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[RLunde]

What really is faith in God and in the Bible? What is the nature of faith?

[jimwalton]

We’re going to start back at creation. The Bible doesn’t tell us how God created. Genesis 1 is not about things, but about that it is God who gives them their purpose. But I feel safe in saying that God had a special relationship with Adam & Eve, and that their relationship with him didn’t need any faith. They had a face to face. After that, though, God pretty much “disappears” from the scene—he goes undercover—and we have the issue of faith to deal with. Genesis 5 is a long list of Adam’s descendants, and for thousands of years there is no mention of God except that God took Enoch away because he walked with God. Now what I’m saying is that it’s very possible that God was silent all those years, and people were just left with hearing the stories of old, and having to believe whether or not they were true. Like we hear stories about King Arthur, about Alexander the Great, and about George Washington. Are they true? It’s possible they were hearing stories about Adam and Eve, and about God, and it was up to them to discern—is it true?

God makes a dramatic appearance in the flood—or does he? Noah says God told him to do that, but did He? It’s hard to get around that all the animals came to him, so this is one of those “pretty tough to question” episodes. How else do you explain such a thing? So we finally have something solid to hang onto. Then the same thing happens again, and Genesis 10 lists lots of years of genealogies. Where’s God in it? Who can tell.

Then comes Abraham, starting in Genesis 12. This thought comes to his head, and he says it’s God. Or maybe he has a dream, and he says that is God. But was it? He says it was. What did other people think? It’s not so clear. Basically they have to decide what they believe, because it isn’t so clear. He goes to a new land, and it’s a terrible place. There are wars, immorality, and famines. Five times in his 175-year life he says God talked to him. Did he? It all comes down to what do you think, because there’s no proof of it. All of it just could have happened, right?

Through the stories of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, it’s all the same thing. God really doesn’t show up much. Jacob says he wrestled with God, but no one else was there. He says he had a dream about a stairway to heaven. Did he? There’s the story of Joseph, and how God didn’t show up at all, but Joseph attributes everything that happens to God. We’re all really left with, well, do you believe it? We don’t have any evidence for ANY of it.

As I have said, every once in a while God shows up, and there’s no other reasonable explanation for it. Moses is one of those. The Moses story is God in abundance. But it’s still not a done deal. Don’t you wonder why, when God is SO obvious, the people still grumble and want to go back to Egypt? Don’t you wonder how Korah and his followers could rebel against Moses? Hadn’t they seen? Wasn’t it clear?
Here’s the deal: it wasn’t so clear. There’s a storm on the top of Sinai when Moses is up there. Some say it’s God; some say it’s a storm. A sudden rush of quail appear one day after Moses tells the people God will answer their request for meat. But this happens all the time when a strong wind blows off the sea. Some say it’s God; some say it happens. Moses struck a rock and water came out. This is a normal phenomenon with a certain kind of rock in the Sinai Peninsula. Some say it was God; other aren’t so sure. Are you understanding what I’m saying? It depends what you believe. There is evidence, but it’s not so solid as you would like.

Don’t think it’s any different when you get to Joshua. Jericho lies on a fault line, and earthquakes are common in the area. The Bible never says the whole wall fell down—just that the wall collapsed. Was it God, or an earthquake? Or did God use an earthquake? You can understand who some people would believe, and others not. So what’s the truth? Is God doing these things or not? I tell you this: there is truth here. Whether we believe it or not doesn’t change what the truth is. It’s our job to figure out what the truth is, and not be stupid about it in either direction. Understand?

And so it goes. Through the Judges—did God really raise these people up every 40 years? What about the monarchy—you know God never appears to David, just like Joseph. No visions, no audible voices. The prophets keep showing up and saying God spoke to them. And those things came true. That makes you go “huh,” just like everything else. So what is the truth? What is really happening? It depends what you believe, doesn’t it?

The story isn’t over yet. There’s a clincher here. And basically, everything either stands or falls here.

A guy named Jesus appeared on the planet, and with him a burst of spiritual or divine activity unlike had ever happened before. In his particular case, it didn’t seem to be a matter of “do you believe it or not.” It seems to have been undeniable. The miracles were popping, and in front of thousands of people. Impossible things were happening with blind people being healed (something doctors can’t even do to this day) and dead people coming back to life—again, outside of the reach of medical science.

As I said, the question wasn’t “Did that happen?”, but more, “What made that happen?” At least one accusation was that he was using Satanic power to do it. Most people seemed to think that it was God’s power, but then it makes it strange that they turned on him. That’s a tough one to explain. You can ask the question, “What if it wasn’t really so clear?” but that hardly makes sense in this case. Wherever he went, hundreds or even thousands gathered. The harder part with him was that he claimed to be God himself. Now there’s where the faith comes in. Sure, you’ve seen the healings and the miracles, but is this guy God? Well, it depends what you believe, don’t you.

As you know, he was eventually executed, and it is said he rose from the dead. Here we go again. He appeared to his friends, to a few small groups, and once even to a group of 500. But he didn’t wander around the countryside. He gave just enough evidence for you to believe, but no more, so it really was a question of, “What do you believe?” Isn’t it fascinating? It’s like it’s all dangling in front of our eyes. For people who want to believe, there’s plenty of evidence there to convince them. No problem. For those who don’t want to believe, there are plenty of reasons to say no. Isn’t that intriguing?

So what is faith? What is the nature of faith? It’s quite obvious that God’s design is to hide in plain sight. There are evidences of God everywhere, and there are evidences of God nowhere.
When it comes to Christianity, there are clear historical evidences. There are a huge number of lives that have been changed. There are occurrences in life that make you feel for certain that it was God. You put all these together, and you just believe. But you can hardly put your finger on ANY of it, and that’s why it’s faith. It’s just not as concrete as I’d like it to be. It’s not as cause-and-effect as I would like it to be.
WHY has God made it this way?

1. Only those who really want it go for it. As you read through Scripture, when God made himself really obvious, it didn’t help. Pharaoh? The children of Israel in the wilderness? Cain? It doesn’t do any good. If he stays hidden, only those who seek will find.
2. Since there are degrees of punishment in hell, it’s an act of mercy to stay hidden. The less people know about him, the less their punishment.
3. Love is always an act of the will. It’s not a feeling, but a choice. And since faith is a choice, it’s appropriate.

Here this and hear me well: I am NOT saying that whatever you believe is fine. It’s one of the biggest lies out there. Things are real. Either God is in it, or he’s not. Either Allah is God, or YHWH is, or somebody else, or there is none, and what we believe about it doesn’t change the truth of it. You just can’t believe whatever you want. You have to figure out what the TRUTH is. We have to figure out how to believe what’s true.

How does it work?
1. Most of us get to see nothing. Read the Scriptures, and it’s the same way. We have the stories of the one guy who DID get to see. The tens of thousands of others didn’t get that, and they had to go on faith. I’ve never seen anything that I know of. That’s just the way it works. Jesus said, “You believe because you’ve seen. Blessed are those who believe even though they haven’t seen.” That’s most of us. All we have to go by is the stories, or what someone else says they’ve seen or experienced.
2. But I also believe that God puts at least 1 or 2 things in each of our lives that makes it clear, and it’s up to us to see them and respond appropriately. Nebuchadnezzar is a primo example, but most of us don’t get that kind of thing. So you have this experience where you think, “Wow, God did that.” That could be it. But then there won’t be another one of those for YEARS. So, do you have faith? Do you hang on to that one thing, or do you give up because it only happened that once and you start to forget it or doubt it? You see how this works?
3. But how do you see when you don’t see? Develop an eye for it. Like a photographer—you gotta have an eye for it. Some have it naturally, but most have to learn. Even those who have it naturally need to be trained. The Bible says if you seek you will find, but you have to be SO careful not to see what you WANT to see, and instead see what’s really there. It’s something we all have to learn.
4. So you have to watch out for the problems. I think people attribute all kinds of things to God, and they’re just making it all up. Since God is so hidden, and since so much seems to be in our thoughts and our perceptions, it easy to make a mess of the whole thing, and people have.
So you have to learn. You see a sunset. Some people see the hand of God. Some people see a sunset. Which is true? One of them is, and it’s up to us to seek the truth and find it. Now maybe you understand Jesus’ words in Mt. 7.13-14 where he said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” This is not easy.

But what about the text in Mt. 17.20 where it says, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Because I’m not saying you have to have a strong faith, or a lot of faith. All I’m saying is that you have to have faith—the real thing, sincerely—that you’ve got it. It’s not a cheap optimism, or “I hope, I hope,” but a real faith. And in that case, quantity is immaterial. Am I making sense?