Freedom For Today

“It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, ‘Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.’ Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

“It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.

“It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.

“It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.”

In Genesis 22 we read a disturbing story about a father tying up his son on an altar, preparing to burn him as a sacrifice. That may sound horrific to our modern ears, but in ancient cultures child sacrifice to gods was a relatively common practice. In Abraham’s case, however, there were a few differences. First of all, Abraham didn’t worship “gods,” he worshiped one God: Yahweh. And it just so happened that Yahweh never wanted child sacrifices. The other problem was that Yahweh had promised him a son through which a nation would rise up. He had waited well past his prime and was over 100 years old when this son had been born. So why would God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac?

As it turns out, this command was a test: how well do you know your Yahweh? Would he really make you go through with killing your own son? It wasn’t just a test of Abraham’s faith, it was a foreshadowing of God the Father sacrificing Jesus on the cross. According to today’s passage, Abraham had confidence in God’s power to resurrect his son. He passed the test and Isaac lived. The story continues with Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau, and then on to Jacob’s son Joseph.

Throughout the history of Israel, God has been consistent. He has been there for his people, maintained the same standards the whole way along, and has provided deliverance on more than one occasion. This retelling of history is not just a lesson in what happened. The Jewish readers of Hebrews already knew these stories well. This examination of faith throughout history is building to Israel’s new challenge: having faith in Jesus as the Messiah. The author is using God’s well-known consistency to make the argument that Jesus is the real deal. We’ll learn more as we keep reading.

“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

“It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

If you are not familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah, you can read their story in Genesis 11-25. It’s a long story, but it’s foundational to understanding God’s relationship with his special people. Abraham is considered the father of the Jewish people because in Genesis 12 God called him to a new land and promised to raise up a new people through his family line. The only problem was that Abraham and Sarah had no children. By the time we get to chapter 17, Abraham is 99 years old and they still have no children. They had already tried to figure things out for themselves by having Abraham sleep with Sarah’s servant as a substitute. Not what God had in mind…

I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty hard to keep believing that God has promised you something when everything points to that NOT happening. I don’t doubt God, but I certainly doubt myself. Did I hear that right? Did God really promise that? Maybe I just misunderstood. Sarah went through that journey when she offered up her servant as a possible way to fulfill God’s promise. Yet in today’s passage she is held up as a pillar of faith. Turns out that doubting isn’t the opposite of faith.

Sarah is the perfect example of faith in the midst of doubts. Like me, Sarah doubted her own understanding of the promise but she never doubted God. She was so sure of his promise that she tried to help him out (just in case it was her fault that God wasn’t able to fulfill his promise to her). In the end, Abraham and Sarah died before they got to see the true fulfillment of God’s promise — a blessed nation from their descendants and ultimately the Messiah who would come to rescue the whole world. Imagine Abraham and Sarah’s reaction as they entered into God’s eternal kingdom and the new covenant unfolded before their eyes. That moment when everything makes sense. Don’t worry if you doubt along the way, someday you will get that “aha” moment too.

“It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—’he disappeared, because God took him.’ For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”

We may have to look up some of these stories in the Old Testament — see Genesis 4, Genesis 5:21-24, and Genesis 6-7 — but the Jewish readers of this letter would not have had any trouble referencing these stories. Hebrews 11 is like an ancient Hebrew hall of fame, celebrating the “greats” of Jewish history. Recall that this chapter opened with the concept that faith shows us the reality of what we hope for. Here the author is helping Jewish readers see that this concept has been with them throughout their entire history.

There is a theme throughout the Old Testament showing that God works through acts of great obedience and incredible faith. In these verses we see the theme more clearly: God is pleased when we have faith. He can use our faith to do miraculous things. One tiny, mysterious verse in the Bible holds Enoch among the greats because apparently he did not die the normal way. He’s held as an example of how God rewards those who sincerely seek him. Noah’s whole family was saved because he prepared for rain when it had never rained in recorded history prior to that time.

If you are not kind of freaked out by just these few stories referenced in today’s passage, you might not be paying attention. Suppose your next-door neighbor came up to you and started telling you about her ancestor that — as legend would have it — never actually died… Or maybe she chats your ear off about her great-great-great grandfather who built a boat in the middle of a desert and then there just so happened to be a great flood that year. Come on. If I’m being honest, I’d nod my head, smile politely, and write her off as an unreliable historian. And truthfully, that’s what many people do with the Bible. They turn what is presented as fact into fiction, allegory, or myth. As legend would have it. The Bible forces you to do something with it. How will you understand it? Will you sincerely seek the truth, wherever that may lead? I have taken that approach throughout my life and I keep coming back to one conclusion: there is room for the miraculous. I guess that’s faith.

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

In my high school yearbook each senior chose a quote to represent themselves. I chose Hebrews 11:1. I was one of those smarty-pants kids, and the smarter you are the harder it is to hold on to faith. You learn to trust in what your own eyes, ears, and brain tell you about reality. I wanted to make a statement that I wasn’t going to lean on my own brainpower to get me through life.

Here we see that faith is the gateway to a reality far greater. Verse 3 gives us a perfect example of how faith and intellect can seem in opposition: how was the world formed? It may seem that science and faith are at odds here — the entire universe was formed by principles of physics or it was formed at God’s command. Everything we see came from nothing. I personally see no disconnection between these ideas because I know that science is only trying to piece answers together and faith is helping me see the character of God. Truth-seeking only leads to truth if we are genuine in our humble search for answers.

We see in bits and pieces now what we will see fully someday. Faith is the gateway to supernatural reality. We can study things that we can physically see and touch here on earth, but I can’t study God in any real way except by faith. I can perhaps know about him, but I cannot know him without faith. And if I don’t know God then I don’t have access to the spiritual realm at all. There is so much that will be beyond by senses. For me it comes down to this: I am aware of my human limitations and I have faith that there is more to this world than I can explain. My faith has given me the ability to see supernatural power transform lives and to speak things that could not be known except by faith. Hold on to your faith today, one day it will show you everything.

“Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

‘For in just a little while,
    the Coming One will come and not delay.
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
    But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.’

But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.”

Have you ever given up on something when it became difficult? Perhaps you really believed in the idea for a while (ahem — New Year’s resolutions…) but then after a while your enthusiasm faded. We start asking ourselves the same question every time: “Is it really worth the effort?”

In the early days of the church (around 40-80 A.D.), Christians were being killed for their belief that Jesus is God. They were ridiculed, beaten, and thrown in jail. Some in the American church have a false martyrdom concept that truly cheapens what religious persecution actually looks like. It’s not about someone making fun of you for going to church, it’s living with a reality that you could be indefinitely imprisoned or killed for going to church. There’s big difference. How much are you really willing to risk for your faith?

If you get your feathers ruffled when someone says, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” it’s time to get some thicker skin. If you are easily offended by non-Christians not practicing Christian concepts, then you are seeking after a mandated religion that is totally opposite of the Gospel. Remaining faithful to Jesus means being willing to risk it all: your comfort, your peace, your prosperity, and even your life. It’s about you, not about other people. We have to identify our idols and root them out of our lives — that’s when we can really understand what it means to give up everything for the sake of Christ. What are you holding on to today?