Every act of man is a reaction to the prevalent force from two entities of good and evil. Man was made to be a believer. We know that not everything is to be believed; man, hence, is accountable for that which he has made himself to live by. Amen.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God,” says Hebrews 12:2. The word ‘looking’, aphoraō (af-or-ah’-o), comes from apo (apo’) meaning: ‘of separation; “off”, that is, away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literally or figuratively)’; and horaō (hor-ah’-o) ‘(Properly) to stare at, that is, (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); by extension to attend to; by Hebraism to experience; passively to appear’. From Thayer Definition: ‘looking’ means ‘to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something’, and from Strong’s Definition: ‘to consider attentively’. If it says ‘looking’ then it whips up the spirit of continuity of this act of faith. ‘Unto’ is eis (ice): ‘towards; to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.)’. Our focus must, scripturally speaking, be a continual reaching out to Jesus.
The word ‘author’ is called, in the Greek, archēgos (ar-khay-gos’) which comes from archē (ar-khay’) (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concrete) chief ‘ and agō (ag’-o) ‘properly to lead; by implication to bring, drive, (reflexively) go, (specifically) pass (time), or (figuratively) induce’. This makes archēgos ‘the chief leader, and not a writer. What is ‘finisher’? It is the Greek word, teleiōtēs (tel-i-o-tace’): ‘a perfector, a completer, that is, consummater‘. Faith is an established understanding in the heart which one sees as the solution to problems. The foundational ground of faith is of utmost importance. To the unlearned heart, faith can come from anywhere, and to such mind, it is debatable when you say that true faith stems from the knowledge of the word of God, in the name of Jesus. Your faith cannot stand the true test of global vicissitudes outside Christ based faith. All other ground, as the hymn renders, is sinking sand.
Do we have scriptures that agree with ‘looking’? Isaiah 8:17 reads, “And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.” Chapter 45:22 of Isaiah says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Prophet Micah, in the 7th chapter of the 7th verse of his prophetic book also agrees with, “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
Abraham showed unwavering faith according to God’s will
Definitely, it will take the collaboration with the One with spiritual disposition, for us to expend faith. This takes us to John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Our faith, exercised, can only find a surest footing in the One who can find a lasting solution to our sinful nature. John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Even the father of faith developed his faith power from the only source as we read in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” Abraham made contact with the Author of pistis (pis’-tis), the Greek word for faith. It is a feminine noun –an indication of its profitable productivity. It is defined as: ‘persuasion, that is, credence; (morally) conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), (especially) reliance upon Christ for salvation; (abstractly) constancy in such profession; (by extension) the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself’.
The uniqueness of faith is so evident. It is captured in Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Ten times God spoke at the creationism, God being fully aware that absolutely nothing could challenge His words of creation. God, at creation, exhibited faith in Himself. We cannot draw perfect faith from our being. Impossible. Atheists and Humanists will erroneously believe otherwise.
Philippians 3:20, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:” tells us where Christians come from, spiritually. The neuter ‘conversation’ is politeuma (pol-it’-yoo-mah): ‘a community, that is, (abstractly) citizenship (figuratively)’. The Holy Spirit made it known to Paul who failed to disbelieve, so, he wrote, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” [2Timothy 4:8]. (…to be continued…)
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H.O. Ojewale 