FAITH AND HOPE
Hebrews 11:6 NLT
[6] “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.”
We already have many stones in place to form a firm foundation for godly lives. However, our foundation lacks one that could be called the cement that holds all the other stones in place.
Each stone must be built into our foundation with a lavish amount of faith. Faith, trust, confidence in God that He will do what He promised, is our only assurance that our foundation will support our lives when the storms hit us.
What ia faith? Is faith an abstract concept or a strong reality? Faith is as unseen but as real as the air we breathe. Without oxygen we will die. Without faith, we have no connection to the God who gives us life.
Let’s look at faith like this. You set out to bake a cake or create a garment exactly like the picture of the finished product. You gather your materials and follow the recipe or pattern, step by step, keeping in mind your goal to replicate what you see in the picture. You pause periodically to asses your progress and to ensure that you are doing each step correctly. You are eventually rewarded, after faithfully copying the recipe or pattern, with a result that perfectly matches the original.
This is a simple illustration of the connection between faith and hope. Hope is the end result. Faith is the way to get there.
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
[1] “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Our hope is the picture of the finished product. Faith is our confidence in the instructions that will take us, step by step, to what we want to accomplish and the process by which we achieve our goal. God’s Word is the recipe or pattern we are to follow to complete what we set out to do.
God has given us the picture of the end product…sons and daughters recreated in the likeness of His blueprint, Jesus, living together as God’s perfect family in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:29 NIV
[29] “For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
God has also told us what He will do and what we must do to fulfill our hope. We must learn to submit to Him and obey His instructions by being led by His Spirit.
Romans 8:14 NIV
[14]”For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
God works, in everything that happens to us in life, good and bad, to teach us to submit to and obey Him as the sons of a loving Father.
Romans 8:28 NIV
[28] “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Philippians 2:12-13 NIV
[12] “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, [13] for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
God has His” tools” to train us to obey…
His Word,
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
[16]”All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, [17] so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
His Spirit,
John 16:13 NIV
[13] “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
And, surprisingly, our hardships,
Hebrews 12:5-7, 9-10 NLT
[5] “And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. [6] For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” [7] As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?…
[9] Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? [10] For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.”
Holiness is God’s requirement if we are to spend eternity with Him.
Hebrews 12:14 NIV
[14] “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
As in every detail of our lives in Christ, we are in partnership with God. He has made us holy through the blood of Jesus. Now we are to work our that holiness by dying to the sin nature and its evil deeds.
2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT
[1] “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.”
Faith in Jesus is the way both to salvation and to a holy life.
Galatians 2:20 NIV
[20] “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”