New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

Faith that pleases God

Hebrews 11:1 – 6
Key Verse: 11:6

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

There can be many life-principles on which we may rely and lay a foundation for our lives. George Washington said, “Honesty is the best policy.” This is a good principle we might rely on. Those who believe in the phrase “money talks”, gaining material wealth might be a life principle. Some say that life is purely for fun. There is an old Korean traditional song. The words of the song are: “Have fun, have fun, when you are young. You cannot have fun anymore if you get old. Have fun, have fun before you get old.” But the author of Hebrews encourages us to live by faith. In today’s passage the author tells us that living by Faith is the most trustworthy life principle. When we live by faith, we can please God and live a successful and victorious life regardless of our situations. Let’s find out why and how this is so.

I. Living by faith
Let me read V1 again. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” In short, faith is invisible; it is a spiritual reality that we cannot see. This verse tells us that Christian faith includes hope as an essential factor. It tells us that without hope, faith doesn’t exist. However, our hope cannot be a reality unless we act with faith. Without faith, our hopes will be day-dreams. Faith and hope are inseparable.
For example, before conversion, Paul had faith in Judaism. After conversion, he had faith in God. When he had faith in God, God’s hope became his very own. In the hope of God, he had a plan to evangelize the whole world through the Roman roads. Finally he went to Rome in chains when he was old and tired. But he did not despair. He was sure of what he hoped for. If he had not done anything by faith in Rome, his hope would have been nothing but idealism. However, Paul rented an apartment and had many one-to-one Bible studies day and night, with mostly Jewish immigrants at first. Some believed, but most rejected his teachings. Paul’s ministry in Rome was not as prosperous as he had hoped. He never saw the evangelization of Rome with his own eyes. But history proves that Paul’s faith continues to speak to us. These days many people name their children Paul or Pauline, while they name their dogs and cats Nero.
What do we hope for? Of course, college students want to finish their degree with good grades and live a test-free life. In this harsh reality, most people hope for a better life. They hope for better paying jobs, wonderful marriages, people’s acknowledgements, and no misfortunate events. Are these all we could hope for? Although, we achieve everything we hope for, death could take away our achievements and all that we have in one quick moment. Because of death, our earthly hopes cannot be our ultimate hopes. Do only old men die? No! Young men also die. Do only sick people die? No! Healthy people also die. Do only our neighbors die? No! Our family members also die. Death is our greatest failure. Death turns all our effort into dust. Death is the source of our fear, insecurity, and misery.
However, God changed our fate through Jesus Christ. Through the death of Jesus Christ , our greatest misery has changed into the entrance of our greatest hope. 1Peter 1:3,4 declares. “Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you.”
God wants us to have this living hope, hope of glorious resurrection and immortal life with God. God is like a mother who is eagerly waiting for her baby’s birth. In a mother’s womb, babies feel safe and secure. However, putting our hope to the temporary things in this world is like a baby who wants to stay in its mother’s womb forever. The baby in its mother’s womb cannot imagine how wonderful life outside and how beautiful the world is. Likewise, we cannot even imagine how wonderful life would be in God’s kingdom. However, since God says it is good, by faith we accept it. Someone said, “faith is acceptance.” Faith is to accept what God promised to us and accept what God tries to do through us. Faith is to choose to live daily with this living hope, dropping the temporary hopes of this world.

II. The foundation of faith(2,3)
Let’s read verse 3. “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Creation is the first event recorded in the Bible. Verse 3 tells us many important things. First it says that the universe was created. Second, it says that things we see come from things we cannot see. Third, it says we must understand God’s creation by faith, not by knowledge.
Before the 20th century, the intelligentsia including philosophers and scientists believed that the universe had no beginning and has no end. It stays forever. In the beginning of the 20th century, Albert Einstein found that the Universe must have had a beginning according to his General Relative Theory. However, he modified his equation because he could not believe in the fact that our Universe ever had a beginning. Twelve years later, American Astronomer Edwin Hubble found that the Universe was expanding. According to his measurement and other findings, scientists were able to construct the whole process of the beginning of the Universe and they called it the “Big Bang Theory.” According to the Big Bang Theory, there was Singularity in the beginning which is the concentration of immense energy, but has no size and mass which means nothing to us. From this invisible immense amount of energy, subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules came into being. Time and space started and became this day’s Universe.

Doesn’t this theory sound familiar? Genesis ch1:3a says, “And God said, Let there be light,” And today’s passage verse 3, “the universe was formed at God’s command, so the what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” What the Scientists explained is already in the Bible. Scientists are not the only one who proved God’s creation. C.S Lewis, the most renowned intelligence of the 20th Century, proved God’s existence by using human reasoning and logic in his novel “Mere Christianity.” Then, what about the ordinary people who have no deep knowledge about anything? Romans ch1:20 tells us clearly, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Just by looking at nature, we can understand the existence of our creator God. Look at the flowers in the fields. Can human technology create a flower with the same fragrance, texture, color, and function? Look at the grass of the fields! They are a delicate starch making factory that feed all the living creatures on Earth. Can we make starch with only CO2, water and sunlight by using our 21st technology? NO! I was in the air force during my military duty in Korea. During my service period (which was 3 years), around 10 fighter planes crashed due to mechanical failure which meant the plane was imperfect. One crashed just in front of my eyes during the air show. But I’ve never seen or heard any bird crashing because of their mechanical failure. At that time, I came to realize that birds were a much more advanced flying object than man-made planes. I can talk about these kinds stories endlessly. (Fly, robot story, cells) Nature demonstrates God’s divine power and knowledge.
However, still, a majority of people do not accept God’s creation. Because accepting God’s creation is not the matter of knowledge, but of our heart. That’s why the author of Hebrews testifies that “By Faith” we understand God’s creation, and not by knowledge.

Then what is the importance of accepting God’s creation? There are so many, but one thing to know is that God created each and every one of us with his divine power and will. Human beings are the focal point of God’s creation because He created us in his own Image. In a human, the physical body is mysteriously combined with the spirit that comes from God. Eph 2:10 explains it in this way, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are God’s workmanship, or in other words, we are God’s masterpiece. A masterpiece is different from a product that comes from factory assembly lines. It has a one and only unique value. No one compares the masterpieces. It has its own value. Likewise, God created us all differently by giving us different personalities and abilities. No one can replace our role in this world because we are masterpieces. (Ex: Mona Lisa) God sent us to this world to do good works. There is something good only I can do every day. There is something only _________can do and no one else. There is something only __________ can do. Good works we should do are: Living as masterpieces everyday when we accept Creator God. This is the foundation of our faith.

III. The Faith of Abel and Enoch (4-6)
Now the author of Hebrews begins to talk about the examples of ancients who were commended by God for their faith. First of those ancients is Abel. His story recorded at verse 4. “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, When God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”
After Adam’s fall, Adam was kicked out from the Garden of Eden. God put a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the Garden of Eden. Cain and Abel did not have any good memories of the Garden of Eden or of God. Life was harsh and burdensome to them while they struggled to survive in the cursed world. They may have thought that God hated them although Adam might have taught them “God is good.” We don’t know about the exact background story but somehow they were able to come to God through offering. It was a good chance and privilege for them to restore their relationship with God. Abel prepared the best from what he had. Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil. God accepted Abel and his offering but rejected Cain and his offering. Genesis ch4:6,7 explains the reason why God did not accept Cain and his offerings. Abel prepared his offering with a humble and thankful heart. Cain revealed his self-righteousness through his anger towards God.
From Abel’s time to Jesus Christ, offering is the way to come to God. God opened the way for the sinners to come to God through many different types of offerings, such as burnt offerings, sin offerings, fellowship offerings, and guilt offerings. God always sees our motives and attitudes when we come to God through offering. God wants our contrite hearts, not the sacrifice. Is it possible that we can sacrifice to God without faith? Unfortunately it happens all the time. People are always doing acts of charity or going to church with no faith in God. One of the Israelite’s most violent and godless kings in the New Testament funded the rebuilding of God’s temple.
Abel offered God better sacrifice than Cain did, but it could not take away his sins because it was not perfect. After Abel, numerous of people sacrificed to God, but there was no offering that could reconcile us to God completely. Therefore God himself prepared the best offering for us. Hebrews 10:9,10 read, “Here I am, I have come to do your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Christ once for all.” Jesus offered the best sacrifice through his blood. Therefore, God will not accept “the better” anymore because he gave us the best. Jesus is the best sacrifice we can offer to God. As Abel offered God a better sacrifice By faith. Now by faith we should offer the best sacrifice through Jesus Christ. God will commend us as righteous only when we come to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our righteousness. By faith, we should throw away our self righteousness.
Abel’s story ends with another action of faith. “And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Abel’s end did not look good in a human’s point of view because he was killed by his brother. However, God’s point of view is different. Because Abel had lived by faith, he gives us a message even through his death. God used Abel’s death to encourage numerous people to live by faith. God uses our death as a kernel of wheat for the numerous lives to come when we live by faith.

A hundred years ago, there was a missionary to Korea whose name was Thomas. At that time, any missionary or believer was beheaded when caught in Korea. M. Thomas landed nearby Pyongyang which is now the capital of North Korea. Unfortunately he was caught on the spot and was beheaded. Before he died, he spread the Bibles he brought by shouting the name “Jesus.” One of them who received the Bible became an evangelist and translated 2/3rds of the Bible into the Korean language. One of them was Youngsik Park. He used the Bible as a wall paper for his room. By the Spirit of God, he accepted Jesus and his house became the first house church in Pyongyang and later it became a JangDaehyung Church which was the starting point of Pyongyang Revival Movement. To our surprise, the place where M. Thomas was killed is the same place where the PUST(Poyngyang University of Science and Technology) is built. We can say that “By faith M. Thomas still speaks, even though he is dead.” Those who are made righteous by faith can never be silenced by death. When we live by faith, we can speak even through our death.
The next ancient is Enoch. Not much is written about Enoch in Genesis. Nevertheless, Enoch’s life of faith inspires us as one of the most practical examples that show the necessity of faith to please God. Let’s read verses 5, 6. “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Verse 6 is often taken as a verse by itself when in fact it was actually written to help explain why God rewarded Enoch’s life of faith by allowing him not to experience death. In Genesis 5:21-24, we find the single outstanding point written about Enoch. “And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.” (V22) How could he walk with God? Because he believed that God exists.

Let’s think about the time he lived in. Enoch was the seventh descendant from Adam. (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared and Enoch) Was Adam alive when Enoch began to walk with God? Yes, all of his straight 6 ancestors were alive. That means, people might not have been serious about their death even though God said “to dust you will return” because they did not experience death frequently enough. If God is invisible and people didn’t die, then I would not be serious about God. Most of the people must have doubted God’s existence. How about Cain’s descendants? They built a city, developed technology, and held music concerts every day. Without God, they were prosperous and enjoyed their life to a maximum degree while Seth’s descendant remains as a minority in the countryside. Does God really exist? Most people began to choose the answer “NO.” No there is no God. If there is God, then what is his reward as we live by faith?
However, Enoch decided to choose the answer “Yes.” He believed that God exists. God is alive. Not only he believed that God exists, but also he did some extraordinary things. The second last book in New Testament gives us more information about Enoch. Jude 14-16 says. “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”” Enoch was a prophet to them. People at his time were very ungodly. They hated him because his holy pilgrimage seemed to offend them. And it hurt their sinful pride. They hated Enoch as much as they hated God. They searched for him in order to destroy him. So, God took him away to heaven without death. People tried to find him but the Bible says, “he is no more, he could not be found.” Remember his message! Isn’t it like Jesus’ second coming? He was the first one who was raptured and that was God’s reward to him. God’s reward is glorious, his kingdom and eternal life. We will be the next when Jesus comes again. Enoch’s faith gives us a message on how to live in this ungodly generation. We should proclaim that God and God’s Judgment exists.

Through today’s passage, we learned that faith is to accept the living hope. We learned that we should live as a masterpiece by doing good work in Jesus Christ. We learned that we should come to God through Jesus Christ, our best sacrifice. May God bless us to have faith that pleases God.