Key Verse:
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hope has a name...
Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews focuses entirely on the supremacy of Jesus over all of creation. We must always keep Him front and center in our hearts, in our minds, and in our intentions. Without Jesus, we are nothing. Because of Him, we have everything, eternal life, full of glory and love, for God is Love.
The Lesson
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
A confident hope. That is what we have gained in so great a salvation. Hope, as we think of it, is normally connected to a future desire, and as such, is uncertain in nature because the future is outside of our control. This confident hope that we have in Christ is different, in that it has no uncertain element. That is because its source is Christ, The same Christ, who existed before creation and who, in fact, is the very author of all creation. Our hope has a name: Jesus.
Hebrews 11:2 NIV
2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
The progenitors of our faith were not led haphazardly by empty imaginations or fruitless whims. Rather, they were inspired by that same Holy Spirit of God that designed and created all of existence. That these men followed a common purpose from diverse origins demonstrates a singularity of purpose in the direction each of their lives took. Careful examination reveals the commonality of purpose and the unveiling of God’s plan for the ages. In their obedience, they set examples for all of us who would follow them… as they followed Christ.
Hebrews 11:3 NIV
3 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.
Those same forefathers of our faith believed, as do we, in the God of Heaven and Earth, Who spoke all that exists into being. All of the matter for a million light-years and beyond was spoken into existence with these words:
Genesis 1:3 NIV
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Additionally, scientists are continually making new discoveries that corroborate the thought that the power in those words is still effectually expanding the universe. For believers, scientists simply confirm and continue to confirm that which we accept by faith; that God created the universe by the power of the manifestation of His Word.
Genesis 3:21 NIV
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Hebrews 11:4 NIV
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
Hebrews 9:22 NKJV
22 And according to the law almost all things are [h]purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no [i]remission.
Abel understood the message God declared in the garden: that a Savior would save. He would save mankind. He would save all of creation. All that is was cursed by the fall of man to sin. God very simply declared the coming of His Son, Jesus, by whom all that is will be redeemed. He declared it by the sacrificing of innocent animals to provide coverings for His children in Eden.
Likewise, Abel worshipped God in Spirit and in Truth by declaring the eventuality of the Cross of Christ and its ability to make all of creation righteous. Because of his obedience in adhering to the Heavenly instruction, God declared Abel’s righteousness before all creation. God also declared Abel’s justification by declaring that his righteous blood still speaks to us, not from the grave, but from eternity.
Hebrews 11:5 NIV
5 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.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Genesis 5:24 NIV
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
In like manner, Enoch simply walked from earth into eternity with God, simply because please God. Little else is known of Enoch. Little else need be known. Our challenge is to emulate his faith and his faithfulness. Thereby will we find that we too are pleasing to our Father in Heaven.
Hebrews 11:6 NIV
6 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.
In fact, there is no greater reward than God. Not wealth, nor possessions, not fame, nor rank. Nothing compares to the beauty of our Lord. However, that is completely unknowable without faith. Faith in God.
Hebrews 11:7 NIV
7 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 is in keeping with faith.
Genesis 7:4 NIV
4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
It is said, that until the day of Noah, it had never rained upon the earth. That is debatable, however, the rain that God forewarned was of a completely different nature. It was a tool of God’s judgment of the sinfulness of the people of Noah’s day. So great was their sin, that all of humanity was found guilty. Yet, Noah and his family were spared because of his belief. His reverent fear of God in a time filled with irreverence set him apart as righteous in God’s eyes. The example he left us was a life of sanctification and holiness that we too emulate because of faith… like Noah’s.
Hebrews 11:8 NIV
8 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.
No, Abraham didn’t know where he was going, but he trusted God. By doing so, he typified the simplicity of Salvation: Believe God and it will be counted to you for righteousness. Just believe, then act on that belief. Paul said it this way, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Saved by grace, through faith. Salvation is simply saying yes to God’s unspeakable gift: Our Lord, Jesus; God’s anointed.
Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV
13 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, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 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.
All of those mentioned in this tome, by faith, foreknew a place to come. A place not built with human hands. A place that Jesus described as having ‘many mansions’. A place full of the Glory of the Lord. They walked by faith toward the eventuality of Eternity. In so doing, they set forth, by example, the narrow, fruitful path to Eternal Life to and through Jesus. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Selah
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Romans 8:14 NIV
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Hebrews 12:22-24 NIV
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
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