Faith: Our Connection To A Bigger Reality Series

Faith: Our Connection to a Bigger Reality

Series: Daring Faith

Brad Bailey - September 16th, 2018

Intro:

How big is your world? How big is the world around you?

It’s an interesting question … because we begin to realize that we might begin thinking in terms of purely physical dimensions… which itself seems more expansive than we can really know… … but we can also begin to consider another way of thinking about this which transcends those mere physical dimensions. What we call our world may exist in relationship to what exists outside of it.

This is precisely what Jesus reveals to us. Jesus… lived in relationship to a bigger world…a bigger reality. Jesus conforms that indeed the world we know eminates from an eternal realm. He spoke of this as “the Kingdom of God … breaking in… breaking in on what has been given control of this world. He lived in that connection. He became the means of our own connection. And he calls us to live in the reality of that connection.

That connection is called: FAITH.

Today we are launching into a Fall focus on what it means to live in this dynamic connection called faith. We are going to sharpen our understanding of faith…but also grow in living in this connection called faith.

I believe this is going to be a significant season for many of us.

Today is simply our introduction. We are going to consider what faith is…and the difference between seeing life through the power of fear…or the power of faith. So let’s begin by considering…

What is faith?

The nature of faith can seem a little hard to grasp. It can be a bit like the air we breathe. We know that air is central…. essential…but it generally remains unseen.

…So let’s begin with a few ways we can consider what God tells us about faith.

1. Faith is the connection to the bigger world…. the intersection between the finite and infinite.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Substance of things hoped for…that is… substance…something meaningful… related to that which not yet manifest fully in our present experience. It is not wishful hope…but something of substance. Similarly...it is “Evidence of things not seen.” There are things unseen that we have reason to believe in. In fact Jesus would remind us that the material world is temporary… and he eternal world is not less real…but perhaps more real.

It is so important to understand that faith is not about that which is irrational… it is about that which is beyond finite understanding.

It’s the connection to a bigger reality…it’s the space in which we as the finite engage the infinite.

….And that becomes personal when the living God meets us in that space.

2. Faith is trust in God who rules over a larger reality.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

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.

The point here is not that nothing people do can be considered good at some level.

I believe that God is pleased in some way whenever good is done to creation…to others. The point here is about relationship…and that you simply can never have relationship if you refuse to acknowledge and trust in the other.

3. Faith is essential to responding to God’s saving love.

If faith is about trusting in God who rules over a larger reality… it would only make sense that faith is essential to trusting what God has done to make it possible for us to be reconciled to Him. And that is what the Bible teaches us.

Romans 1:17 (NIRV)

The good news shows how God makes people right with himself. From beginning to end, becoming right with God depends on a person's faith. It is written, "Those who are right with God will live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)

The term Good News is simply another term for the Gospel. The word "Gospel" is simply the Old English word for good news. And the Good News is that God’s way of becoming right with Him is not by our capacity to get right on our own…but by our response to what he has done… to trust in his provision. The writer is quoting the prophet Habakkuk… which state sore fully…

Habakkuk 2:4 - Look at the proud one; His soul is not upright - But the righteous will live by his faith.

It is not pride in ourselves. Faith is about trusting not in ourselves but in God.

But trust is not something that is defined only in a moment. It is essential to our response to his saving love… but is a call into a life of such trust. True faith is not that which says I trust what God did to save me…but I will take it from here. In fact… it is the very quality which God has been sowing and will come seeking.