Why Faith
1 Corinthians 13:8 if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away…..13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Introduction
This morning I want to continue our Summer Reflections by looking at the three great virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love.
And what I want to know is this:
So, this morning we begin with faith. And we start by asking: Why is God so insistent on belief as a key aspect of salvation? In other words, why is faith in that which is unseen so necessity? Why doesn’t God just disclose himself to man in His full Glory, say here I am, and be done with it?
In other words, is the need for faith simply a cat and mouse game or is there more to it than that. Is there something about faith that points to a deep, primordial, and abiding truth about life?
A] First, notice that faith exceeds our usual man-based requirements for examination, assessment, and satisfaction. In other words, faith comes to us on terms that are not our own; on terms whose first concern is not that all our criteria are met. As such, with faith, man is immediately reminded that he is not God nor is he the final word.
Notice then man’s usual fallen mode of operation, which faith exceeds
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
Right away: faith addresses man on terms that are not his own. As such, it confronts man with a basic truth about life, God is God and man is not
B] Second, far from a cat and mouse game, faith in essence reverses the procedure of the fall. Remember, in the Garden, man was commanded not to eat of the one tree. However, man was given no explanation or reason (God did not run it by man first). Instead, man’s obedience was to be based solely on his recognition of and trust in God (i.e. faith) FN#1.
Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”
However, instead of heeding God’s command, man made his own experience and reason the measure of life. As such, man looked, assessed, and decided to eat on the basis of his own judgment not God’s instruction.
Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;
C] Notice then the contrast: with faith the mode of operation at work in the fall is reversed and man’s ultimate basis is returned to its proper place, which is God. As such, man, regenerated by grace, and a new creature, is asked once again to believe God, to trust Him, and to take Him at His word even though man will not always have his criteria of understanding fully met. Man is to believe God as God and to defer to God in trust.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Notice the point: Scripture’s focus on faith and belief, of trusting God even when we do not see or fully understand, is in fact the reversal of the Garden where man trusted himself, his own reason, and his sight more than God.
Bottom line: so why faith? There seems to be something very organic and hands on about the healing that grace and faith bring. God does not just whisk us out of the ravine down into which we have wandered. Rather, He leads us as we retrace our steps back out of the mess we have made, cleansing us and teaching us by grace guided experience the principles of Kingdom life that we should have never lost or abandoned.
Simply put, faith is not a divine cat and mouse game. Instead, it is a grace given restoration of the fundamental relationship between God and His creatures that is definitive of all life. God will always be God and man will always be man. Therefore, it will always belong to man to trust and faithfully follow God. And that’s why faith abides.
Footnotes
1] Importance it is vital to note that belief is never irrational or blind faith. Rather, at every point belief is based on God’s prior revelation of Himself, His character, and His will. Thus, man’s faith is always a response to God’s preceding concrete revelation.
Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, In order that you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.
Deuteronomy 4:10 Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth,
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true,
Notice then, in Scripture faithful reason is learning to think God’s thoughts after Him (to reason with Him). That is, faithful reason thinks through an issue based on God’s Word, God’s will, and God’s objectives
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,
In fact when Scripture tells us
2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight
it does not means that we have turned off our minds. Instead, it means that our reason and decisions are based on (have their starting point in and their chief allegiance to) God’s Word, not our own limited assessments or understanding.