Living Stones – Friday, January 12, 2018
Pleasing God
Hebrews 11:6
But 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 diligently seek Him.
The Judeo-Christian worldview to which we subscribe stands on a foundation of faith, the lives we seek to live everyday stand on a foundation of faith, and the goal of the Gospel we preach is to bring people to faith. Faith, therefore, is foundational, formational, and transformational.
There have been a lot of arguments in modern times about the origins of the world, and creation has been set upon by the theories of evolution and many have been unsure of what is true and what they should believe. We are not going to try to examine and resolve those arguments here today, rather, we are going to take a brief look at the nature of Christian truth.
Christian truth starts with faith. There are many other belief systems and scientific approaches to philosophy which start from different places, many start with observation. The writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament, in the great and well-known chapter on faith, sets the record straight at the very outset, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:2.
Everything that we think and observe is based on our faith in the existence and work of the personal creative God. We don’t start with observation, we start with God and then observe what God has done. This is not a new approach, Moses sang this beautifully in Psalm 90, and for generations, we sang it too, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90:1-2.
This faith, for us, is not just the starting point for great issues of creation, but it is also the starting point for the daily issues of life. Our key verse today brings these two together beautifully, we “must believe that He is” the great God and creator of the universe, and then we must believe that this great creator cares about little me and is “a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
As we said above, this faith that we have is also to be formational, it shapes both our character and conduct. This same writer to the Hebrews tells us, before his roll-call of the faithful luminaries, that the very luminaries he was about to list got on the list by their faith, “For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” Hebrews 11:2.
Writing to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul recognised them and prayed for them because of their work, that was the fruit of their faith, “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father” 1 Thessalonians 1:3.
Faith, as it shapes our character, produces work in our lives and through our lives that testify to our faith, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26.
Finally, we also said that faith is transformational. The old chorus said, “Oh what a change / Oh what a change / Oh what a change in my life / Jesus on the inside / Working on the outside / Oh what a change in my life.” When people come to faith in God their lives are changed fundamentally. No person ever came to Jesus and not experience change that is observable.
That this change must come to the mind and hearts of people everywhere must be a driver for us to share the Gospel. When you have been a Christian for a long time you tend, over time, to gravitate to people like ourselves who go the same kind of church and share the same views and perspectives about life and living and we are comfortable. We find them at work and in the community and in our professional organisations and we settle down with each other. We could be a part of the Sunday Services, Sunday School, Worship Group, Prayer Group, Men’s Group, Ladies Group, Youth Group, and never share the Gospel with a soul. A sincere Christian young lady told me recently that she doesn’t really know anyone who is not a Christian. This may seem all well and good, but we have a responsibility to see people transformed by the Gospel.
Paul wrote telling the Christians in Rome, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. But he said something before that, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14
God is pleased by our faith in Him, that faith must be the foundation of our whole perspective on life, it must form our character, and it must be the basis of our engagements with those who don’t know Him. God who is pleased rewards us and will equally reward those we cause to come to faith in Him because He is a rewarder of all diligent seekers.
Think on these things:
- In what ways has your faith in God shaped your character?
- Apart from church, what activities do you participate in or support as a consequence of your faith in God?
- Is there anyone with whom you work or interact in some way who you think might need to hear your testimony of faith in God?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would find opportunities to share our faith.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
