Good morning! Please open your Bibles to Hebrews, chapter 11. This is a passage that’s been described as the “hall of faith,” because it’s an extensive list of some of the heroes of the Old Testament, and their example of faith.
You may be thinking, “but today, we lit the Advent candle of Hope, not faith. Why are we talking about faith? Or why are we using a passage about faith to talk about hope? Or are faith and hope really the same thing? In 1 Corinthians 13, which we read yesterday, Paul said that “these three remain—faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.” So they can’t be exactly the same, can they? But if there’s a difference, what is the difference? And if there’s a difference, what is the difference to me? Is this going to be one of those sermons where I might learn more information about some Greek words, but it doesn’t have anything or is this going to impact my life?
Well, whether or not it impacts your life isn’t up to me. But if there was one statement I would get you to write down and hang your hat on, it’s this:
We put our faith in Jesus, who gives us hope for eternity.
Let’s see how this works, in Hebrews 11.
[Read passage]
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Let’s stop there. Pray with me.
Hebrews 11:1: defines faith as the "assurance of things hoped for.” The word assurance in the Greek is hypostasis (I promise, that’s the only Greek word!). Hypo is the prefix that means “under” or “below” (hypoglycemic = low blood sugar). And then “stasis” is an unchanging state of being. It’s equilibrium. It’s where we get the word stable or stability. And so you put it together, and you have this idea of an underlying reality. A foundational, supporting structure of what is true. And that’s faith.
Faith is rooted in the past. Biblical faith is a confidence that God is a real, personal being Whose character and attributes have been consistent from since before time began. This is why verse 6 says “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
He exists—He is a real, actual, being. Verse 3 says that the universe was created by the word of God. He is personal. He has a will, and He has worked His will throughout all history on behalf those who seek Him.
And so the writer of Hebrews (which, by the way, no one knows who wrote the book of Hebrews) spends the rest of chapter 11 recapping the stories we’ve been studying all year long. If this were an episode of a TV show, this would be the voiceover at the beginning of the episode: “Previously, on The Bible…”
Verse 4: Previously, on the Bible, Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. Why is that the first example out of the box? Because it reminds us that for a sacrifice to be acceptable, there had to be the shedding of blood.
Verse 5: Previously, on the Bible, God rewarded Enoch by taking him up before he could see death.
Verse 7: Previously, on the Bible, God made a way for Noah to be saved from God’s wrath.
And it goes on from there. The author of Hebrews gives shout outs to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, the children of Israel who crossed the Red Sea, and Rahab, the prostitute who hid the twelve spies.
Then, in verse 32, the writer of Hebrews says, “And that’s just a sample. I don’t even have time to talk about Gideon, or David, or Samuel.” But what all these had in common was an unshakable, foundational assurance that God existed and that He rewards those who seek him.
So then, what is hope? Well, if faith is based on what God has done in the past, then hope is rooted in what God will do in the future.
It’s not wishing. Wishing is just taking what we want or think we need and projecting it into the future. But hope is oriented toward what God desires. Eugene Peterson, author of the Message translation, said we can picture wishing like an arrow coming from us and pointing toward the future. But hope is the opposite. Hope is a line that comes from God out of the future and points toward us.
Again, you see that all through Hebrews 11. Verse 8:
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Verse 10:
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
And it gives example after example of people who based all their hopes on the promises of God.
Max Lucado once said "Hope is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right." It's an unshakeable trust in God's wisdom, His goodness, His timing, and His promises.
And with biblical hope, there is continual joy and wonder and anticipation and surprise, because we can’t always see how the story ends, but we know it’s going to be good. It’s like reading a novel by your favorite author. You don’t know how it’s going to end, but you love everything she’s ever written, so you have confidence that it’s going to be satisfying and fulfilling.
Or it’s like your children saying, “Mom, Dad, it doesn’t matter what you get me for Christmas, because I know you love me, I trust in your character, you know what I need better than I do, so I trust that whatever I find under the tree on Christmas morning is going to be the best gift ever.
Hope is placing our assurance in what we already know about God. What he’s done in the past. What he’s done for us in the past.
Wishing is crossing your fingers and hoping that a circumstance or situation will turn out the way you want it to. I hope I get that job. I hope I get into the school I want. I hope my team wins the football game.
Christian hope is saying to Jesus, because of what you did for me in the past, I trust that everything you will do for me in the future will be for my good. Because you gave your life for me two thousand years ago, I have confidence that you will keep your word to me this afternoon. I never have to doubt your love for me in the future, because you have demonstrated your love to me in the past.
We put our faith in Jesus, who gives us hope for eternity.
So how does Christian hope help us?
Christian hope helps us understand reality. We have confidence that there is a good God at the center of creation.
Christian hope gives us perspective. It gives us the ability to persevere. The best example of that is Jesus Himself. Turn the page to Hebrews 12:
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Christian hope gives us entry into a relationship with God:
Through faith, we are justified and have peace with God (Romans 5:1). It is through faith that we become children of God (John 1:12). This is the ultimate power of faith - to reconcile us to God and make us part of His family.
Conclusion
I want to go back to something I said at the very beginning of the message. Do you remember how 1 Corinthians 13—the famous love chapter—ends? Paul wrote, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” I want you to key in on the word “now,” because I’d like you to consider something maybe you never have before. Earlier I said that faith and hope have to be two different things, because Paul refers to them that way. And he says that “now faith hope and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.”
But there is going to come a day when all that will be left is love. Hebrews 11 starts by saying, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
But one day, we will see the One in whom we put our faith. We will be in Jesus’ presence. We will see Him face to face. One day, as the hymn goes, our faith shall be sight. Faith will find its fulfillment.
In the same way, Paul wrote in Romans 8:24-25 that “hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
So for now, faith, hope, and love remain. But the reason Paul says the greatest of these is love is because when we are in the presence of Jesus, faith and hope won’t be necessary anymore. It’s weird to say, but in Heaven, we’re going to be faithless and hopeless!
But we will never, ever, ever be without love. Because God is love.
Heaven and earth will pass away. Faith will be fulfilled, hope will be realized, and all that will be left is the love of God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So put your faith in what Jesus has already done for you. Rest your hope on the home He is preparing for you. And you will remain in His love forever and ever.
