FAITH THAT WORKS
What is faith? Who gives faith? Where does faith come from? When does faith appear? Why is faith so necessary? How does faith work? Those are just a few of the multitude of questions which arise when we think about faith. Don’t worry. God has all the answers, and He is anxious for us to live in faith, so He is always revealing real answers to all of our questions. We are going to break down our study of faith by using an acrostic, examining five basic truths about faith; each one labeled by a word beginning with each of the letters in the word, FAITH: F(acts), A(we), I(ncarnation),T(rust), and H(oiliness). Faith is based on essential FACTS about God, His Ways and this world. As we get to know these facts about God, we experience a sense of AWE, wonder, and worship. At the heart of faith stands our Loving Savior, Jesus, who embodies God in the INCARNATION. As we follow Jesus He teaches us life-enabling TRUST. As we trust and obey, Jesus blesses us with HOLINESS, based on the indwelling Holy Spirit, once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Yes, faith is based upon fact. Faith is no myth—faith is more real than anything else in life. Here are the facts. Faith begins when we choose to believe the substance of the Word of God—all of it—from Creation until the Re-Creation, from Genesis to Revelation in the Word of God. God created the Universe. God created the Earth. God created human kind, man and woman. We hold these facts as fundamental truth because God says they are so. In Genesis, Chapter One, Verses 1-9, He declares:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
And God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters.”
And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were
under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.
And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.
And there was evening and morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens
be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear.”
And it was so. God called the dry land Earth,
and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.
And God saw that it was good.
In Revelation 21:1-4, God speaks:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven had passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
”Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them,
and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.
In the beginning, God was there, creating the Universe. In the end, God will be there, re-creating all things, so that they come to fully express His Loving Plan for human kind and this Earth that is our temporal home. So, faith is, indeed, based upon eternal facts which have been established from before the Earth’s beginning, enduring until the new beginning of New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem—all of it, every day of it—for God’s glory.
As we draw near to our great God, and as we discover more and more about who He is and what He does, we experience awe when we respond to who He is and what He does. How could we not be awed by His majesty and His grace? Scripture declares the awesomeness of God in Deuteronomy 10:17-21.
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,
the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,
who is not partial and takes no bribe.
He executes justice for the fatherless and for the widow,
and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
You shall fear the LORD your God.
You shall serve him and hold fast to him,
and by his name you shall swear.
He is your praise. He is your God,
who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.
God’s person in His Presence, and His actions in all He does, give us a deep and worshipful sense of awe. Our awe leads us to praise Him and serve Him and to reflect His goodness in all that we are, in all that we think, and in all that we do. Awe invigorates our entire being as we seek to worship, serve Him and bring Him glory.
At the heart of our faith is the amazing fact of the Incarnation. Scripture makes it clear, Jesus is Emmanuel, God-among-us. In the incarnation God places Jesus among us as a perfect representation of who He is, all the great things He does, and His eternal, perfect and redemptive purpose for us all.
John 1:14
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
We look upon the loving, empowering, redeeming face of Jesus, and we can never be the same. God’s Loving Presence in Jesus changes us for better and forever.
Hebrews 1:1-2
Long ago, at many times and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in the last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed the heir of all things,
through whom also he created the world.
Jesus came as God Incarnate to speak most clearly His Love for all His children. Jesus came as heir to all things, so that He could share with us the very best of all things. Through Jesus God created the beautiful, the immaculate, the perfect world of Eden for our parents, Adam and Eve.
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
How dramatically God intervened in His beloved world. He took on Himself the weak form of a peasant child. Then upon the shoulders of that remarkable, that incarnate child grown up, He placed the righteous, eternal Kingdom. He became the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and yes, the Prince of Peace.
Because of who He is, the more we depend on God, the more He proves Himself faithful, the stronger our trust grows in Him. We exercise our trust in God by taking Him at His Word according to His promises to us as we obey Him. Trust continues growing as every step we take in obedience deepens our determination to walk only as He leads us, for He is ever faithful.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.
That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
Think of God’s promise to Eve even after her and Adam’s fall in the Garden. Her seed in the person of Jesus has, indeed, crushed the head of the serpent, Satan. Consider God’s promises to Abraham, often called the Father of Faith. Consider how He created Nation of Israel, the Exodus, the Promised Land, the Eternal Kingdom with more children from all around the world than can be numbered. Every promise of God is, indeed, made “Yes!” and “Amen!” in Jesus. And we, as the children of His Promise find power in His Presence to trust and obey, all to His glory.
And so, as we grow in our trust and obedience, God sets us aside with Him in His Holiness. We become a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and as His own people, deeply loved and treasured. We become salt and light preservation and hope to our weary world.
Leviticus 20:26
”You shall be holy to me,
for I the LORD am holy
and have separated you from the peoples,
that you should be mine.”
Imagine this: God sets us aside as holy to Himself, so that we are His own. We are God’s own children. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! What a privilege.
1 Peter 2:9
”But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him
who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
And here it is. God makes us holy through the FACT of His eternal Love, by the amazing and awe-inspiring acts He does on our behalf for His glory, through Jesus our Savior and His Incarnate Son, as He teaches us perfect Trust in a perfect God, and as He makes us holy as He, Himself is holy, a bright light of righteousness and goodness in a world which often seems dark and evil. Faith is our souls lifted up and blessed to love and worship and serve Him who deserves all of our praise and adoration and obedience. Our faith accomplishes His goodness as He enables us. Praise be to God.
FAITH
Faith is firmly founded
on the eternal strength
of God’s own perfect Love
in creation beautiful
all around us
one mighty witness
to His Goodness.
Awe-stricken and Awe-
inspired we raise our voices
in joining the universal
choruses raised by
the stars in the
in heavens
for His Goodness.
Incarnate loving God
walks among us bringing
His healing and redemption
and life risen up
to join His eternal
Kingdom based lovingly
on His Goodness.
Trust becomes His living
gift which raises us up
to follow Him daily
even as He leads us
in His shining glory
blessing us with joy
within His Goodness.
Holiness by the power
of the Holy Spirit
transforms us daily
into His image as
He conforms us for
Heavenly living
by His Goodness.
