Faith is About Jesus

"1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report." (Hebrews 11: 1-2)

Faith is based on One Person, Jesus, and One Work: The Cross.

Faith is not about seeing ourselves in a new car, or a new house.

Faith is about accepting as true that Jesus completed a perfect work on our part at the Cross:

"50Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God." (Matthew 27: 50-54)

What else can we draw from this account than the perfect Work of Jesus' death on the Cross?

"22But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. "(Hebrews 12: 22-24)

The blood of Abel spoke judgment and condemnation:

"And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;" (Genesis 4: 10-11)

But what about Jesus?

"3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. " (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (Galatians 3: 13)

Faith is believing that He did a perfect work, and has therefore given us His life:

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

Faith rests in a perfect work finished at the Cross:

"12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 12-14)

Believe From Him

"39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11: 39-40)

In the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, and specifically in Hebrews, faith is all about the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, that when He declared "It is Finished!" (John 19: 30), He was not lying, He was not joking, and more importantly, that there was not something more which we needed to offer.

Faith is all about the Cross, and everything that He bought for us there:

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (1 Peter 2: 24)

For the Old Testament Saints, faith was to believe in what God would do through His Son. They were believing "for":

"3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 

4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 

5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53: 3-5)

 

The next chapter spells out what will happen:

 

"

14In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

15Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

16Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

17No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54: 14-17)

 

For the Old Testament prophets, they were looking forward to the Coming of the Lord, the Messiah:

 

"1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 4: 1-3)

 

That day prophesied by Malachi, was fulfilled in Christ, when He was born of a virgin, framed in human flesh, then died on the Cross to be seated at the right hand of God the Father (Ephesians 2: 1-6)

 

Today, we are not believing for God to do something, but we are called to believe from Him, that He has taken care of everything:

 

"31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8: 31-34)

 

What can we believe from Him today?

Christ and Him Crucified

"For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2: 2)

What Jesus did, takes care of what we did, who we are, and where we are going.

"10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 10-15)

He has made us fulfilled. We have everything that we need in Him (Philippians 4: 19). We no longer identify with our dead flesh, full of sin, but receive His life. We died with Jesus, and even though there is still sin in our members, we reckon ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6: 14) and alive in Christ, who is our life (Colossians 3: 4).

He died for all our sins. All of them:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," (Romans 8: 1)

None. At. All.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He took care of all that we were, and made us into Himself:

"9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6: 8-11)

Then:

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6: 19-20)

And of course:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

At the Cross, Jesus took care of everything for us, so that we have no fear where we are going:

"31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)

and

"13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4: 13)

and then

"19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4: 19)

and

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

 

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

 

and

 

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13: 5)

 

No wonder Paul was adamant: Christ and Him Crucified, for in Him we have all things!

Christ is Our Wisdom, by His Redemption

3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;" (Proverbs 2: 3-4)

 

Now that we are under the New Covenant, whenever we read about knowledge or wisdom in the Bible, we need to recognize that Jesus is our Wisdom:

 

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" (1 Corinthians 1: 30)

 

Now, when we understand that Christ is our Wisdom, we also understand that through His Spirit, we receive all knowledge:

 

"20But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." (1 John 2: 20)

 

and

 

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." (1 John 2: 27)

 

How is this wisdom manifested in our lives, however?

 

The verses above from Proverbs give us this revelation:

 

"If you seek her as silver".

 

Silver in the Bible always speaks of redemption. Here is the first mention of silver in the Bible:

 

"

1And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

2And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold." (Genesis 13: 1-2)

 

In this account, Abram leaves Egypt full of the blessings of God, even though he had disobeyed God in going down to Egypt in the first place, and lied about his wife in the process. The grace of God redeems us from all our sins, and brings us to repentance, in that we change our minds and believe what He says about us.

 

"And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed." (Genesis 17: 12)

 

And then:

 

"And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs." (Numbers 18: 16)

 

Silver is always connected with being bought and brought out of danger by another. Nothing could better describe what Jesus did for us at the Cross:

 

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3: 13-14)

 

When we see Jesus as our Redeemer, who has bought us out of sin and death and brought us into His own standing (1 John 4: 17), we will see His wisdom flowing in us.

Bound to Grace and Truth

"3Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:" (Proverbs 3: 3)

When reading the Old Testament, it is crucial to bear in mind the Cross, which signals that God fulfilled the Old Covenant through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus:

"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26: 28)

Then

"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Corinthians 11:25)

And Finally:

"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12: 24)

So, let us look for Jesus in the Old Testament, just as He revealed Himself to the disciples in Luke 24.

Whenever we read about "mercy and truth", we receive the revelation of Jesus:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)

Under the Old Covenant, man was required to come to God, to seek Him, and to establish his righteousness by what his actions.

Under grace, we do not seek God, but rather He seeks us:

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5: 6)

and then

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 8)

Once again, "The law was given", which imparts a sense of distance. "Grace and truth came" informs us that Jesus is up front and personal, moving into our lives, and giving us His life, Himself.

While King Solomon urged his readers to seek grace and truth, and bind it around their necks, under the New Covenant we can rest assured knowing that Jesus came and graced us with His truth, the Gospel of grace:

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8: 32)

Paul connects the Gospel with grace and truth:

"Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:" (Colossians 1: 6)

We are full inheritors of this grace:

"3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

Under law, we have to bind grace and truth to ourselves. Under grace, Jesus makes us bound for grace and truth through Himself.

Laugh in the Midst of Hardships, Even When You Fail

Isaac did not make the first mistake which his father Abraham had made, in that he stayed where God told him to.

But. . .

"6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon." (Genesis 26: 6-7)

We have heard this story before. Abram lied about his wife Sarai, twice! Yet God blessd him.

As for Isaac, his deception was uncovered even worse:

"8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife." (Genesis 26: 8)

The King of the Philistines literally witnessed Isaac "laughing" with his wife, the original word rendered by "sporting".

Isaac was being himself, and he was intimate with his wife: a much more unseemly exposure of the deception, as opposed to the dream which God had given to Abimelech (Genesis 20: 3)

"9And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death." (Genesis 26: 6-11)

Isaac opened wells

Even though Isaac's deception was found out, and he had feared that he was going to be killed, nothing happened to him, neither from God or man.

The favor of God will never leave us, even when we sin. Laugh!

So, there was famine in the land. Does that mean that Isaac had to settle for a meager harvest? Not at all:

"12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: 14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him." (Genesis 26: 12-14)

So, no matter who may surround you, no matter what the circumstances you may face, because you are a child of God, because you are in Christ as His own Son (1 John 3: 1-3; 4 17), you can trust in God your father's favor, and know that nothing will hold you back.

Laugh in the midst of hardships, child of God! He is with you and prospering you in your journey!

Laught in the Midst of Hardships: Isaac

When a terrible famine broke out in the land, Isaac almost went down to Egypt.

The LORD intervened:

"And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Genesis 26: 1-5)

God promised to bless Isaac not because of Isaac, but because of his father Abraham.

There's a famine, but so what? You and I are descendants of Abraham, too, and we can rest in the covenant which God cut with Abraham, for we are all blessed through His seed, Jesus!:

"6Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Galatians 3: 6-9)

and

"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3: 29)

You are blessed because of God, not because of the weather. You are blessed because of Jesus, not because of yourself:

Isaac in Gerar

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. " (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

Laugh!