PLEASING THE FATHER BY FAITH IN HIM AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST
“We aim to please” is an axiom we hear in advertising and sales, and as a response someone makes to us when we express our appreciation for products and services rendered.
Examples: A business enterprise may tell us they aim to please by offering bargain prices and quality merchandise. A server in a restaurant may respond to our “thank you” by saying, “We aim to please”.
Where and when the idiom originated and by whom is anyone’s guess but it has been said that the phrase first appeared in the early 1900’s at county fairs where public restrooms for men had, for urinals, long troughs at a suitable height, with a faucet at one end pouring water into it and a drain at the other end, with a sign up above that read: “We aim to please. You aim, too, please!” Whether that is so, I don’t know. But . . .
All kidding aside, we can assume that to aim to please - in almost any context - means that it is the goal of the person(s) using the slogan to satisfy the recipients of their services or products. In the spiritual realm:
Pleasing God is one of the great Christian ideals we have been taught, and have sought to achieve, from the moment we first heard it to this very moment.
We heard it from:
Jesus: “The one who sent me is with me,” said Jesus, “He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” (John 8:29)
The Father Himself: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. This was the commendation from the Father we all memorized early on in our Christian journey. (Matthew 3:17)
The Beloved Apostle John: “We have confidence before God,” John wrote, “and we receive from him because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” (I John 3:22)
Any reference to the Christian ideal of pleasing God raises the question we all must ask ourselves: “What pleases God?”
To the writer of the Book of Hebrews, the answer was simple yet profound – Hebrews 11:1-6 . . .
So: What does it take to please God? Do we please the Master by routinely performing certain rituals . . . making up a check list of rules and regulations, and then checking them off one at a time . . . adhering to religious observances on a right regular basis? Now hear what the writer of Hebrews says:
“Without faith it is impossible to please God, for anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6).
Plain and simple: We are to build our lives on a foundation of faith. Which raises the question: “What is faith?”
Consider an apple seed; what is the essence of an apple seed? The seed is essentially an apple - the substance of an apple; and the apple is the evidence of what had been hoped for; the proof is in the tasting and the eating of it.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen (things we cannot, will not see until it is time).” (paraphrase of Hebrews 11:1)
God gave an apple seed which was planted and cultivated, in the hope – biblically speaking, we were certain of it based on God’s creation of it and God’s purpose for it - that the seed would produce an apple, which would be the reward for genuinely believing that the seed was indeed the essence of an apple that would go through a certain process before the hope could be realized; the sower of the seed had a good reason and every right to believe that it would happen when the time came for it to do so . . .
God’s reward for our faith will one day be realized in the fullness of God’s promises - because God said so . . . therefore we believed it would be so . . . thus, we know so. In a sentence: God said it, that settles it, I believe it. God’s most precious promise is one which we older folks like to hear, and never get tired of hearing - “I go to prepare a place for you” – our Lord’s promise to all who believe in him and receive him as personal Lord and Savior.
Faith in this case consists of: (1) believing that the promise will be so because Jesus said so. His saying so is the basis – the substance - for believing His promise. (2) His death and resurrection is the evidence that His promise will be kept.
Rule: Believe any promise, made by Him, whom God raised from the dead!
Furthermore, we are people of the Spirit . . . reveals and interprets the Word, thus guiding us to truth - the basis (the substance) for trusting God . . . the truth of the resurrection is evidence that our faith in Christ will be proved to have been not in vain but in victory in Jesus! The Proof is in His Resurrection from the dead! “He is risen from the dead, as He said!” He said it, that settled it. He proved it, believe it.
Be aware that the Greek word translated “evidence” meant “proof of a promise” as if it were a “title-deed”. Proof that an unseen piece of property exists is a legal document known as a “title-deed”. The person in possession of a “title-deed” is, in effect, in possession of the piece of property. Like so, we are in possession of the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us!
Jesus said it, that settles it. He proved by His resurrection He tells the truth, believe it! To be in possession of an airline boarding pass is to be guaranteed a seat on a plane.
By faith, the person in possession of the pass boards the plane in the hope – firm belief – that he will arrive at the promised destination because the pilot of that plane knows the way and has promised to get his passengers there safely. Now, If I can trust an earthly pilot to get me safely to a destination, how much more can I trust Jesus to pilot me to the place He promised!
Jesus said it, that settles it. He proved it, I believe it!
The forerunners of Christianity left us a legacy of their belief in the existence of the Lord God plus their faith in His majesty and power. Our Christian ancestors testified to their faith in and love of God plus their faith in and love of God’s Son.
Each of the faith examples given by the writer of Hebrews represents what we might call a “faith-filled heart” – meaning, each one of them believed in God to the extent that everything they did was faith-based, although each one of them might have had a slightly different way of going about living out their faith.
One characteristic they all had in common was their belief in what God said and promised, even when they could not yet see what the result would be.
Thus, by faith, Noah moved forward to build an ark with “godly fear” and he became the “heir” of generations of God’s people. Folks: We are “heirs and joint-heirs with Christ!” The Word (Jesus) said it, that settles it, therefore I believe it will be so, as He said.
By faith, a man named Abraham took many kinds of risks - without asking God for guarantees that every venture undertaken for God would turn out to be for good and not bad.
We know not what tomorrow may bring, but one thing we do know is: the sun will rise as God ordered it to do each morning, the sun will set each evening, the seasons will occur as always. So, trust God to work through all things to bring about that which is good and not bad.
By faith, Abel sacrificially worshipped God and served Him; thus, he received God’s commendation for faithfulness; the right spirit with which Abel went about his worship and work for God pleased God.
It may not be that what we have, to offer to God in our worship and work, is of great earthly value or high regard in the eyes of people, but our heavenly Father is pleased with us if we worship and serve Him in a spirit of love and humility.
Because of his faith, Enoch was permitted to bypass physical death and “on to glory go” as a testimony to how much God is pleased when we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word - as a way of life.
God rewards those who seek Him by giving us the joy of living in His presence for the duration of our journey here, then, by taking us home to glory, not by translation like Enoch’s, but by transition through physical death to our hoped-for realization of God’s promise - first given to Abraham, then renewed when God called Moses, and when the time was right, made real by the incarnation, finally guaranteed by the resurrection!
The Summation of pleasing God by faith: God said, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!” (Jeremiah 29:11). God said it! That settles it! By faith we accept it, we claim it, we look forward to the final proof of it! Amen!
