What is faith, hope and love? We live in a society today that generally thinks faith is what religious organization a person is part of; that hope is wishing something will happen to fulfill a personal desire; that love equates to sexual attraction. Most Christians don’t even have a concept of these three words hence why the Church isn’t much different than the world anymore. What does Paul tell us?
1 Cor 13:13
13 And now three remain: remain faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love.
MKJV
In other words, at the end of the day when the dead are judged according to their deeds, the only deeds that will mean anything are those that are those that are done in faith, hope, and/ or love (Rev 20:11-13). Note: though our deeds are judged, the factor that determines where we spend the rest of our existence hinges on the relationship we have with our Creator.
Faith
What is faith, emunah (אמונה)? Faith is ‘trusting in a firm foundation of truth as a child trusts his nursing father’. What is truth? God’s word is truth. Who is the word of God? Jesus. Ultimately faith is trusting in the Messiah.
Faith is also fruit; it is substance and evidence (Heb 1:1, James 1 & 2). Where does faith come from?
Rom 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and obeying through the word of God.
MKJV
Paul gets this concept from Abraham and others who have faith like the writer of Hebrews describes in chapter 11. God told Abraham to leave his country and what did he do? He left and went to Canaan and built an altar.
God told Abraham that his seed would be as the stars of Abraham; he believed God and it was accredited to him for righteousness. The evidence of Abraham’s belief (faith) is that he made the preparations for and entered into an eternal covenant with the Creator that day.
God told Abraham to offer up his son as a test of his faith. Abraham offered his son trusting in the promise of God believing that should his son die that God would raise him up to fulfill his promise. On the cusp of Abraham about to kill his son, God stopped him and provided a ram or himself as the Passover sacrifice.
We can see that faith requires action and rightly so; Hebrew is an action-based language. Faith results in action, or more properly faith is the result of an action; Hebrew is also cyclical. It is the fruit of our belief. The process works the same as kernel of wheat. The seed, the Word of God, is planted in the field, our heart. We water it, weed it and nourish it; think about it, remove the things from our life that would choke it out and let the Spirit of God work to make it grow. When it is full grown it produces fruit or a head of grain which we harvest to feed ourselves and others. That head of grain is faith; some 100 fold, 60 fold or 30 fold: the faith of Abraham, Isaac or Joseph. With that we nourish our soul and the souls of others. We speak the word of God into their life, heal them, and cast out devils.
By extension, faith also comes from experience. Jesus said:
John 14:29
29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it does come to pass, you will believe.
MKJV
When we experience the Word of God in our life, it strengthens our faith. A child whose father makes promises but never fulfills them will grow up to not trust his father. However, a child whose father is true to his promises will grow up to trust his father. And what is the evidence that his father is true to his word? The child went on a camping trip or has a bike. Nobody can take that experience away from him no matter how knowledgeable they may be and intellectual their argument.
Even so it is with God. The world is full of knowledge. Heck that is the religion of the Serpent; knowledge is power. But no matter how knowledgeable they may be or how much they make you doubt, the experiences you’ve had with God will be there to reassure you that He is real and that His Word is true.
The more you’ve experienced the promises of God in your life, the stronger your faith will be. But you can’t experience those promises if you don’t have the faith of Abraham, Isaac or Joseph to begin with. The children of Israel experienced the promises of God when they were delivered form Egypt and were lead through the wilderness yet many constantly rebelled against God, why? God tells us in his first word/ commandment:
Ex 20:2
2 I am the LORD your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
MKJV
If a person doesn’t believe in God, trust in him as a child trusts his nursing father, it doesn’t matter how much they experience God; all they will hear is thunder.
Hope
What is hope, tiqvah (תקוה)? Hope is ‘the sign of the woman that makes her secure at the end of the day’. Concretely, this sign is a cord, string or rope. This is apparent from the first place hope appears in scripture.
Josh 2:17-21
17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear.
18 Behold, when we come into the land, you will bind this line (hope – tiqvah) of scarlet thread in the window which you let us down by: and you will bring your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household, home unto you.
19 And it will be, that whosoever will go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever will be with you in the house, his blood will be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
20 And if you utter this business of ours, then we will be released of oath of yours which you have made us to swear.
21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line (hope – tiqvah) in the window.
MKJV
Most of us know the story. Two Israeli spies were checking out Jericho. The guards caught wind of it and perused after them. They came upon Rahab and she hid them on the roof of her house. Then she helped them escape upon the condition that they would save her and her family. Rahab and her family were saved and she went on to become the grandmother of David and later of Jesus.
This is the story of our hope. God says:
Jer 29:10-11
10 For thus says the LORD, That after seventy years are accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and I will raise you up with my good word, to cause you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected (hope – tiqvah) end.
MKJV
Most people readily know the second verse but not its context. Seventy years is a generation. Jesus said that the last generation wouldn’t pass away until everything was accomplished. One of the things that will be accomplished is that Babylon will be utterly destroyed. Like Rahab, our hope is that we will not be destroyed with her in the day of God’s vengeance. The only way we will not be destroyed with her is if we come out of her. The reason we come out of her is because God is returning us to the land of Promise just as he swore to our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
What is the sign that we have or are ready to come out of Babylon? (Read Ex 12 and 13 for context.)
Ex 13:15-16
15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that opens the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.
16 And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
MKJV
Exodus 12 and 13 recounts the tenth plague on Egypt. We are commanded to retell and relive that even every year. The sign, oth (אות), the scarlet thread that is the evidence of our hope, that we are ready to leave Babylon is if we celebrate Passover every year. If we do not hang this thread from our window, if we do not paint our doorposts with blood, then our destruction and that of our family and loved ones will be upon our own head and we will be destroyed with the rest of Jericho.
So what is hope? Hope is living life expecting God to save us at the end of the day when Babylon is destroyed.
Love
What is love, ahavah (אהבה)? Love is ‘behold what is provided to make the house strong’. The action of this word is ‘give’. Concretely it is gift but when used in a negative way it is a burden.
Most people know what a white elephant gift is. What most people don’t know is where it originated from. Back in the day in Thailand, white elephants were considered gods. If the emperor wanted to lavishly reward a person, he would give him a white elephant and provide everything necessary to take care of that elephant. I.e. the guy won the lottery and was set for left. But if the emperor wanted to curse somebody, he would bestow upon them a white elephant and not provide what was needed to take care of it. Because that elephant was a god, that person was required to take care of it at all costs. If he didn’t and the elephant died before him, he would then be executed. This is an example of how a gift can be either a blessing or a burden.
Who does Paul tell us our provider is?
Phil 4:20
19 But my God will supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
MKJV
What is it he provides?
James 2:2
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
MKJV
What is this gift? Is it not God’s Word? Didn’t Jesus, who is the Word of God made flesh come from above? Didn’t the Torah, the instruction of God also come from above?
Why is it that love is the greatest of the three afore mentioned?
Matt 22:37-40
37 Jesus said unto him, You will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it, You will love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
MKJV
Mark 12:29-31
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God is one Lord:
30 And you will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
MKJV
The greatest commandment is to love. Every commandment of God is to love. If we love God, we will obey his commandments; this is how we know we love God. Jesus tells his disciples in garden before he was crucified that if they love him, they will keep his commandments. When the rich man comes to Jesus and asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life or know God, Jesus admonishes him to obey the Torah. When the young man says he had done so since his childhood, Mark records that Jesus beheld him and loved him.
The commandments of God were provided to us so that we would know how to love God and our fellow believer. They were only given to his house though the physical application extends to all mankind. God revealed the secrets of life to his people long ago and science is just now beginning to understand them thirty-five hundred years later.
Synopses
So, what is faith? ‘Trusting in a firm foundation of truth as a child trusts in his nursing father.’ If a person’s faith is not in the Messiah, it is not true faith and he will not stand.
What is hope? ‘The sign of the woman that makes her secure at the end of the day.’ If a person’s hope is not in the Messiah, his hope is not eternal and it will fail.
What is love? ‘Behold what is provided to make the family strong.’ If a person does not love as admonished by the Messiah, he will be grievously burdened and made weak.
Notice that these three words are feminine nouns. In other words, they are attributes of the bride or Body of Messiah. They all require us to depend upon our husband, Jesus.
Faith – Will He be true to his promises, the covenant.
Hope- Will He deliver us from Babylon on the day of destruction, salvation.
Love – Will He provide for our needs, blessing.
At the end of day hope, faith, and love will be the difference between those who escape, survive and endure to the End and those who don’t.
tommarroww 