Heb
11:1-2 (ESV) Now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people
of old received their commendation.
NOTE: I think the
most difficult part of this verse is determining what the author meant by
"things hoped for." Far from being a blank check to exercise faith in
any wish list item, I think it is more limited. First of all, if it is
anything, it would have to be limited to God's will because that is what Jesus
taught about prayer to the disciples. Secondly, it would have to be for our
good, or otherwise prayer and faith would harm us. So, for those reasons, I
don't think it has anything to with things in the earthly sense. In fact, later
in the book, it tells us that none of the ancients received what they hoped
for, they only welcomed it from afar. What is the thing they hoped for and did
not see? A heavenly home, a city whose foundations are built by God. They hoped
for Eden--a return to the original plan. Man failed to obey God in the garden,
but is given one more chance in this life to seek God, so that he can obtain
the real life that God had planned for him from the beginning. A life of
purpose, meaning, relationships, eternality, and without the evils of this
world. That is the promise, that is what we need to hope for.
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