11 Mar BELIEVING WHAT HE HAS SAID HE WILL DO
Overhead a narrative is being told—the apocalyptic gospel— of what is, what has been, and what is yet to be. It tells us that no matter how it looks, He has not left us. No matter how deep the night, darkness will not prevail. No matter how long we have cried for justice, our Father is not unjust and He will answer us speedily, He hears us.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.” God tells us that He is the beginning and the end, that He dwells in eternity, that He has entered into earth history in time past, and is going to come again. The apocalyptic narrative tells us not only what is, but also what has been, and what is yet to be. When we hear and believe what God says He is going to do, it makes our soul right with Him. We see this with Habakkuk and Abram.
Habakkuk, the prophet, is wrestling with the geo-political threats to Israel in his time, and God shows him that He is raising up the Chaldeans to judge Israel. This doesn’t square with Habbakuk’s understanding of God’s covenant with His people. How can God allow a people who are much worse than Israel to conquer Israel? God answers Habakkuk with a statement that reveals what He wants for the soul of His people. “For the vision [the Chaldean invasion] awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay. Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright— but the righteous will live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:3,4)
WHO is the proud one? Is he the Chaldean? Or its he Israel? He is both. Neither soul is upright. But the righteous (those whose souls are right with God) will live (will be in life-giving relationship with God) by faith.
What is faith? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.. (Hebrews 11:1) Those who believe what God has said He is going to do receive the substance of things hoped for; they see, they have, they walk in the evidence of things not seen. The Narrative coming to us for thousands of years, the apocalyptic gospel, tells us what God has said He is going to do. And we, who believe, walk in the substance of those things now.
When we consider the apocalyptic gospel, what God has said He is going to do, as reliable, it conveys God’s power to make our soul right with Him.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. (Hebrews 11:11)
Hearing and believing what God has said He is going to do makes our soul right with Him. We see this in Abram.
After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:1-6)
When Abram heard and believed what God had said He was going to do, it was credited to him as righteousness.
Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe? So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatians 3:5,6)
Beloveds, light fills the night sky overhead and has bathed us all down through history … we who are His church, who have heard and believed what God has said He is going to do.
All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)