God's Hall of Fame

After saying: the just shall live by faith" (Hebrews 10:38), in Hebrews 11, Paul describes what it means to live by faith by giving illustrations from the lives of a number of the Old Testament heroes of faith, who pleased God. These men who have run their race are now the clouds of witnesses in the grandstands of Heaven, inspiring us as we run our race on earth (Hebrews 12:1-2). Their lives witness to us and give us an example of how to please God by living by faith. Derek reveals a number of key aspects to the life of faith, by looking at the first few of these heroes. (1) The foundational thing that they all had in common was that they believed in CREATION - that this universe was created by the invisible God through his Word (Hebrews 11:3, see Genesis 1). Then (2) ABEL teaches us that true faith in God must be based in the BLOOD of Christ (v4, see Genesis 4:2-8, Hebrews 9:22, 12:22-24). Abel trusted in the grace of God for his salvation on the basis of the blood of the Sacrifice, whereas Cain tried to earn his place with God based on his own works (a picture of man-made religion). Then (3) ENOCH shows that walking by faith means a life lived in FELLOWSHIP with God. Through his faith Enoch pleased God, because he continually came to God, seeking to draw close to God to know Him better, believing in God's goodness, that He would reward him by fulfilling his desire (v5,6). As a result he walked with God for 300 years (Genesis 5:21-24). Then (4) NOAH shows us that living by faith means we are called to cooperate with God in saving as many as possible in the world we live in. He built an Ark of Salvation and a WITNESSED to his world as a preacher of righteousness (v7, 1Peter 3:20, 2Peter 2:5). Then (5) ABRAHAM shows us that living by faith means OBEDIENCE to God, when He calls us out from our old life into a new life where we have to trust God and His promise (v8). Then (6) the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) show us that a life of faith means being focused on and motivated by a HEAVENLY HOPE, even their eternal heavenly home, the City of God (v9-10,14,16), rather than what this world has to offer (v13,15). Then (7) SARAH shows us how we RECEIVE the PROMISES of God by faith, by judging Him faithful who had promised (v11), causing us to be fruitful for God (v12). Finally (8) ABRAHAM proved his faith by demonstrating that he loved God more than the most precious thing in his life, by being willing to SACRIFICE his beloved son Isaac to God, trusting God to resurrect him (v17-19, James 2:21-22). Likewise, the ultimate test of our faith in God and love for God is whether we are willing to SURRENDER what is most precious to us, and trust it into God's hands, for Him to resurrect as and when He pleases.