craigmanderson

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH # 2 am

Assumptions

1. All scripture is divinely inspired and without error. Please see our teaching on this at this podcast.
2. James 1:22 Amplified Bible (AMP) 22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

Understanding Faith is the great journey of the Christian life. From the very beginning of the journey to know God, the Christian uses faith to obtain the very first promise of receiving forgiveness and obtaining eternal life. Then the new life lived with God in relationship requires that faith is active and growing throughout the whole of the Christian life.

Four times in the scriptures God says “The just shall live by faith.” To live by faith means that faith is the primary ingredient in our walk with God. The essential nature of faith comes evident when we discover that as created beings God made man to have faith and use faith to participate in His world through relationship with God.

In Habakkuk where we find the first mention of the just shall live by faith there is an interesting footnote by a biblical commentator:

“Habakkuk 2:4 – There is a curious passage in the Talmud [the body of Jewish civil and religious law] which says that Moses gave six hundred injunctions to the Israelites. As these commands might prove too numerous to commit to memory, David brought them down to eleven in Psalm 15. Isaiah reduced these eleven to six in [his] chapter 33:15. Micah (6:8) further reduced them to three; and Isaiah (56:1) once more brought them down to two. These two Amos (5:4) reduced to one. However, lest it might be supposed from this that God could be found only in the fulfilment of the law, Habakkuk (2:4 kjv) said, “The just shall live by his faith”” (William H. Saulez, The Romance of the Hebrew Language).

What does it mean to live by faith?

It means that your success in life in which you meet and know God and conduct a supernatural relationship with Him is made possible only by having and using faith. The verse has the understanding that one’s life comes out of and proceeds from faith. How else might someone live? By human knowledge, by the senses, by making every decision and choice about life through the natural man’s resources of the five senses.

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervour; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.(AMP)

For example, do you trust in God’s provision? Each and every day we make choices after considering the information concerning our resources. Do I have enough money? Will my decisions and my feelings be regulated by what I see in my bank account? Or will they be regulated by what God has promised to me and every believer? A promise such as Phil 4:19 – “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory” can bring confidence and hope to your outlook. Faith is the knowledge that the promise is trustworthy and you can count on it. It carries more weight than the 5 senses information of what’s in the bank.

Each and every day, as a Christian believer, God has designed that we live by faith. It’s normal and natural for this “animal” to live by faith. Like a fish breaths water and a mammal breaths air, a Christian uses faith to exist and prosper in this supernatural life we have. We are not created to live life attached to the umbilical cord of sense knowledge alone. We are created to function and prosper by using faith to know God’s word and His will and function accordingly. It’s by nature a life lived supernaturally.

Just imagine you wake up tomorrow morning and you have a tummy ache. What’s your first thought? This is uncomfortable! I don’t want this pain and discomfort! Now what’s your next thought? (This will be the test of live by faith or live by natural knowledge.) I imagine that a majority of Christians reach for the medication bottle first, and to be honest, I would probably do that many times, unless it’s severe and then I make the faith step of talking to God about it. Asking in prayer for divine intervention is the first step in living by faith. But listen to this: if you’re living vitally connected to Jesus and filled with His word you will know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and no plague can come near your dwelling. What’s more, nothing shall by any means hurt you. So the first reaction to a tummy ache from a man or woman of faith is: “Get off me pain!! You have no right or place in me!!” And then get on with your day whether the pain goes immediately or after several hours the mind is rested and content in God’s activity being set in motion and His will has been accomplished. All is set right and from now on I am not dictated to by feelings or what I see but I am resting in the promise and kindness of God.

All day every day you and I make decisions and experience feelings that spring from knowledge. Is that knowledge mere sense knowledge, or are we making decisions and experiencing feelings that spring from supernatural knowledge of Gods’ promises and provision? That latter experience is living by faith and my main thought that I want to get across today is that God created and designed you to operate in this faith life, not to be hamstrung and hobbled by living entirely out of the 5 senses and experiencing only natural knowledge.

God has faith.  Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.(NLT) God created all things by faith. God created something from nothing and fashioned it not by skilful hands but by His words. God operates exclusively by faith.

We are created in His likeness. Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” (NLT)

Human beings are created in the likeness of God. We are created to be like God, that is, to have a spirit and be in union with God knowing and understanding His will and His way. Listen to how Jesus describes this… John 15:4-8  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. (NLT)

Hebrews 11:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)  But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. When we meet Jesus and receive this new life in Christ, of course we want to please Him, Right?

Living this life with God is glorious and exciting. It’s filled with challenges and God is interested in seeing you grow in faith because then you are becoming closer and closer to the intended design. Live by faith not by sight.

So how shall we respond to this message? Choose to live by faith. Get into God’s word and think deeply on it. When making any decision, consider first – “what do I know about what God says to me about this?” Make faith decisions. Consider the promise first before the sense knowledge dictates the outcome. Use faith for all the little things so that your faith grows and when the big things come along you are prepared.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What kind of information comes to us through our five senses? give some examples.

2. What kind of information comes to us by faith from God?

3. What do you think Paul is trying to say in 2 Cor 5:7?

4. Is it hard to make decisions out of faith rather than what we see by our own five senses?

5. How would you build your reliance on faith?