Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
What aspect of your life requires the greatest amount of FAITH? Is it when you are falling asleep at night, and you have great faith that you’ll wake up tomorrow morning? Is it when you turn the ignition on your automobile with faith believing it will start? Is it going to the airport with a confirmed ticket in your hand, and maybe even a boarding pass with FAITH the airplane will fly and will go to the destination you desire? Or is it your religious faith… faith that God exists, and He is sustaining your life and there is a heaven to which you have faith you will go when you die?
In the first century people needed great FAITH just to survive day to day. There was no radio or tv or internet or newspapers and while a few people travelled great distances they were very few indeed. As a result, when people heard others talking about a faraway place or a significant event or a famous person they have never seen, it required great faith to believe it was true. Listen to what Peter wrote to those early Christians scattered around the Roman empire, most of whom had never met Peter or seen Jesus: “Through Jesus you believe in God, who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:21)
That very statement is true for you and me, 2000 years later, no matter where we live, isn’t it? Like those in the first century, none of us have ever seen Jesus or God with our own eyes. But our belief in who Jesus is and the truthfulness of what is reported that He did, requires us to believe in God!
Our belief that trusting in Jesus to have died for our sins and that He was raised from the dead requires that we not only have faith in God, but we have faith that God is working inside us, miraculously changing us by forgiving our sin, and through His Holy Spirit changing our minds, our hearts, our character and our destiny! Isn’t that true? But listen, do you hear the skeptical cry from around the world: ‘How can you believe in a God that you cannot see, hear, touch or in any other way confirm that He even exists’? And what’s your answer to that my friends? It’s a question which has been asked since the days of Noah who said God had instructed him to build a huge boat which would keep he and his family and the animals alive since a global flood was coming. Have you ever thought about how many people concluded old Noah and his boys had lost their minds, gone totally insane… until it started to rain!
About the time Peter was writing his letter another author was writing the book in our Bible we know as “Hebrews”. Chapter 11 of that book is entirely focused on this human miracle called FAITH. Faith is a God given ability that has tremendous power but must be exercised to be experienced. Heb. 11:1 says: “Now FAITH is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. 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.”
Now if that is one standard of FAITH, I must ask… how much faith in God do you have? Do you notice the phrase “By FAITH we understand…”? Normally “understand” is a word we use which requires education or experience. For centuries, some of the most intelligent people on our planet have debated and investigated and in some cases spent their lifetime trying to explain the origin of our universe. Governments and Universities have joined together to spend billions of dollars sending spaceships and telescopes into the far reaches of the universe trying to explain it. So, what is your conclusion? Where did it all come from; how did it start? And no matter what your theory is, since you weren’t there to watch the universe begin in the far distant past, on what are you basing your belief?
The author of Hebrews also wrote this: “Without FAITH it is impossible to please God, because any person who comes to God must have great FAITH that God exists and that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him!” (Heb. 11:6) Does that make sense to you, my friends?
So, on this first weekend of 2023 how do you measure how much faith in God you really have? Let me ask you to pause a moment and ponder that question. What is the measurement of the amount of FAITH in God you have today?
I imagine the writer of this book of Hebrews was a Jewish person deeply rooted in the history of Israel and the Old Testament and other Jewish treasured books. Both Peter and this writer would have held a very high regard for King David, one of the most famous people in Jewish history. I suppose they remembered this famous scene when old King David was commissioning his son Solomon to become the new King of Israel: “And you my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve God with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understand every desire and every thought. If you seek God, He will be found by you; but if you forsake God, He will reject you… Be strong and courageous…Do not be afraid or discouraged; for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you…” (1 Chronicles 28:9,10,20)
Now look closely my friends. Do you see the confidence with which David is challenging his son Solomon that if he will passionately pursue knowing God then David is confident Solomon will receive instructions and guidance directly from God in all the details of HOW to reign as King over God’s people Israel.
Now ponder that friends, and I wonder how complex your life is? How big and complex are the responsibilities which you carry, the decisions which you must make, the leadership you must provide? How strongly do you pursue knowing God and discerning the guidance God wants to give you in the everyday stuff of your life?
Do you see this is the very question Peter was challenging first century Christians to consider? Was the story about Jesus and all He accomplished simply a story for them or was it miraculous because it was an invitation to trust God? The annual story of Christmas forces us to decide… do I trust that God did in fact send His Son Jesus to earth to be born in Bethlehem? Weekly, no matter what your religion or where you live in the world, when church bells ring out, or the Muslim call to prayer is heard, or the Hindu incense is smelled, or people are seen engaging in some religious activity, the world is being asked again, every week, to consider… what do I really believe about GOD and what importance does that belief have in my life?? But my friends, I wonder if the more important question is this: What happens in my mind, my heart, my soul, my character if I disregard the invitation to pursue knowing God? What will be my eternal destiny if I reject the faith required to know God? Don’t rush by those questions friends, those are really important!
In closing, let’s listen again to this powerful statement from Peter: “Through Jesus Christ you believe in God, who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified Jesus, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:21) Is that true of you, my friends? How much have those words of truth changed your life? Are you confident God did raise Jesus from the dead, even though you were not there to witness the event? What impact has the resurrection of Jesus had in your life? Are you confident Jesus IS God? Are you sure that His death and resurrection enable God to forgive your sin, change your life, adopt you into relationship with Him, unleash the power of His Holy Spirit within you and guarantee you infinity future with Him in heaven?
If so… then as you look ahead into 2023 you can have great confidence that God is walking with you every step of the way, and here’s a song to help us celebrate that my friends…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Peter 1:21.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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