Origins (of Belief)
Faith in What We Don't See
'The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.
The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.'
Hebrews 11:1-3
-written to the first believers, 1st century
[This is the 5th message of this series]
In the preceding message, we discussed about the very first preaching of the Gospel -- the good news of salvation through the finished redemptive work of Jesus of Nazareth.
It all begun when Jesus showed Himself resurrected back from the dead to Mary of Magdala. Jesus then told her to go back to the disciples and tell them what she had just seen and heard -- that the final proof that the Kingdom of God is here, it is real and active on earth. (Their faith has been revealed and fulfilled.)
It was the Word becoming flesh, living with humankind, backing up His words with signs and wonders, and fulfilling the finished work of salvation by paying the full price and then coming back to prove that as well.
Faith
In the beginning, the ancestors of the Jewish people meticulously wrote down their holy sacred writings, carefully rewriting them (copying them) so the next generation can read, teach, study and learn them and then to rewrite them again, word for word, for the next generation.
The Jewish Scriptures recorded what they believed in, and included prophecies of future events, through the words of a succession of prophets about the coming Messiah and many other things, some events, hundreds and even thousands of years in the future.
In The Year of Our Lord
By the time Jesus of Nazareth was born, the Word (of God) who became flesh, many Jews have been eagerly awaiting for the Messiah, the Promised Savior of the world.
John the Baptist was the last of the long line prophets who spoke and prophesied concerning the long awaited Messiah. He was the only prophet to see the Messiah with his own eyes.
Faith
God spoke creation into existence -- the same Word who became flesh and who spoke miracles to take place.
The Messiah and the Word is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
He told His followers when He resurrected from the dead that the words which He spoke to them while He was still with them has to happen and everything that was written down through the centuries concerning Him in the Torah of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must all be fulfilled.
Fulfilled and Explained
The faith kept alive by their ancestors for hundreds of years and passed down several generations, were finally fulfilled and explained in their lifetime.
The resurrected Christ explained this to two people as He walked with them on the road leading to Emmaus. Those two then went back and told the disciples. Christ Himself appeared to all of them as the two was narrating what they have experienced, backing up the story they were telling them.
The faith in the unseen was finally revealed and verified with their very eyes -- the unseen becoming seen. As Jesus told the doubting Thomas, you finally believed because you saw it with your own eyes. But blessed are those who believe even though they did not see.
Future Believers
After those who personally experienced the Word have passed on, succeeding generations of believers again turned to faith, only this time placing their trust both on what has already been fulfilled and in the prophesies that is being fulfilled and those which will yet come to pass during the end of the age.
The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.'
Hebrews 11:1-3
-written to the first believers, 1st century
[This is the 5th message of this series]
In the preceding message, we discussed about the very first preaching of the Gospel -- the good news of salvation through the finished redemptive work of Jesus of Nazareth.
It all begun when Jesus showed Himself resurrected back from the dead to Mary of Magdala. Jesus then told her to go back to the disciples and tell them what she had just seen and heard -- that the final proof that the Kingdom of God is here, it is real and active on earth. (Their faith has been revealed and fulfilled.)
It was the Word becoming flesh, living with humankind, backing up His words with signs and wonders, and fulfilling the finished work of salvation by paying the full price and then coming back to prove that as well.
Faith
In the beginning, the ancestors of the Jewish people meticulously wrote down their holy sacred writings, carefully rewriting them (copying them) so the next generation can read, teach, study and learn them and then to rewrite them again, word for word, for the next generation.
The Jewish Scriptures recorded what they believed in, and included prophecies of future events, through the words of a succession of prophets about the coming Messiah and many other things, some events, hundreds and even thousands of years in the future.
In The Year of Our Lord
By the time Jesus of Nazareth was born, the Word (of God) who became flesh, many Jews have been eagerly awaiting for the Messiah, the Promised Savior of the world.
John the Baptist was the last of the long line prophets who spoke and prophesied concerning the long awaited Messiah. He was the only prophet to see the Messiah with his own eyes.
Faith
God spoke creation into existence -- the same Word who became flesh and who spoke miracles to take place.
The Messiah and the Word is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
He told His followers when He resurrected from the dead that the words which He spoke to them while He was still with them has to happen and everything that was written down through the centuries concerning Him in the Torah of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must all be fulfilled.
Fulfilled and Explained
The faith kept alive by their ancestors for hundreds of years and passed down several generations, were finally fulfilled and explained in their lifetime.
The resurrected Christ explained this to two people as He walked with them on the road leading to Emmaus. Those two then went back and told the disciples. Christ Himself appeared to all of them as the two was narrating what they have experienced, backing up the story they were telling them.
The faith in the unseen was finally revealed and verified with their very eyes -- the unseen becoming seen. As Jesus told the doubting Thomas, you finally believed because you saw it with your own eyes. But blessed are those who believe even though they did not see.
Future Believers
After those who personally experienced the Word have passed on, succeeding generations of believers again turned to faith, only this time placing their trust both on what has already been fulfilled and in the prophesies that is being fulfilled and those which will yet come to pass during the end of the age.
Where Feet May Fail
Hebrews 11:6
It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
Church of the Lost Sheep 2012
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