Just Because God Said It

In this look at Scriptural "faith" as seen and spoken of by the writers of the Bible; I am going to try and assess why "their faith" ... (for lack of a better term) ... "worked" for them, when it seems so many of us struggle with ours.

So, in thinking about faith, which is one of the most important assets a believer has; and because it says in Hebrews 11:6 ... "without faith it is impossible to please God" ... I am automatically drawn to what many call the faith chapter, Hebrews 11.

Verses 1-8 ... (edited)

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

The author of Hebrews, whoever he may be, doesn't waste any time with this first sentence. He speaks of faith as something evidently I haven't been able to grasp hold of as of yet. He says it is the substance you are believing for, and is so real you have the evidence ... even though it can't be seen. I'm going to let that soak in a while.

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

Am I right by saying that even God had to use faith when He created the universe from nothing? If God needed faith, how much more do we need faith when we make an effort to commit to something or believe for something, even from the hand of God.

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

This is quite a statement ... "By faith Enoch was translated." Through who's faith? God's faith or Enoch's own faith. Either way it was done because "Enoch pleased God." But how does one please God? The answer is in the next verse ...

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

"Without faith ... it is impossible." God loves to respond to faith in His children. That's what moves God. But right away I find a problem with faith. It requires ... "believing God."

"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

Can you comprehend the faith it took to build a ship in the middle of the desert Noah lived in. He had never seen rain in his life, but God said it was coming so he built it anyway because if God said it, Noah believed it would happen. Noah wasn't fearful of God, but because he believed God, he was "moved with fear" of the coming flood and through obedience became an heir of righteousness even before Abraham, who was later called the Father of Faith.

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."

Abraham, like Noah before him, simply believed God and "went out, not knowing" where he was going. Why did both of these men do as they were told? I believe they both came to know when God's presence was with them, and learned when it was God's voice speaking to their hearts and not their own mind, and most importantly understood who God was ... He was not a man.

They knew long before Moses recorded this truth years later in Numbers 23:16 & 19 ...

"And the LORD said ... God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"

Whether it be with regard to things temporal, spiritual, or eternal, God never forgets His word. He foresees all events, He is also able to bring to pass what He has said, and is always true and faithful to His word.

Abraham was one of the first men the Scripture speaks about as having faith ... one who just believed God would do what He said He would do, period. That was it, case closed.

Continuing on in Hebrews 11:9-10, speaking of Abraham, it says when he left his home and traveled to a strange country ... "he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

Abraham wanted a sure foundation to what he believed, a rock as it were ... only he didn't know the coming Messiah, Jesus, was that the rock. The only foundation Abraham found He could stand upon was the promise of God. How much faith did Abraham have? I really don't know ... but I know this ... his faith was in God.

God's promises are so certain, that He speaks of them as being "already" in existence. God, instead of simply promising that He would make Abraham the father of many nations, speaks of it as already being done. Genesis 17:5, "... for a father of many nations I have made thee." In God's own mind, it was done.

To put it in as simple a term as I can … Abraham just believed God because … if God said it, then he believed God would do it. It's just that simple. It didn't matter to Abraham if he was 99 years old with no children yet. God was not a man that He should lie.

In the Amplified Bible, the Apostle Paul speaks of Abraham in Romans 4:18 this way …"For Abraham, human reason for hope being gone, hoped in faith …" The word hope means to "anticipate with confidence."

Notice the word "reason." Abraham didn't use "reason" which was the power of his mind to believe. Reason is the opposite of "faith" and will do you no good when trying to believe God for a "promise." Just as believing is a product of the "heart," doubt is a product of the "mind," as is "reason." Human reason will tell you ... "Nope, can't happen, that's impossible."

In Romans 4:21, Paul continues with … "And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform."

Abraham's confidence was this … "that the truth of God" … since God can be nothing less, bound Him (God) to fulfill His promise to him; therefore God could do nothing less or He wasn't God; and he was confident that God had the power and ability to perform it.

Isaiah 14:24 ... "The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand."

God never changes His mind, alters His counsels, purposes and decrees, or is unfaithful to His word.

Since "God is not a man, that he should lie," God's own truthfulness binds Him and obligates Him to fulfill all of His promises to believers … who like Abraham … without any other reason for believing God's promises will be fulfilled in the natural, believe it … just because God said it.



Comments welcome.