Hope: Living in the Real World

Faith, hope and charity are the defining characteristics that set apart a life lived in the presence of God.  Jesus of Nazareth was the only man ever to live this “set apart” life perfectly from the moment of his conception in Mary’s womb until his dying breath on the cross.   He was the God-man, we are not; but because of who he was and what he did, you and I who know him as Savior and Lord have hope that, “just as we have born the likeness of the earthly man, so also we will bear the likeness of the man from heaven.  (1 Cor.15: 49).  That is a promise. The Word also tells us that: “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph. 1:3,4). One day we will be completely healed of the brokenness of our lives caused by sin. We do not yet see what we as individuals will be, but we know we will all bear the image of Christ.

This Biblical hope is what our faith looks like, as the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1). Unlike the hope of the one who lives exclusively by sight, we who live by faith in the unseen God can be sure of what we hope for.  If our hope is that we will be changed into the likeness of Christ, the lamb without blemish, then we can be sure of being healed from the physical, emotional, and spiritual brokenness of this world… if not here on earth, then in heaven. We too will be without blemish, and this hope impacts our life right now, here in this body.  Paul said “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”(Gal. 2:20 KJS). Christ is our model for living successfully in the real world here on earth, and that new life starts with faith that is sure of what we hope for – faith like Christ’s.

How can faith in the unseen be certain while belief that is restricted to what is seen is only more or less probable? The author of Hebrews tells us that, “…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” (Heb. 11:6). Naturalists do not believe that God exists and they do not believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  They believe the only source of knowledge is the physical senses and scientific instruments. We may summarize their belief about living in the real world by the phrase, “they walk by sight.”  We who have faith in the unseen God have a source of knowledge that they do not have. It is revelation from God, the Bible, and this knowledge does not contradict that which comes by sight, but includes and makes sense of it.  God rewards us with knowledge and depth of insight so we may be able to discern what is best for our own lives and for those we love as we live in the real world, trusting him with all our heart to direct our paths and to heal all our brokenness.

Faith: Living in the Real World

Faith, hope and charity, that’s the way to live successfully. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. Those words from a children’s Sunday school song that got lodged into the deep recesses of my mind a long time ago are now surfacing as I think about my next series of meditations on living in the real world.  That song expresses the simple truth that the first requirement for living successfully in the real world is to have Biblical faith.   So I will start by looking at what the Bible says about “faith.”

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (NKJ)  Having faith means that we come to the unseen God believing that he is real and that, as we diligently seek him, we are doing what pleases him, and he will reward our search by showing himself to us. That is, he will give us more faith. The writer of the book of Proverbs puts it this way,  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Prov. 3:5)  That is a promise.  When we put our faith in God our Creator, He will show us the way to live successfully in the real world he created. Biblical faith is living confidently, looking to the future, which we do not yet see, with a hope that is sure. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb.11:1).

I now contrast this Biblical faith in the unseen God with the faith of the naturalist who lives by sight and says that everything we observe must have a naturalistic explanation – one that can be formulated as a law of nature and verified by careful observation with the physical senses and scientific instruments. This philosophy governing scientific method worked very well when the things being observed were physical phenomena studied by physics and chemistry. The laws formulated had great certainty.  Yet, as science has evolved probability has replaced certainty so that today no scientific law is said to be absolutely certain, just more or less highly probable.  Laws and theories, once considered highly probable, can also loose that status, as exemplified by “the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature” which, according to the well-know naturalist philosopher Thomas Nagel, is “almost certainly false.” Many have chosen to live according to the philosophy of naturalism because they were deceived into thinking that Darwin’s theory did away with the need for God. For them, the theory of evolution explaining how all life, including human life, evolved from inanimate matter made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. They put their faith in the philosophy of naturalism rather than the unseen God who has revealed himself in scripture, and in these last days by his Son. My next meditation will be on Hope: Living in the real world.