Jesus Is . . . ! Series

Jesus Is. . .!

Hebrews 11:14-38

September 10, 2017

have you ever met an athlete or musician you admire? Sometimes they seem bigger in life than in your mind. It can be a little intimidating. It’s kind of like going to the Hall of Fame. You see pictures and videos of people while they were excelling in their craft. It’s like being a little kid, walking through the Hall of Fame and looking at all of these amazing people.

Sometimes we may wonder if we will ever measure up to our heroes. Will I ever make it? When we look at Hebrews 11, we also have a Hall of Fame. The accomplishment for these folks is their faith. These are people who lived such amazing faith-filled lives that they have been mentioned in God’s Hall of Fame. As we walk through His Hall of Fame, we wonder if we will get there, too.

Some of these people are like Enoch, who was so good that he never died in this world. Or they had such faith that they built a huge ship during the dry season, taking years to build, like Noah. There's a young couple, he’s 100, she’s 90, and they laugh with delight that God has given them a little boy. That same father and son would later walk up a mountain where the father was willing to sacrifice the life of his son to that same God.

Let's face it. When you look at people like Moses, Sarah and Abraham, Noah, Enoch and others, it can be pretty intimidating.

Understand a couple of things. People are people. The world isn't divided in God's eyes between super duper saints and groveling saints. God doesn't divide the Christian community into the haves and have nots, the popular and the peons. In God's family everybody is - - - - plain, old human.

None of us can walk on water. We need to remember that when we come to a passage like Hebrews 11. We'll think those people lived in another kind of world than we live in. They’re not half human / half angels. These people were totally, 100% human and that's all.

Also, remember this . . . God is God. He wasn't more God back in the first century than He is today. He wasn't more a God to Moses than He is to people today. God doesn’t change. We’ll look at this more in a few weeks, when we look at Hebrews -

SLIDE8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

He’s the same. He wasn't more Christ back then. He wasn't more significant or more inspiring or more miraculous or more powerful than He is today. God is God.

Ever have the feeling God got personally involved in those lives but He doesn't get involved in the same way today? He bailed people out of the greatest misery back then - and He still does today. That's His specialty. God works on sinners. We all qualify, because people are people, nothing more. God is God, nothing less.

And miracles are miracles, nothing else. We're living in such a sophisticated world that people try to explain miracles away. That's not God. They say - that was an earthquake that caused those walls to crumble. It wasn't a miracle when they cast the nets on the other side. Scholars say Jesus saw a school of fish on the other side of the boat and used common sense and said, “Hey, cast over there.” So they cast their nets over there and naturally they got fish. It's not a miracle.

A number of years ago, a group of kids were asked ‘does God understand nuclear energy?’ 64 percent said no. Let me tell you God understands nuclear energy better than any scientist. He created it!

Miracles still occur today. God still intervenes. That still goes on. Miracles defy explanation and they deny duplication. A human being cannot do them. Miracles are rare. They've always been rare. They happen at unpredictable times. They’re God things, not human things. So - - understand this . . .

A miracle is a miracle, nothing else. God is God, nothing less. People are people, nothing more. It can all be very intimidating. You may feel like you’re inadequate for God to do anything in your life. But don’t believe that.

SLIDEEvery person is a sinner that has been delivered by the grace of God. With all that in mind, let’s start looking at the last half of Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11:29, we read this about the people of Israel ~

29 By faith THE PEOPLE crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

Just who are THE PEOPLE? They must have been great people for this to happen. Their faith must have been super powerful. They must have been bold, firm, faithful - - to have been blessed with a sea that parts by the very word of God.