The Strand Study Bible

HEBREWS HEBREWS was through good intentions; not killing some animal that you weren’t going to eat (Gen 1:29 & 2:9 state that our first parents and their descendants were no doubt vegetarians). Yet when God spoke to Abel about sacrificing one of the innocent lambs that he was keeping (Gen 4:2-4), he never even blinked. The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so unusual for men to think outside the box ( Mk 12:41-44 ). * ordinary people who choose to do the extraordinary thing (vs 7) Noah was just your average Joe, enjoying pre-flood conditions (longevity, perfect weather, etc.), when God came along and spoke to him about doing something bizarre–like building an ark for the coming rain (Gen 6:13-22). The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so out of the ordinary for men to think outside the norm (Jn 9:1-7). * comfortable people who choose to do the uncomfortable thing (vs 8-10) Abraham was a home body just like anybody else. Yet when God spoke to him and asked him to leave his comfortable surroundings (Gen 12:1-4), he left and never looked back “for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God.” The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so unsettling for men to think outside their comfort zone (Jn 6:66-69). * selfish people who choose to do the unselfish thing (vs 11) Sara was eighty-eight years old (past the age of child bearing) when God informed her that she would conceive and bear a son. And although she laughed at the thought (Gen 18:9-14), she was “willing” to lay with Abraham in order to obey God. The reason faith is so pleasing to God is because it is so rare and so unlike men to think outside of themselves (II Tim 4:9-10). NOTE – According to verses 1-3, faith is taking God at His Word based on His track record ( For by it the elders obtained a good report – vs 2). God never asks us to believe Him without looking back at what He has done in the past (Exo 19:3-5 & 20:1-2 and Isa 11:15-16 & 48:20-21). Faith is simply trusting God’s ability to do what He said He would do; it’s taking His Word over our own by obeying it ( Rom 10:17 ). God promised that He would save us if we acknowledged who Jesus is and what He has done for us and then call upon Him for forgiveness of sin. Whether for salvation (Rom 10:9-13), or in the case of a Christian, sanctification (Jn 17:17), men practice faith whenever they give God the “last say” in their life. John White in The Fight notes: 2073 Faith is simply man’s response to God’s commands. Faith is the means by which Christians do business beyond time and space and bring to pass otherwise unrealizable hopes. Hence, our faith is the vehicle that God uses to connect His realm with ours, to bridge the gap between our humanity and His eternality (See - DEUTERONOMY “MINI SERIES” and I Thess 3:2 ). THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Don’t build your faith on what God shows you; build it on what God told you 11:1b THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Faith is not knowing that God can; it’s trusting that God will ( the substance of things hoped for ) 11:3 As Christians, we believe ( we understand ) in God in much the same way that scientists believe in the laws of logic. They can’t see or touch the laws of logic; they simply presuppose them (that is, they place their faith in them), because without them, the scientific method makes no sense. That is how faith works for us who believe. We presuppose God, because without God, reality doesn’t make sense. C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory notes: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. 3 NOTE – As a person of faith, I’m not just trusting blindly; I believe in God because He is the best explanation for reality. Lewis Sperry Chafer in Major Bible Themes notes: 11:4 Abel has been dead for six thousand years, yet his life is still speaking ( he being dead yet speaketh ). While some people do all their talking while they’re alive, Abel does all his talking after his death. Our death ought to say more than our life. Are we going to be known more for what we did here or hereafter? We don’t have to say or do a whole lot while we’re alive to say and do a whole lot after we’re dead. When your death says it all, what more needs to be said? Life’s not about living as long as you can; it’s about passing on truth that will! THE ADAGE IS TRUE: You don’t have to say much… to say a lot 11:6 What is it about faith (about giving God the last Word) that “pleases” Him so much? The reason our faith “pleases” God so much is because: * it communicates to God that we understand humility ( I Ki 21:29 ) Faith communicates to God that we are humble enough to trust something ( the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen – vs 1) beyond ourselves. The belief that a divine being exists greater than man has been common to all cultures and civilizations. This has been due in part to the fact that man reasons there must be an explanation for our world and for human experience, and that a being greater than man would serve to explain this. 4 Faith then is your decision to respond to God’s Word. The decision may either manifest itself in some outward action or else in what we might call an “interior action” –like the committing of your eternal destiny into the hands of Christ. In time the decision grows into an attitude, an attitude of always being ready to respond positively to God’s Word…Therefore faith is my response to his initiative. 1 Faith is not some daring leap in the dark. Lee Strobel in The Case For Faith notes: Faith is not about fooling yourself into becoming a better person or convincing yourself there’s a God so that you’ll become motivated to ratchet up your morality a notch or two. It’s not embracing a fairy tale so you’ll sleep better at night. 2