"[Abraham] considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead "
Hebrews 11:19a
A RISK-TAKER
Read It: Genesis 22:14-18; Hebrews 11:19 We've been saying all along that the life of faith elevates the power of God over circumstances. That's a theological statement, by the way. Your ability to have confidence during the trials of your life is wrapped up in your theology, which is simply what you believe about God. Faith is asking you to take a risk. You are being asked to step out there on stuff you don't know and you haven't seen simply because someone told you to do it. So you are taking a risk. Now what determines whether you take the risk of faith-or any risk? The level of confidence you have in the person asking you to take the risk. So the higher your view of God, the stronger your theology, the more risks you will be willing to take. Abraham was willing to take the ultimate risk because he was confident of God's power. What power? Well, Abraham believed in God's power to create life out of death. Go all the way back to Hebrews 11:3 and you'll recall that faith says that the things we see around us were created by the invisible God, not out of visible stuff.
Faith says, "I wasn't there when it happened, but I stake my claim on God and His Word regardless of what I see or don't see, because of my understanding of who God is." See, it's not how much faith you have. When you hear people telling you that you need more faith, that's an incorrect analysis. You don't need a lot of faith. You don't need a blessed handkerchief or a bottle of water from the Jordan River to give you more faith. The issue of faith is not the amount but the object of your faith. If you trust a rowboat to get you across the Pacific Ocean, we will have a good time at your memorial service, because I don't care how confident your faith is, you are going to die in the ocean. The issue is the object you put your faith in. Abraham was confident because he knew whom he trusted. Think About It We sometimes think Abraham's faith wasn't tested to the ultimate because he never killed Isaac. Forget it. God Himself said Isaac was as good as dead (v. 16).
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