Faith Before the Flood

Hebrews 11:4-7

September 9, 2001

 

Often, the impression many have of Hebrews 11 is that it sets forth a "bonus" type of faith for the really serious minded Christian. Most people will not have much interest in living out this sort of faith relationship to God. It is not describing what is normal but virtually super-normal (maybe even abnormal) faith. That way one can read through Hebrews 11 and be impressed and inspired, but not very serious about evaluating his or her faith. If a certain level of inspiration strikes, then that person might seek to add a "Hebrews 11" sort of faith, but not until something unusual happens. 

 

Such a view of Hebrews 11 is pure fallacy! The connection with chapter 10, as we saw last week, explains Hebrews 11 as a faithful exposition of the kind of faith that preserves the soul. Faith is meant for living not just dying. It not only initiates one's relationship to God but also sustains it through the enduring demands of daily life.

 

We must remember that our writer was addressing real Christians going through real struggles. He was not trying to heap condemnation on their heads by reminding them of all the things they "ought" to be doing. Instead he provided a clear picture of the type faith that is true saving faith. It is never a one-time event. Saving faith is a lifestyle of trust in the Lord. Yes, it has a beginning point when the sinner embraces the merits of Christ as his own. But it also has a continuation. That is why the New Testament consistently uses the present tense verb for "believe" when calling for trusting in Christ; it is a continual experience, a life of trusting in the Lord.

 

What is this type of faith like? Images of faith, good and bad, may haunt our thoughts and confuse our understanding of a biblical faith. So how do we recognize an authentic faith, the kind that is properly called "saving faith" and occasionally referred to as "sanctifying faith"? Faith recognizes the revelation of God and depends on the graciousness of God in daily life. Our writer unfolds this for us in three vignettes from the book of Genesis, demonstrating that the same kind of faith needed today is the same faith practiced before the Flood.

 

The theme of this passage is found in verse 6: "And 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 seek Him." While there is a clear connection with the previous verse describing the faith of Enoch who "was pleasing to God," Bible students agree that this verse is broader, encompassing the whole picture of faith in this context. So what is he describing? The writer speaks of "those who seek Him," that is, believers who in their daily lives, in church and out of church, in good times and in difficult times, seek to live in the presence of the Lord. So he speaks comprehensively of our worship, our daily walk, and our work and witness as Christians. In all that we do in life, all that we face in life with an aim of honoring the Lord, faith is necessary to please Him.

 

Paul tells us, "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent [that is, in the Lord's presence], to be pleasing to Him" (II Cor 5:9). And to the Thessalonians Paul reminded them of how he had given instructions on "how you ought to walk and please God" (I Thes. 4:1). Pleasing God means that our lives are lived in such a way as to be a pleasure to the Lord. It is a life of living to the glory and honor of Christ our King. A Christian is really one who has been so transformed by the grace of God through faith in Christ that his whole life is now aimed to be a pleasure to the Lord. Anything less is not Christian! So in light of this our writer reminds all of us through the centuries that, "without faith it is impossible to please Him." So whether we are living in the 21st century or several thousand years before this letter was penned, during the antediluvian period (prior to the flood), faith is the only way to please God.

 

Our writer shows the aim of faith in two realms; and that is our consideration this morning. "For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Faith actively rests in the revelation of God and actively trusts in God's gracious action toward all who believe.

 

I. Faith believes that God exists

 

Most of the people in our nation believe that some kind of God exists. There are plenty of ideas of what this God is like, what he will do for humanity, and what he has to do with people's lives. The problem comes when this belief in God does not correspond with His own self-revelation in Scripture. We have no right to believe whatever we want to believe about God-unless we are willing to face the consequences. I can believe that a 1500-pound automobile traveling 60 miles per hour would have no effect upon striking me. And it might not affect the automobile! But it would affect me whether I believe it or not. Belief and lack of belief in the Creator have consequences, so we must give care in what we believe.

 

In the context of Hebrews the thought of believing "that He is" points us to the way that God has clearly revealed himself through the centuries "in many portions and in many ways" (1:1). He has used nature and conscience to reveal himself to us in general ways (Rom. 1:18-21), though such revelation is not adequate for us to enter into a right relationship to him. That requires the special revelation or particular revelation that God gave to us through the early patriarchs and prophets of old (1:1), and ultimately completed this revelation "in His Son" (1:2). So believing "that He is" cannot be thought of as a vague recognition of the existence of a supreme being governing the universe. Even many of the ancient pagans had that kind of almost superstitious belief about God (e.g., Acts 17:23). The kind of faith that he describes affects us in our worship, walk, and work. It views God, as God desires himself to be viewed. It is not a faith in our imagination of God but faith in God as he has revealed himself he calls for.

 

God has revealed himself progressively through the centuries until Jesus Christ. Then the revelation was complete. That is why there is no more need for prophets in the Old Testament and early Christian era sense, for God has completed the revelation of himself through His Son and nothing can be added to this for our understanding beyond what he has been pleased to give us in Holy Scripture. So when we consider Abel, Enoch, and Noah we must realize that they had very specific revelation concerning God though not in the fullest sense that we have recorded for us in God's Word. Yet the revelation they had of God was fully adequate for a lively faith to believe that God is and that He rewards the ones seeking him.

 

1. In our worship

 

We see this first of all in the worship of Abel. You will recall from the story in Genesis 4 that Adam and Eve's first born was Cain and second was Abel. Both of them sought to worship God but only the worship of Abel was accepted. Genesis 4:4-5 records, And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard." Cain reacted in despondency from this rejection and refused to heed the instruction and warning of God afterwards. Then he rose up and killed his brother. Our writer does not record the whole story but only the portion of Abel's sacrifice being better than Cain's. "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks."

 

Both Abel and Cain sought to worship God, bringing their gifts before Him. One was accepted and the other rejected. Much speculation has arisen over the rationale of why God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain. Some point out that Abel made an animal sacrifice, shedding its blood for atonement for his sin after the pattern of the slain animals that God used to clothe Adam and Eve. Cain's grain offering was unacceptable since it contained no life and blood, and thus no atonement. Others would point out the costliness of Abel's offering compared with the cheaper value of Cain's. Still others point to the fact that Abel offered the first of his flock and Cain's had nothing to do with the first fruits but may have been leftovers.

 

But the Scripture does not tell us precisely why Abel was accepted and Cain rejected, other than this: Abel offered his worship by faith. And the point made by our writer was not the content of the offering made before the Lord but the attitude of the heart. Abel believed that God is. Cain had developed a God of his own imagination so that he could offer worship in whatever way he desired. Abel responded to God's revelation of Himself by faith. Cain's offering looked to a God of his own making. Abel looked to God who had revealed himself to him. Cain's offering was for show. Abel's offering was out of affection for the Lord.

 

Our worship of the Lord must be borne along on the wings of faith. Great pretension in worship with all the pomp and ritual and ceremonies imaginable means absolutely nothing to God. He accepts our worship when it is offered by faith. And faith is always a response to God's revelation of himself in the Word. That is why our Lord said that the kind of worship God seeks is from those "who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). The "truth" refers to the revelation of God in his Word. It is not enough to be sincere and passionate in worship. We must worship the Lord according to the way he has revealed himself. Faith responds to this revelation in worship.

 

2. In our walk

 

Faith also affects our daily walk with the Lord, demonstrating that we believe that God is. The story of Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24 explains how the father of Methuselah (the oldest man who ever lived-969 years), walked with God-for 300 years! "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." Twice in the Genesis record it states, "Enoch walked with God." Philip Hughes writes that this means, he "enjoys a relationship of harmonious fellowship with" God [The Epistle to the Hebrews, 457].

 

It is interesting that Genesis does not mention anything that he did other than having sons and daughters, except his walking with God. He did not lead a people out of Egypt's bondage like Moses. He did not conquer the land of Canaan like Joshua. He did not carry the gospel to endless regions like Paul. "Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah." Day after day with the demands he faced in bringing up all the children (and he probably had plenty!) God had entrusted to him he walked with God. In facing trials, difficulties, decisions, and needs he walked with God. On bad days when he did not feel like it he walked with God. When others were more concerned about pursuing the world he walked with God. And how did he walk with God? The implication of our text is that he did this "by faith." His life pleased God because it was a life of faith.

 

Walking with God expresses our faith dependence upon the Lord. It means that we live with Him in view, by the light of his revelation through the Word, and with an aim to be pleasing to him. When you walk with someone it means that you are heading in the same direction, going along side by side, keeping step as you aim for the same goal. Walking with Christ implies that we are in the yoke with him (Matt. 11:29), learning of him, learning of his strength to bear our burdens, and finding the wonderful rest of union with Christ. Paul reminds us that we are not to walk like unbelievers but as those who have learned of Christ and have been taught in him, laying aside the corruptions of our old life, and putting on the new self "which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Eph. 4:17-24). Walking with the Lord in our daily lives means that we are conscious of living like a Christian, dealing with sin, and consciously enjoying the benefits of our new life in Christ. And we do this by faith: "for we walk by faith, not by sight" (II Cor. 5:7).

 

3. In our work

 

Noah's reverential mind toward God brought about one of the most amazing feats of obedience we have recorded in Scripture. "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Conditions around Noah were dark and dismal. The least popular thing to do in his day was to live and work by faith in the Lord. Genesis 6:5 records, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Every place that one turned during that era, men pursued wickedness. There were no people worshiping God and no "Bible studies" or God-fearing organizations going on. Every manner of perversion was being played out in daily life. One exception remained, "But Noah found favor in the eyes the Lord" (Gen. 6:8). If you think that it is hard to live like a Christian in your school or workplace or social group, then take a look at Noah. He had absolutely no support group. No one was there to pat him on the back. And to make matters more noticeable, God told him to build a huge ark, one and a half times the size of a football field, with no ocean anywhere in sight. Noah was on public notice that he was a follower of the living God.

 

The testimony that God is came to life through Noah's work. For scores of years he built the ark, preaching the righteousness of God throughout. Can you imagine the ridicule he must have taken year after year while he built this massive ship with no water in sight? Noah's faith proclaimed through his work that God is both Creator and Judge over the universe. "His action [was] motivated by faith, not by any reasoned calculation of the probabilities based on the best available evidence" [Leon Morris, EBC, 116]. Do you obey God by faith? Or do you wait to calculate how your act of obedience might somehow accrue to exponential temporal benefits in your life?

 

Noah's work took place by faith. It served as a noble testimony of the reality of God even in the face of God's judgment on the unbelieving world ("by which he condemned the world"). The work of the believer that is exercised by faith or in dependence on the Lord pleases God and testifies of him. It is not to be done for the sake of temporal gain but out of pleasure to our Lord. And it is only by faith that we can do that!

 

II. Faith believes that God gives

 

Hindus live by the fate of the gods. That is why you see photos of them throwing their children into the Ganges River as a sacrifice in hope that the gods might be appeased and withdraw their malicious intentions from being played out. Muslims are fatalists who live by the capricious actions of Allah whom they serve in legalistic dread.

 

But not so with people who have faith in Christ! "For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Such a view of God is really an acknowledgement of his character. He exists, that much some of the other religions will admit howbeit with an unclear view of him, but he also cares. That is truth that other religions cannot begin to grasp. Does Allah care? Certainly not; that is why the Muslim must live in fear of his unpredictable actions and retaliations toward those who do not slavishly follow Islamic law. God alone, who is God alone, cares for us though we cannot do anything for him. Genesis through Revelation records the gracious care of God in giving out of his abundance to supply the temporal and eternal needs of those who draw near to Him by faith. How does our text demonstrate God as one who cares for us by giving?

 

1. By declaration

 

The language of verse 4 concerning Abel points to a divine declaration: "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous." Just like the passive voice illustrated in verse 2, "he obtained" is a so-called "theological passive," meaning that it was God that declared Abel to be righteous. It was not the people of history that made such declaration since that would not matter in view of eternity. But when God declares someone to be righteous then it means that he is accepted before God on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. In the case of Abel, he offered his sacrifice by faith according to the light of revelation given knowing that the sacrifice he offered was merely a shadow of the Substance to come. Just like Abraham and Moses, and many others that followed, Abel trusted in the goodness and mercy of the Lord as the only one who could take away his sin. He trusted in God's provision for forgiveness, and the Lord declared him to be righteous.

 

That is the same message we see throughout the New Testament! By exercising faith in Jesus Christ, the kindness of God is seen as He declares sinners to be righteous before Him. Paul summarizes it clearly, "For we maintain that a man is justified [declared righteous!] by faith apart from works of the Law" (Rom. 3:28). Faith is the instrument divinely appointed to receive the gift of Christ's righteousness and eternal life. It is not your performance or works or religious practice that receives the divine declaration, but that which comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Abel is dead but his faith continues to live as a testimony to God's graciousness toward sinners who will believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know this same declaration of righteousness by faith in Christ? God gives by declaring sinners to be righteous through faith in Christ.

 

2. By liberation

 

Through Enoch's exercise of faith he was liberated from facing the experience of death. "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." Enoch and Elijah stand-alone, being the only two men recorded in Scripture that God bypassed the normal process of death and translated them into heaven. We need not speculate on how this happened with Enoch; it just happened. His life pleased God so God liberated Enoch from the normal experience of death.

 

Apart from those who are on earth at the return of Jesus Christ, all of us who are believers will walk through the door of death. Dying is as much part of living as living! But the death of the Christian is far different from that of one who has rejected the gospel of Christ. By faith the believer is liberated from the fear of death. In 2:15 our writer tells us that Christ came to earth in the Incarnation and then subjected himself to the cruel death of the cross that He "might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." That is liberation! It does not come through taking a course on the proper etiquette of dying or by extensive counsel from psychologists. Christ alone frees us from that fear of the unknown in the darkness of death. That is because by faith we are wedded to a new hope that will take us through death's doors triumphantly. We know that death has been conquered because our Lord was raised from the dead. With Paul we can taunt death: "Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 15:54-57). God liberates us from fear of death through faith in Christ.

 

3. By preservation

 

God judged the world through the Flood. The only ones preserved were Noah and his family. And their preservation was by faith. "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Noah did not have all the facts in view but he believed God. He did not understand how God was going to bring a flood over the whole earth but he believed God. You may not understand all the details of divine judgment and even how God has provided righteousness through Christ, but you are exhorted by this text to believe God even with the weakest of faith out of that same kind of reverential humility we find in Noah. Faith sees enough of the goodness of God to latch on to the divine promises of eternal preservation through Christ.

 

Noah's exercise of faith preserved his family from the judgment of the Flood. In the same way your exercise of faith in Jesus Christ preserves you from the eternal judgment of God. Christ becomes the ark of salvation for those who believe. And like Noah, through faith in Christ you become "an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." That is the righteousness that God accepts, not the kind produced by your own effort but the righteousness that is given to you as a gift of God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God gives! By faith receive a righteousness that is alien to you that comes when you embrace Jesus Christ, the perfectly obedient Son of God who died in your place before the judgment of God at the cross, as your righteousness.

 

Conclusion

 

By faith we know that God exists, and it is demonstrated in our worship, walk, and work. The liveliness of faith in Christ affects every nook and cranny of our lives, as we grow from one degree of faith to another ("from faith to faith," Rom 1:17). By faith we know that God gives, because we have been on the receiving end. The declaration of righteousness that comes through faith in Christ is followed by liberation from the fear of death and preservation from divine judgment.

 

Now one question remains: is your faith in Jesus Christ?

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