Title: Faith?/Genesis 12:1-9
The writer of Hebrews says about faith in Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This word is like a {deed of entitlement} of things hoped for. Also, the proof of things not seen means a living conviction that, although not seen, exerts a living force in real life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; Even after talking about this much, faith still comes to us in a vague meaning. We have a chaos, in which sometimes I seem to have faith and sometimes I don't. So it confuses us and makes it difficult. And even more so on holidays like now. How are we to understand the invisible and intangible faith? This is our problem.
Much of the Bible is devoted to explaining faith. Because our faith is building on the very foundation of faith. We now want to take a look at Abraham's journey of faith at every opportunity. I hope you will find some help in understanding what faith really is by looking closely at the life of Abraham, who is said to be the father of faith, from the perspective of faith.
The text is the scene of Abraham's first call from God. God appeared to Abraham. Then he said, “Leave your father’s house, your relatives, and go to the land that I will show you.”
At that time, Abraham had buried his father Terah. Abraham was 75 years old at the time! He has formed a family in his own way and has now established a foundation in the land he lives in. At the same time, my father also passed away, so now was the time for me to do my own thing. But God appeared to Abramham. And then {leave this place}.
character! Now you have a choice. Will you obey the command to leave? Or will it just stay?
I talked about giving up financially because it was a long network before. To leave means to give up all of this. You may not know what kind of trouble awaits you. You said you would bless me, but you never know when that will be. Abraham's actions in this situation are surprisingly simple. There is no record of any agony or conflict, and it goes straight to verse 4. It is the statement of the Bible that “they followed the word of the Lord”. And the fact that we arrived in the land of Canaan in verse 5 is recorded until verses 6-9.
Now we have to make our own definition of faith. At least we can see this in the context of what Abraham is showing. Belief is that it is not something to do or not to do if it makes a profit after calculating profit and loss reliably according to our calculation method. And it is obedience to the given word. At the very least, faith appears to have to give up a lot. Appears to be obedient. Obedience to leave unconditionally without weighing or calculating before God's command, which first appeared to Abraham! It was faith. Later, the writer of Hebrews interprets these actions of Abraham in Hebrews 11:8, "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a land he would receive as an inheritance, and went out, not knowing where he was going." And in verse 10, it is written that what he looked for was a city that God had planned and built and had a foundation. The writer of Hebrews is testifying that there was faith in earnest longing for the kingdom of God behind Abraham's such obedience.