- So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
The letter to Galatians drives home the importance of faith for receiving specific divine blessings, i.e. salvation, sanctification, the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life in heaven with Jesus.
People tend to think in terms of the world system, i.e. "You gotta work hard to earn blessings." This is not true in God's system of blessings. Because it is not those who work hard to earn His blessings that are blessed, but it is those who believe His word and produce fruit in accordance to their faith that are blessed.
Just as Abraham believed God and received Isaac after many years of waiting on God, and later again offering his son to God and receiving him back.
Faith is not easy. Faith is costly. It does not take much faith to believe something we've already seen. For example, it is not hard to believe that a car exists because many of us already know that there are many cars on the road and some of us own one.
However, it'd be more difficult for someone who lived in the Amazon jungle all their life and have been told about a moving vehicle called a car to believe there is such a thing as a car.
Likewise, it is easy to trust in a doctor's word that he can cure the illness with right medications than to believe in a computer engineer's word that he can cure the same illness.
Therefore, we tend to easily believe in something we've already seen or trust in someone we already know to be trustworthy.
However, just because we haven't seen something doesn't mean that something does not exist, just as in the case of a person who lived in the Amazon jungle all their life and has never seen a car.
Also, just as a doctor is certified and trusted to diagnose and treat diseases, so we believe in someone who's got good credentials.
How about God? We haven't seen him with our own eyes. However, there are many who testify of His work and presence down the history. Historically, Jesus came to the earth 2000 years ago. And that is where we get our BC and AD. BC is "before Christ" and AD is "Anno Domini" which means "in the year of the Lord"
Therefore, 2013AD means in the 2013th year of the Lord Jesus. The history records the person and work of our Lord Jesus.
We haven't seen Jesus, yet we know from others' witnesses and testimony that He indeed came to the earth to save sinners, even us.
Secondly, Jesus' words are trustworthy. He spoke to us about God. Jesus only said things that His Father taught him to speak.
Jesus' words are powerful. He healed the sick, cast out demons, silenced the storm and raised the dead with His word.
Therefore, we know we have faith when we truly believe He is who He says He is and trust His word completely without wavering.
Hebrews 11:6
- And 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.
James 1:5-8
- If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
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