FAITH THEN vs. FAITH NOW
Can you imagine a time that existed without faith as we know it?
Have you ever considered that faith has only existed a few thousand years?
Let me explain.
Hebrews 12:2 explains that "Jesus was the pioneer and perfecter of our faith..." He was fully man and fully God when He was on earth. Why is that important, you ask? Bill Johnson beautifully articulated this once saying, "If Jesus is only fully God- I read the New Testament being incredibly impressed, but If Jesus is fully God and fully man- I now read the New Testament having an example to which I can follow demonstrated by a man in perfect relationship with God."
I'm sure this isn't a perfect recollection, but the point is Jesus was FULLY man and FULLY God.
This is why He was the pioneer (some translations of the Bible say "author") and perfecter of OUR faith. He gave us an example to follow by being who He was. His life WAS the perfect demonstration of living in faith.
But what about the leaders and greats that believed that Jesus was coming long before He did? Didn't they have faith?
Great question, I asked that too!
In Acts 2:22-36, Peter addresses the crowd after Pentecost. In this famous speech, Peter explains how King David could "see" what God had foretold would take place through Jesus. He believed what God had showed him and though, in David's time, there was not the opportunity to put faith in Jesus (because the events of the cross had not yet occurred), there was the opportunity to have faith in a promise...
Galatians 3:18
For is the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise
What I have come to the conclusion of at this point in my life is that our understanding of faith is actually bonkers because we treat it so flippantly. Faith IS the conduit to which we connect with God through Jesus. Faith IS confidence in what we hope for and assurance for what we do not see Hebrews 11:1. It is a heavenly component that has an operational value...that DID NOT exist in its perfection for people before the pioneer perfected it for us in His life, death and resurrection.
What was once available in a promise became fully actualized in a man. What gave our ancestors hope and vision to press on now empowers us to live "heaven to earth."
Let's look at our scripture for today to get greater context:
Galatians 3:23-29
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
I want to also add another portion of scripture for you to contemplate as we continue:
Hebrews 11 (in its entirety)
Summarized here: The great leaders and kings and people of the world pre-Jesus are accredited with FAITH.
So, on one hand, we have Paul talking to the Galatians about life pre and post-faith. Then, in Hebrews, we have an entire chapter dedicated to celebrating the faith of those that had faith pre-Jesus. What's the point?
There is a difference between being an heir before and after the inheritance has been distributed. I think it is important for us to distinguish- as I believe Paul did to the church in Galatia- that the FAITH they now had access to was not the same as the FAITH of the Jewish forefathers (if you will). Where faith in the promise had been "regulated" by the law up until Jesus, when Jesus died, rose and ascended- His process became our access to the perfected FAITH God had always intended us to have in order to receive salvation and live the life of abundance (John 10:10).
Remember that the overarching theme in this book is that you can't receive God's promise through Jesus without FAITH in what HE DID. Those that existed before Jesus trusted God's promise, but that wasn't the same as what we have access to now.
WE get to co-exist with God by Holy Spirit because of faith in Jesus. WE BECOME the temple of God. We become empowered by Holy Spirit. David knew that was what was in God's heart....the awareness he had of what was to come was overwhelming to him to the extent that he would attempt to access this reality outside of its timing when he instituted 24/7 worship in the holy of holies. He figured, "If God is going to do this one day- I want it now". (And by the way, this was totally illegal! But that's a different blog for a different day)
Back on subject.
Have you ever thought of that??? There was a time that human beings could not hear God's voice, feel His presence, do life with Him apart from the selected times that God would come near or rest on one person. That's why being a new creation, having the opportunity to have faith, living life WITH God, having an intimate relationship with Holy Spirit is SO absolutely incredible. Our FAITH in Jesus gives us the opportunity to live life as Jesus did WITH God, empowered by Holy Spirit. They didn't get to do that back in the day!
I would suggest that this completely NEW way of being "Human 2.0" was a part of the issue with the Jewish people and the new-believers. There was zero grid for what this faith-based (not just salvation moment) life looked like. God wasn't just saving people FROM something, He saved them INTO relationship with Him and that looked like getting to do His will as well.....IE healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, kicking demons out, prophesying, etc. The lifestyle we get to have as the King's kids has freaked people out for centuries!
And, to make it more complicated (at least, that's what we tend to do)- the different belief groups wanted a hierarchy in order to measure and regulate spirituality. You know, there HAS to be some sort of societal structure in place where there are those that are more spiritual or closer to God than the others.
Not so with Jesus.
We ALL have this opportunity to believe and put our faith in Jesus....and it levels the playing field making us ALL children of God. There is no social, societal, denominational, physical, genetic, or economic structure that makes any of us better or less than in the eyes of God. We are all ONE in Christ Jesus. May I be punny and say WE are all WON in Christ Jesus.
So. The Jewish church and tradition- the chosen people of God- carried a promise. They carried a promise and lived under a guardian to bring us to the appointed time of Christ so that in Him we would have perfected faith to receive the fullness of God's inheritance as children. And, children, not regulated to Abraham, but children of promise. Previously, we looked at how there is only an offspring, not offsprings, which pointed to Jesus being the manifest promise. In Him, by faith, was the opportunity made for the restoration, redemption and reconciliation of ALL!
As Paul says, "And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."
YOU ARE GOD'S CHOSEN.
JESUS DIED, RAISED and SITS ALIVE and WELL FOR YOU!
This is GOOD NEWS!
May we continue to pursue a life of Faith with a renewed awareness of what our access and our relationship looks like in Jesus as new creations and heirs according to God's promise.
Amen.
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