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"Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform." (Romans 4:19-21)
As my sons and I have grown older I have seen that they have developed the cynicism of life along the way. When we were younger and planning the big adventures of life there was the feeling that nothing could stop us. I was like that when I was a younger one and having the two boys brought back some of that optimistic attitude. But as time traveled on, they too have suffered from the same fate as I, they became cynics as well. I realize that this may be a natural process of advancing in the years. Perhaps cynicism is the improper word for what I am trying to describe. Maybe we have become more realistic, or a little wiser in making judgments, and maybe we just haven’t persisted enough upon our goals.
Though I am speaking primarily in the physical sense, being a little more realistic, I have to fall back upon a belief that I truly have. This belief is founded upon Genesis 1 where God spoke all that there is into being. The first verse says, “In the beginning God.” There were not materials, there was not a pile of rock and dirt, there were no little eggs of life in a test tube, and there was nothing in the beginning but God. Yet, God spoke everything into existence. The question is, spoken into being from what? In John 4:24 we know that God is Spirit. In Genesis 1 we read, "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." (Genesis 1:2) My conclusion has to be that what God conceived in His Spirit He spoke into being through His Son Jesus.
Consider that for a moment. This is an Almighty Power that we as Christians can tap into at any time. Another question comes then, why not all the time? If we are living according to the will and purpose of God for our life, then at our access we have unlimited possibilities through God. If we can believe in the spirit that He has granted us the desires of our heart, then by faith in His Word we should live as we have it. This attitude will bring it out of the spiritual realm into the physical realm. Jesus said, "And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Moses and the Israelite nation were pinned against the Red Sea by the Egyptian Army. Needless to say the Israelite people were not happy, maybe a little cynical, but Moses a man of great faith said, "Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD!" (Exodus 14:13) I don’t know what Moses knew or thought God would do, I do know that Moses had the faith that God would do something. Perhaps we limit the possibilities by telling God, how we want things to work out instead of trusting that He has the better plan. Maybe the question of faith for Moses was not if God would part the Red Sea but that His faith was that God had the right plan of action. Maybe our faith should be not what God should do, but that God will do what is needed in partnership with our own abilities. We bring the best that we have and God will fill the measure.
We have our belief in God though His Son Jesus and that is a vast treasure, but it is our faith that manifest our belief and allows us to use the treasure that is available to us. Charles Spurgeon says this, "Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth and heaven--on which God's messages of love fly so fast, that before we call he answers, and while we are yet speaking he hears us."
Looking to Abraham to prove of my point that it is faith that proves our belief in God. Abraham received what would seem on the realistic surface an impossible promise from God. He was nearing the one hundred year mark and his wife Sarah was chasing close behind. And God said this to him, "And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5) I’ll be honest and say that I am not near one hundred, but if God told me that I was going to have descendants that would be as uncountable as the stars in the heavens my response would be “are you kidding me?” This is an immeasurable statement for a couple nearing the century mark to take in. Yet Abraham believed God and in his spirit he lived from that time on as the father of multitudes. Then, as Abraham believed and lived in faith towards that promise that God had given him God increased the promise. "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Genesis 22:18)
The Jewish nation was promised and appeared and was blessed many times by the hand of God. To this day they are a nation once again by the promise of God. They live in a land that belongs to God and was given to His Chosen people the Israelite nation. They are surrounded by enemies and stand invincible. Yes, they are suffering persecution throughout the ages, they have survived the holocaust, but the day will come what it will be an honor to touch the hem of a Jews garment. "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." (Zechariah 8:23)
Because of Abraham’s faith the nations of the world have also been blessed. Jesus is from the seed of Abraham. While His own rejected Him, He offered the gift of His salvation to all. It has always been God’s purpose to restore the relationship of all men unto Himself through Jesus. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16) By this we can see recorded on the pages of history, and as each new sentence is now being written in time, that the Word of God and His promises are Faithful and True. The Followers of Jesus Christ, either Jew or Gentile, are descendants of Abraham. "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3:29)
Jesus is the Son of God. Fully God and fully man. Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the will of God. This no man has or can ever do. "Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner." (John 5:19)
This was a blessing for us, but a curse to Him. Through His righteousness He was the only acceptable sacrifice for the sin of the world John the Baptist proclaimed the truth when he said, "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Through Jesus, and only Jesus, all men can be reconciled unto God. There is NO other way. First, we must believe, "Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." (John 20:29) Then we must manifest our belief in Jesus by our faith in His Word.
Faith is the living wire that the messengers of God travel to deliver all the possibilities that have been revealed in the spirit into the reality of our physical lives. If God has revealed it to you in the Spirit of Truth, then by faith live as you have it and in God’s perfect time, you will. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
Thomas N Kirkpatrick
First Baptist Church, Durant, Florida March 18, 2015
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