To illustrate what faith is, I will be talking about Abraham. He has been called the father of many nations. Genesis 12:1-4 illustrates to us that Abram was a man of faith. Because, he received a call and decided to follow God even though he was uncertain about the reason for the call. The book of Hebrews 11:8 says, “by faith Abraham, when called to go….he obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
Abraham obeyed and followed God. It is because of this, the bible states that Abraham was a man of faith. Before he left, Abraham and his family lived in Mesopotamia. They did not worship God, but supported themselves by making idols for others. The place where they lived was known to be very fertile and thus many wealthy people lived there. People, who lived in the southern part of the country like Abraham were called Chaldeans. When Abram was called by God, he decided to leave his city called Ur in order to move to Canaan. We now know that God has a special plan for Abram and his people.
What was the plan of God? Genesis 12:2 says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing" God had planned to build a great nation through the descendants of Abraham. This only became possible, because Abraham followed God by faith.
However, the fact was that Abraham had no children and no descendants, but he was not afraid and believed that God could do something special for him and his descendants.
Hebrew 11:11 says, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Abraham believed that God would allow him to have descendants. And in this reading, the passage states clearly that Abraham was faithful that he was a man of faith, because he obeyed God without doubting.
Faith comes from the Greek word pistis(πίστις). It originally means "persuade or be persuaded to come to trust.” Hebrew 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” This means that faith doesn’t require concrete evidence. But it allows us to have confidence in God.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, many disciples came to Jesus and did see him. But, Thomas was not one of these. He said that he would believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus only after he saw and touched the body of Jesus. So Jesus came to Thomas and said in John 20:29, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The bible also says that believers need to continue to hold their faith in God at all times. Hebrews 3:14 says, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” And our purpose is to live for the glory of God.
I believe that our Lord has a covenant with us if we obey God and follow him in this world. Jesus was sent to this world through the descendants of Abraham. Many people have been blessed through the seed of Abraham. This shows us that God kept his covenant with Abraham. Hebrew 11:17-18 says, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice….It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned (Gen. 21:12).” When God saw Abraham’s faithfulness, he allowed Isaac, son of Sarai to live and through him continue the godly kingdom.
As a child of God, we are to believe that our God is helping us and guiding us to follow him in this world. And thus we are to live and work for him at all times.
Rev Dr Je Cheol Cook
What was the plan of God? Genesis 12:2 says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing" God had planned to build a great nation through the descendants of Abraham. This only became possible, because Abraham followed God by faith.
However, the fact was that Abraham had no children and no descendants, but he was not afraid and believed that God could do something special for him and his descendants.
Hebrew 11:11 says, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Abraham believed that God would allow him to have descendants. And in this reading, the passage states clearly that Abraham was faithful that he was a man of faith, because he obeyed God without doubting.
Faith comes from the Greek word pistis(πίστις). It originally means "persuade or be persuaded to come to trust.” Hebrew 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” This means that faith doesn’t require concrete evidence. But it allows us to have confidence in God.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, many disciples came to Jesus and did see him. But, Thomas was not one of these. He said that he would believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus only after he saw and touched the body of Jesus. So Jesus came to Thomas and said in John 20:29, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The bible also says that believers need to continue to hold their faith in God at all times. Hebrews 3:14 says, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” And our purpose is to live for the glory of God.
I believe that our Lord has a covenant with us if we obey God and follow him in this world. Jesus was sent to this world through the descendants of Abraham. Many people have been blessed through the seed of Abraham. This shows us that God kept his covenant with Abraham. Hebrew 11:17-18 says, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice….It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned (Gen. 21:12).” When God saw Abraham’s faithfulness, he allowed Isaac, son of Sarai to live and through him continue the godly kingdom.
As a child of God, we are to believe that our God is helping us and guiding us to follow him in this world. And thus we are to live and work for him at all times.
Rev Dr Je Cheol Cook