THE BEST EXAMPLE OF FAITH
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20.
I have often asked groups of people to nominate whom they believe to be the best example of "faith" in the Bible. Most people favor the familiar heroes of faith: Abraham, Job, Moses, or Elijah. Some mention John the Baptist or David.
When asked to explain their choices, people usually speak of those events, such as Abraham's offering of Isaac, in which people do remarkable things that don't appear to make any sense. For many Christians it appears that faith has more to do with blind incredulity than with a life-changing relationship.
This is revealed by the fact that virtually no one ever nominates Jesus Christ as the best example of faith. It seldom occurs to us that He lived the life that He did only by His faith relationship with His Father. It is common to think of Jesus as an example in terms of proper behavior for us to follow. But the primary way in which Jesus is our example is in the trusting, depending, informed friendship with God that enabled Jesus' own proper behavior.
Jesus spoke explicitly of His faith relationship with divinity outside of Himself: "I do nothing on my own authority, but in all that I say, I have been taught by my Father. He who sent me is present with me, and has not left me alone; for I always do what is acceptable to him" (John 8:28, 29, N.E.B.). The divinity that charged Jesus' life with power and purpose was not His own, but His Father's.
Watching the way Jesus lived His life charges the word faith with explicit meaning. As He fell dying to the ground in Gethsemane, crushed by the most difficult decision any person had ever been called upon to make, He cried out three times, "Not my will, but thine be done." Hours later, as the clouds of the second death began to surround Him, His last words spoke explicit confidence: "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46, R.S.V.).
When Paul describes the means by which he lives the new life, he says it is through a very special kind of faith relationship--Jesus' kind of faith. And that same relationship is available to us!
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20.
I have often asked groups of people to nominate whom they believe to be the best example of "faith" in the Bible. Most people favor the familiar heroes of faith: Abraham, Job, Moses, or Elijah. Some mention John the Baptist or David.
When asked to explain their choices, people usually speak of those events, such as Abraham's offering of Isaac, in which people do remarkable things that don't appear to make any sense. For many Christians it appears that faith has more to do with blind incredulity than with a life-changing relationship.
This is revealed by the fact that virtually no one ever nominates Jesus Christ as the best example of faith. It seldom occurs to us that He lived the life that He did only by His faith relationship with His Father. It is common to think of Jesus as an example in terms of proper behavior for us to follow. But the primary way in which Jesus is our example is in the trusting, depending, informed friendship with God that enabled Jesus' own proper behavior.
Jesus spoke explicitly of His faith relationship with divinity outside of Himself: "I do nothing on my own authority, but in all that I say, I have been taught by my Father. He who sent me is present with me, and has not left me alone; for I always do what is acceptable to him" (John 8:28, 29, N.E.B.). The divinity that charged Jesus' life with power and purpose was not His own, but His Father's.
Watching the way Jesus lived His life charges the word faith with explicit meaning. As He fell dying to the ground in Gethsemane, crushed by the most difficult decision any person had ever been called upon to make, He cried out three times, "Not my will, but thine be done." Hours later, as the clouds of the second death began to surround Him, His last words spoke explicit confidence: "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46, R.S.V.).
When Paul describes the means by which he lives the new life, he says it is through a very special kind of faith relationship--Jesus' kind of faith. And that same relationship is available to us!
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