is steadfast and he keeps his covenants, like in Deut. 7:9, as he has shown us. He doesn't have to show us. He didn't have to promise us anything and Jesus surely didn't have to step down from his throne and become flesh to die for us. We don't deserve it. But God granted it to us because he loves us and so we can glorify him for eternity. We must remember that because he deserves all of our worship and all of our praise because his promises and love never fail and are eternally fulfilled; he is our ultimate constant. 

We need these constants in our lives, in problems and experiments, but we need the one constant that doesn't waver. We can rely on the constants in science and math to an extent only before they are of no use anymore. We must rely on God as our constant in everything because he does not move or change. Will we remain constant with him as he has with us? 

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23, ESV)