Basics Pt.4- FAITH PER HEB.11:1- SUBSTANCE, EVIDENCE, AND HOPE

We do not hope for what we already have. We hope for what we do not yet possess. If we have believed in Jesus we have eternal life. But, we do not yet have the body we will spend eternity in. Nor have we yet inherited the kingdom of Heaven. It is a promised inheritance. So we hope in and for what we do not yet see.

Faith- substance of things hoped for- evidence of things not seen

Substance is reality

Things we hope for are things we don't yet possess

Evidence is the criteria that determines truth

Not seen is speaking of things the natural eyes can see.

So faith is the reality we hope for that we do not yet possess. A reality that is actually more real than what we now possess because it is eternal. Whereas the life we are living now is temporary. What is eternal is for us the unseen criteria, at least with our natural eyes, that has determined for us the truth upon which our hope rests.

This is our resting place.

Heb.4:3 says we enter into rest when we trust in Jesus. Because He is our hope for that which we have not yet taken possession. That is, the new body we will receive at the resurrection.

We have already received the first fruits which is the spirit birthed in us when we trusted in Jesus and were born again. Born from above. Born of the Spirit.

This spirit is our assurance that we will receive the new body in the resurrection. And the Holy Spirit who now dwells in us by which Eph.4:30 says we are sealed unto the day of redemption.

We know this because Rom.8:16,17 says the communion our spirit is having with God's Spirit that dwells in us confirms to us that we are sons of God. And as sons we are heirs. Heirs of the life to come in God's kingdom. Heirs not of this world that we inherited as the natural children of Adam. But, of the world to come, the kingdom of God.

We have this by believing in Jesus. The gift of God that is eternal life for all who trust in Him the same way Jesus did while He lived as a man. Faith that Paul says is a trust that grows "from faith to faith" as we "rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

A glory that is His presence in us that assures us of our eternal home. A glory we only "fall short of" or lack when we have not trusted in Him. When we do not know Him. So that it is not by works, but by faith without works.

This is why Paul says "we glory in tribulations also." Because in tribulations we find that when we believe God through tribulation it "worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom.5:3-5.

When we believe Jesus we do what He says to glorify Him. And it just so happens that everything we do for His glory also works out for our good. Because in His love God always does what is best for us anyway.

We see an example of this when Moses led the children of Israel out from the bondage in Egypt to the promised land.

They all went out from Egypt rejoicing because of the great deliverance of the Lord. But, that rejoicing turned to cries of fear of Pharaoh and his army destroying them when all that they could see with their natural eyes told them they were trapped against the Red Sea.

But, at the last minute God placed a pillar of fire between them and Pharaoh's army. Protecting Israel from Pharaoh's wrath. While also delivering Israel out of danger by opening up a path for Israel to pass through on the dry land that appeared when God divided the Red Sea on the other side.

In this we see that God many times waits till the last minute to deliver us. Because by doing so it gives us the opportunity to live our faith. By showing that we do indeed trust in Him even when the pressure is on. Which is the only way we it can be proven to ourselves and to God we trust in Him completely.

By this we learn the patience that comes from trusting God through the trials of this life. And with patience we gain the experience of what many times seems to us to be God's last minute deliverances that gives us hope.

A hope that leaves us unashamed because in all of this we have learned how much God truly loves us. And knowing that He loves us makes us sure of His deliverances. Showing that we possess the truth upon which our hope rests. The substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Jesus our savior and Lord. And His kingdom coming thy will to be doing on earth as it is in heaven.

This is the faith defined in Heb.11:1. Substance, not hopium. Truth, not conjecture. A real and living hope that causes us to trust in God even when in the natural all seems lost.

This is why Jesus said "According to your faith be it done unto you." Jesus did not say this so they could show they had BIG FAITH as some charlatans define it. So they can make excuses for why it didn't work. And make money off of those who do not understand. But, because He simply wanted them to believe in Him.

So this is what God asks of us. That we believe in Jesus as He believed the Father. To express "the faith of Christ" we find Paul teaching about in Gal.2:16 that is the only justification of men.

And if we will we will have the healing promised in the atonement. Which is the assurance of the new body that is impervious to death the Holy Spirit sealed us for unto the day of redemption.

This is why in Rom.8:11 Paul said, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

This is not a promise of health for this mortal body we live in. It is a promise that when we shed this mortal body in death this mortal body will be quickened. It will be given the life that comes through the resurrection. And by this quickening it will have the healing promised in the atonement.

The substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. The end of the matter for us before the matter has ended. Through our faith in Jesus for eternal life. And the inheritance of His kingdom when we receive the new body made alive by the deliverance from death to life by the power of God.

A deliverance that John3:16 says is available to all who will believe in Jesus. And that 2Peter3:9 says is God's will that you do not perish.

So if you believe in Jesus confess Him now as Lord. And believe in your heart that He has raised from the dead. Because believing this and confessing Him is the power of God unto salvation for ALL who will believe.

If you want the assurance of eternal life then pray with me now.

Dear Jesus, thank you for joining with me in my mortality. So that through your resurrection I can join with you in immortality. Thank you for conquering mortality by your resurrection. Thank you for delivering me from death to life. I confess you as my Lord. And believe you have raised from the dead. Teach me to live for you now and for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, amen.