Living Faithfully预览

Faith that Conquers  

If we look at the sequence of topics in Hebrews 11, we find that (1) Abel offered sacrifice, (2) Enoch experienced a kind of resurrection, (3) Noah condemned the world, and (4) Abraham left the world and looked for a new one. Compare this with the New Testament: Jesus is the Sacrifice and the Resurrection. The Jewish believers in union with Christ condemn the old world and forsake it looking for the world to come. The fifth step in this sequence is in verses 11–13: Abraham became the father of a multitude. Similarly, when the church builds on the death and resurrection of Christ, forsaking the world and looking to the kingdom, she will bear a multitude of sons and daughters. 

The same kind of sequence is found in verses 17–31. First we read that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice and then received his son back from the dead, figuratively speaking (vv. 17–19). Third we find Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau with regard to the future (v. 20). Isaac separated the two and sent Jacob away, just as Noah condemned the world and left it. Then, recapping the fourth point, we find Jacob and Joseph looking forward to the exodus, and Moses leading it (vv. 21–29). This recaps Abraham’s exodus from Ur. The fifth point—a multitude of sons and daughters—is pointed to in verses 30 and 31: The walls of Jericho fell and the Canaanite harlot converts. 

True faith not only forsakes the world, it conquers it. Jacob and his sons left Canaan, separating from the evil there, and found temporary refuge with Joseph in Goshen. Then they returned under Moses and conquered Canaan. But there is a bigger picture: Abram left the Gentile world, but now the church marches forward to conquer it. 

This is the pattern for us as well. Based on Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection, God calls us to condemn the world and forsake it. Then, after a time of trial and strengthening in Egypt and in the wilderness, He sends us back into the world to conquer it for Christ. The Jewish Christians could be encouraged to know that their time of testing would usher in a time when multitudes would be saved.

Coram Deo

In recent days believers individually and the church corporately have developed a bunker mentality and have retreated into exile on the defensive. What can you personally do to move forward with the Gospel? What involvement can you have with your local church to make a difference where you live?