Rooted In Faith: A Faith That Pleases God

Over the years I’ve done quite a few funerals and memorial services.  One of the things I do in preparing a eulogy is to sit down with the loved ones left behind and ask them to share memories or stories that would describe the life of their loved one.  One of my favorite memories of doing this came when I had the privilege to do the memorial service for Eric Wood.  Eric was a teenage boy from my Youth Ministry who died in a farming accident when he was just 16 years old.  But one thing became clear after I heard the stories of friends and family members: Eric was a servant.  He simply loved helping people.  And the reason he loved helping people stemmed from his faith in Jesus Christ.  Eric loved Jesus and Jesus was a servant. So his legacy was clear: Eric lived out his faith by serving others. As a result, Eric’s memorial service, even though there was much grief, was a joyful occasion.  And no one left there questioning if Eric’s faith in Jesus was real.  If anything, family and friends left with their faith encouraged, their hope strengthened because this young man truly lived out what he believed.

For most of us, Eric’s story raises some questions: Does how I live reveal my faith in Jesus? When people observe my life are there certain characteristics of faith that are easily identifiable?  And if so what does a real life faith consist of… and what does it look like in our everyday lives?

Well that’s what we’re going to look at today as we continue our “Rooted” series:  What it means for us to be “Rooted In Faith.”  After all God’s Word clearly says, “The righteous will live by faith.”  And if that’s true, then we need to not only have a clear understanding of what faith is, but also what faith looks like in everyday life.

So if the concept of faith seems a little nebulous to you or if you’d simply like your faith to take on some shoe leather in everyday life, then let me encourage you to open your Bible to Hebrews 11:1-6, where God’s Word describes not only what faith is, but how you can begin living out your faith in such a way that will make God smile.

And to do that, the writer of Hebrews begins by describing not just any old faith, but  A Commendable Faith: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Hebrews 11:1-2

This is not just any old faith: it’s a commendable faith, a praiseworthy faith, or more specifically the kind of faith that pleases God.  You see, everyone here has what I would call, a natural faith– a faith you’re born with.  We see this faith at work everyday: We drink water out of a faucet, with perfect confidence it is safe.  We eat food in a restaurant, confident that it is not contaminated. We make a financial transaction with a plastic card, confident that it will do the job, but that piece of plastic has no intrinsic value at all.  We submit to the surgeon’s knife entirely by faith.  Later today, even though I’ve not inspected every inch of the 737 we are flying and I’ve never met the pilot, we’re going to trust they’ll get Becky and I to Portland. We put our faith in chefs, surgeons, pilots, mechanics and firefighters and policemen everyday. The capacity for faith in fallible people and machines is natural for us, because it’s created in us.

But the kind of faith described here in verse one is different.  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.

Who were the ancients?  They were the men and women of the Old Testament who trusted in promises of God. God promised to give them a Messiah, a Deliverer who would take away their sin.  He promised them that one day all Israel would be made clean and be ruled by this Messiah.  And God’s faithful believed His promises. These promises were the substance, the foundation of their faith. These promises were so real to them, that they based their lives on them.

That is what faith is:  Faith is trusting in a hope that is so real that it gives absolute assurance. The confidence in what we hope for.  That’s what the ancients were commended for.  They had faith in God’s Word.

So let me ask, what are we hoping for?   What’s the substance, the foundation of our faith? What are some of the promises of God we base our lives on today?  Let me name a few:

• Because we believe Jesus took away our sins, we are free to live without guilt: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.Romans 8:1-2  We are free from the fear of judgment.
• Because we believe Jesus is coming back, we can now pursue pure lives: But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3  This is our hope.  We have a faith that God will transform us and make us like Jesus.
• Because we believe Jesus conquered death, we now live without fear of death: Do you remember Mary’s conversation with Jesus after Lazarus died? Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26  Our faith in Jesus gives us confidence that we will live.
• Because we believe Jesus came to love us, we can now live a life of love: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34 Because Jesus loved us, it changes how we live.  We now want to love others like Jesus loved us.

We have a living hope and His name is Jesus. Jesus is the substance of our faith that allows us to live a different kind of life.  When our hope is in him we can live without guilt or fear.  With a faith in Jesus we are free to love and serve anyone.  And if you live with this hope as a foundation for your life, this is the kind of faith that pleases God.

Now the writer of Hebrews also describes this faith as an “assurance about what we do not see.”  The ancient fathers of faith had this kind of faith. They took God at His Word.

And that leads us to the first picture of how this faith is lived out.  I describe it this way:  A Commendable Faith is a Seeing Faith: By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:3  Now imagine the first recipients of this letter.  Who were they?  They were Jewish people.  The Hebrews. And what the writer to the Hebrews is saying here is that they’ve already practiced a commendable faith. They believed God created the heavens and the earth.  They were not there to see His act of creating, but they understood He was the Creator because God’s Word said He was the Creator.  In this sense they saw the invisible hand of the Creator and believed. And because they believed, God was pleased with their faith.

I find this fascinating, don’t you?  Why I find it fascinating is that it’s the same for us. We can look at a sunset, observe the miracle of a newborn baby, marvel at how fearfully and wonderfully we are made… and we can look at what is visible and believe the same thing the ancients believed: that the universe was formed at God’s command.  That’s a faith that is commendable to God.  And everyone is given the opportunity to see this, but not all choose to believe.

In fact, God’s Word tells us that observing Creation this is the starting point of faith for everyone.  Everyone is given the capacity to see God in His creation, but not everyone acts on it.  That’s the message of Romans 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

So a commendable faith is a seeing faith.  We didn’t see God create, but faith sees that behind everything visible is the invisible command of God… Even modern physicists recognize this truth: behind everything visible is invisible energy.  We understand this energy as the sustaining hand of God in His creation… And this kind of faith affects how we live: We worship and serve the Creator rather than created things.  We see every person as created in His image and likeness and value every life.  We value the unborn, we pray for the persecuted, we care for the poor. That’s why a faith that sees is a commendable faith.  But that’s just the first characteristic of a faith that pleases God.

Here’s another characteristic: A Commendable Faith is A Living Faith: By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4 Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve.  Their story is recorded for us in Genesis 4.  Every Hebrew knew their story.  That’s why the writer of Hebrews inserts Abel’s “better offering” as an example of commendable faith, because it’s the very first example of a living faith in the Bible.  But when we read it we have this question: Why did God accept Abel’s offering but not Cain’s?  Genesis does not answer that question.  The rest of the Old Testament, however, does.  For example, earlier in this letter to the Hebrews, God’s Word declares what every Jew understood: “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).  What we see here then is that Abel’s offering was in some sense foreshadowing the entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament and thus the sacrifice of Christ.  Abel understood that his greatest problem was that he was under divine judgment, and needed to make a sacrifice.  So he brought an offering from the first born of his flocks.  His blood sacrifice pointed to his own sin and to his hope in God’s provision. This is why Abel’s sacrifice was favorable to God: it was offered by faith in God’s promises.  By this act of faith, he was commended as righteous.

By faith, Abel did what God wanted him to do. By faith, Abel obeyed God.  And now, his faith still speaks.  And what is true of Abel can be true for you.  For every time you act in obedience to God’s Word, your faith speaks. Every time you forgive a wrong suffered, put the needs of another above your own or are kind to the undeserving, your faith speaks.  Every time you encourage the downcast, help the weak, or endure suffering with joy, your faith speaks. Every time you share with those in need, practice hospitality or love the unlovely, your faith speaks.  Whenever you obey God’s Word, your faith speaks.  That’s the mark of a living faith. And when you obey God, your faith pleases God.  What I love about this quality of faith is that when you obey God, your act of faith not only pleases God, but it creates a legacy.  A living faith still speaks long after we are gone. The Bible tells us that only three things last forever: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.  So God remembers your acts of faith forever. That’s what makes God smile.  But that’s just the second characteristic of a faith that pleases God.  Here’s the third:

A Commendable Faith is An Honoring Faith: By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. Hebrews 11:5

Now, two things mark the character of Enoch’s faith: 1) He pleased God by turning away from the godlessness of the world in which he lived and 2)He maintained a daily walk with God which grew so intimate that he was taken to heaven without experiencing death.  The Genesis account (5:21-24) indicates that for the first 65 years of his life Enoch did not walk with God.  But something happened at the time of the birth of His son.  At the birth of his son, whom he named Methuselah, we are told that for the next 300 years, Enoch “walked with God.”

There’s something very significant in that little phrase “walked with God.” In the Bible, the term “walking” is synonymous with living.  It’s a word that described your lifestyle.  So for the first 65 years of life, Enoch didn’t walk with God.  He lived separate from God.  He didn’t know God, didn’t worship God, didn’t live by faith in God.  But after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God for 300 years, and we are told that God was so pleased with Enoch, that he did not experience death, and was commended as one who pleased God.

So we can draw this conclusion:  Being faithful to God honors God.

Since the Bible tells us that Enoch walked with God for 300 years and did not experience death, we know that Enoch remained faithful in his relationship with God. We know that he lived in continual fellowship with God.  He never wavered in his faith and love of God.  What I love about Enoch’s faithfulness is that it should encourage you who have been walking with God for a long time.  Maybe there’s nothing all that notable about your faith – no great humanitarian deeds, no celebrated acts of faith, just simple day-to-day faithfulness. You just loved God, learned to obey Him little by little, served in the nursery, helped stack chairs, tithed regularly, and have just generally tried to honor God in your day-to-day relationships. So you sit here thinking you’re nothing all that special in God’s eyes.

But when you look at Enoch’s life – that’s really the only thing noted about Enoch – his faithfulness with God.  His faithfulness is what pleased God, and that was good enough for him to make the Hall of Faith! Faithfulness is one of the finest qualities of faith.  But its rarely honored. Being faithful to God honors God, and God honors faithfulness! If you have been faithful in your walk with God, be encouraged today.  God is pleased with you.

And really leads us to the final characteristic of faith recorded in this passage, and that is this: A Commendable Faith is A Believing Faith: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Faith, at the end of the day, is not about us, but about Him.  Our faith in God alone is what pleases God.  Nothing else does that. God is not looking for you to impress Him with your resume of good works.  God’s not looking for you to prove to Him how moral you are or how religious you are or how great a humanitarian you are.  He’s very clear on that. For He says right here: “Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.” 

The one thing that pleases God is your faith in Him.  So the best way to make God smile is trust in Him.  And the way to trust in Him is to BELIEVE in the one He sent, Jesus Christ. When Jesus was asked, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:28-29

It’s when you believe in Jesus, THAT IS WHAT MAKES GOD SMILE.  For God so lovedthe world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.   When you come to Jesus, you find God.  And when you believe in Him, God opens the floodgates of grace.  He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.  For when you have a believing faith, He promises to reward you with grace upon grace found in Jesus:

He rewards you with eternal life

He rewards you with forgiveness of sin

He rewards you with a peace that surpasses understanding

He rewards you with access into His presence

He rewards you with an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade

He rewards you with His Spirit to teach you, guide you and be with you forever

And He rewards you with a love that will always be for you and never let you go

A believing faith is the only thing that pleases God. So let me ask you:  Have you come to Him in faith?  Do you believe that He exists?  Are you seeking Him today?  For if you are, this is His promise to you: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13   God wants to be found by you.  That’s why He sent you Jesus.  Now all He asks of you… is to believe in Him.  That’s the faith that pleases God.