Hebrews 11:2
"For by it (trust) the elders obtained a good report."
Now when Paul speaks of the elders, of course he’s talking about the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets. Now verse 3.
Hebrews 11:3a
"Through faith we understand (as believers) that the worlds (or the universe) was framed by (not the big bang, not by evolution, but by what?) the word of God,…" (or Will of God)
A spoken word. God spoke and the universe came into being. God spoke and the dust came up out of the earth and formed Adam. God didn’t have to go and get putty and clay and glue. Oh, He spoke and Adam appeared out of the dust. But before that he was made in the image and likeness of God's spirit for God is Spirit. He spoke and things happened. Alright and how do we know that? By trusting onto faith. We can’t prove that that’s what God did. We don’t have to. Because that’s what God’s Word said He did. And we believe it without question. So it was by trusting then that we understand the universe was framed.
Hebrews 11:3b
"…by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
Now that’s not double talk. That means exactly what it says. Everything we see out there on a starry night came out of what? Nothing. For breath has NO form except when spoken and even then we can't see it with our natural eyes except on a frosty morning in winter. What does that mean? Well, God spoke and out of nothing and here it came. How many religious leaders of the world can do that? Well we’ll bet Buddha couldn’t, and we’ll bet none of the other big religious gurus could, but our God did, because we serve the Living God. And so it’s by trusting in His faith. Now let’s just go on for a few. Now verse 4.
Hebrews 11:4a
"By faith (by taking God at his word) Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,…"
Now here we have the epitome of two concepts. Abel simply did what God said to do, but Cain rationalized and said, "Now wait a minute, God didn’t really mean that. Surely God will accept me if he sees that I’ve done this by the sweat of my brow and I’ve gotten dirt under my nails," but what did Cain not understand? That’s not what God said to do. God told him to bring an animal sacrifice and shed blood and so he was rejected because he didn’t do that. He like so many of us rejected God because of our ignorance and lack of understanding, NO, but rather disobedience! But on the other hand, Abel by his faith did what God said to do, as he brought the lamb, he brought the sacrifice, he shed its blood and God accepted it. So how did Abel know what to do? God had told him, and he believed Him, and that’s faith. He did as God had shown by way of example as shown in Genesis 3:21. This then became a practice possibly on a seasonal bases, though scripture is vague here. Alright, now moving on down to verse 5.
Hebrews 11:5a
"By faith (the man) Enoch (walked with God and he had heavenly vision and wrote of them in small books as directed by God and he) was translated that he should not see death;…"
Now as we've said in the passage note Enoch wrote as the Spirit gave him utterance about divine things but our early church fathers removed his writings as they were and are controversial to say the least. Because they went contrariwise to their desired theology and understanding. For as the title or name means: to narrow, to draw straight, this is to say he was instructed in the first principles. Paul had revealed to him the first principles from a book which had been sealed and the Lord opened, Revelation chapter 5.
He was gone; he’s out of here. We think it’s a good picture of what’s going to happen to us one of these days. Enoch is found in Genesis chapters 4 and 5, he was a righteous man, as that is what is meant by walked with God, this also means that God walked the earth with men at that time. The LXX tells us that it was his life style to be God focused or God centered as a plowman points the yoke of oxen towards a distant point on the horizon. In fact all the men of the lineage of Seth were men of trust in God. And we imagine the world will say, "Good riddance, I’m glad that guy’s gone." But it’s coming! We’re getting closer every day. Alright, now the next one in verse 6. It’s one of the verses that we call one of the absolutes of Scripture. It’s one of two absolutes that we always come back to.
Hebrews 11:6a
"But without faith it is impossible to please him;…" (God)
That’s an absolute! We cannot rationalize that away, we cannot compromise it, and we cannot mix it, because it’s an absolute. Now since we’ve mentioned there were two, you might as well look at the other one, and the other one is back in chapter 9 verse 22, so let’s put the two together, and they’re as absolute as anything in Scripture.
Hebrews 9:22b
"…and without the shedding of blood is no remission."
There is no remission, or forgiveness of sin. (remember that sin is covetousness and lawlessness) Do we believe it? We better. That’s an absolute. There is no salvation without the shedding of blood! See, that’s why Christ had to be lifted up on that Roman cross rather than any other means of death that Rome may have practiced. But He had to be lifted up so His blood could be shed, it was an absolute. It stands figuratively and metaphorically for us as well. And the corresponding one is the one we just looked at, Faith. And we put those two together and listen, isn’t that exactly what was practiced ever since back there when God shed the animals’ blood for Adam and Eve. Then Abel brought the blood sacrifice. When Noah brought the sacrificial animals into the ark. This was the meaning of the bread and wine which Melchizedek shared with Abraham after his return from battle with the kings. And when Judaism or the Mosaic system demanded blood sacrifice? And then when Christ was lifted up, Paul could now say that we are redeemed, we’ve been bought with that purchased price which is what? The blood of Christ. And without it there is no forgiveness. Alright, let’s read on in Hebrews. This is just a good exercise in Faith. Now verse 7.
No comments:
Post a Comment