The relationship between God and Man (mankind) hinges on Faith and Grace. We are told that It has to be so (there is no other way). Man’s Faith and God’s Grace combine into one road, as it were, that takes Man up to God (Faith) and brings God down to Man (Grace).
What is Faith?
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV), “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Interestingly, Paul writes in Romans 8:24 (NIV), “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” Please note, hope has to do with what is not seen….
Remember, Faith takes Man up to God….
The Bible reveals that faith is both confidence in and assurance about what we do not see or the invisible (God and His promises). Here we recall Paul’s doxology in 1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV), “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” …To God we give honour and glory even though He is Invisible (we don’t see Him) and the very fact of doing so indicates the confidence in and assurance regarding His eternal kingship/Lordship. God is invisible but faith is visible in its expression. Faith is active.
And, Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) states, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” It is important here to note that the verbs “to please” and “to believe” are both relational….
Hence Amos asks, “Do two walk together unless they agreed to do so?” (Amos 3:3): What is the substance of your agreement with God? Do you care to have a relationship with God?…
Most of us know that God’s love is unconditional, but here we’re realising that relationship (walking) with God is conditional, isn’t? We are told that that is one of the messages conveyed by the Cross of Calvary as Isaiah remarked: “…the punishment that brought us peace was on him.” (Isaiah 53:5). By the way, who doesn’t know that “it takes two to tango”?
Without faith it is impossible to please God, the Bible says -the emphasis is on the word impossible. Anyone who seeks to please God is prompted to do so by faith: Someone rightly said, “Show me someone who lives to please God, I will show you a man/woman of faith.” We cannot think of a better way to highlight the vital importance of faith in establishing, maintaining, and informing relationship (walking) with God….
Let’s consider the concept of “pleasing God”:
We recall 1 Corinthians 10:5-6 (NIV), “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” Please note, the bodies that were scattered in the wilderness belonged to those with whom God was not pleased!…
It means that although they were destined for the Promised Land or their God-given destiny, as it were, they failed to enter it. Why not? Let me encourage you to read the whole passage (1 Corinthians 10:1-13) to understand why they didn’t/couldn’t make it and make sense of it in context. Please pay attention to the warning therein…..
We see that apostle Paul goes on remarking in verse 6, “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” See, God was not pleased with them because they set their hearts on evil things.
Interestingly, in the same vein the writer of the book of Hebrews notes, “…the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.” (Hebrews 4:2b, NIV) -the NKJV has “…not being mixed with faith in those who heard.”
Simply put, they were without faith! Please note, it is about the importance ascribed to the “message they heard” because faith comes from hearing the message…(Romans 10:17, NIV).
See, their lack of faith accounts for their disobedience which resulted in setting their hearts on evil things because the message they heard was of no value to them -Talking about the dire consequence of lack of faith!…
Hence, the Bible says, without faith it is impossible to please God. Obedience is an expression of faith. Obedience to God’s word indicates faith. Following God’s instructions to the letter indicates faith in Him.
Remember, Faith is the road that takes Man to God….
Take time to prayerfully meditate on the above and ask the Lord to grant you a deeper understanding of Faith with the view to ensure that you please Him in all things. In part two we will take time to explore Grace and conclude the message.
May God help us all!
