Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 1:1–3
A picture, it has often been said, is worth a thousand words. Some things are much easier to demonstrate than they are to define. So it is with faith. In Hebrews 11:1 we have a fitting description of faith, but to get to the depth of what faith really is, a few inspiring examples are in order. Let’s take a look at a few of them to get the fuller sense of how God defines faith.
First consider the faith of Noah. God instructed this man to build a water-tight vessel that could hold his family and two of every kind of land-dwelling animal and to accumulate enough provisions to sustain himself and his shipmates for an entire year (Genesis 6:14–21). In response, Noah built the ark, following God’s blueprint to the letter (v 23). In response to Noah’s faith, God saved Noah and his when every other living thing perished on the face of the earth (Genesis 7:22–23; 1 Peter 3:20–21). Noah was not a sinless man (Genesis 9), but he was faithful.
Consider also the faith of Abraham. The Hebrew patriarch was 75 years old when God commanded him to leave his family so that he could live as a stranger for the last century of his life in a land that would belong to his posterity generations later. He endured famine, war, and the loss of loved ones, and when God finally gave him a son, He commanded Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice on a mountaintop. Abraham consistently obeyed God’s commands, even when he didn’t know where he was going or why God made the demands that He did. God in turn made this man the father of many nations and gave the land of Canaan to his seed as an inheritance. Beyond this, He blessed the entire human race through Abraham’s most noteworthy descendant––Jesus. Abraham was not flawless, but God counted his faithfulness for righteousness (Romans 4:22), and he will forever be known as “the friend of God” (James 2:23).
Consider finally the faith of Moses. When this man was 80 years old, God ordered him away from what must have been a peaceful life among his father-in-law’s sheep in Midian to go before Pharaoh and demand the release of more than a million slaves. He was then to lead these people 150 miles from Egypt through a deserted region to a mountain that burned with fire, which mountain he was then to ascend to receive God’s law which the people would not keep. Not only did Moses comply with these instructions, but he ended up leading these rebels in the wilderness for the last 40 years of his life. God blessed Moses for his faithfulness and permitted that his last earthly vision should be the land for which he had been preparing his people.
In each of these cases we see men who respond to God’s instructions with obedience. This is what real faith looks like. In light of this, how faithful have you been? God has asked you to confess your faith in Christ (Matthew 10:32) and to repent of your sins and be baptized (Acts 2:38). Have you been faithful? Jesus promises that if we will be faithful unto death, He will give us the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).