Scripture: Hebrews 11:13 (ESV)
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
As we continue our deep dive into what faith is and what faith does, we see today that faith is belief in God’s promise. Faith is belief in God’s promise. This is really important because this statement in Hebrews 11:13 grounds everything we have learnt about faith so far. Yes, faith is what changed Abel’s heart to offer a superior sacrifice to Cain, faith is what caused Enoch to walk with God, faith is what drove Noah’s obedience, faith is what let Abraham leave his homeland in order to follow God’s call and faith is the instrument God used to heal Sarah and allowed her to conceive.
Yet faith is, in and of itself powerless. Notice what the author of Hebrews says: He points out that all of these great faith heroes died, in faith, not having received the things promised. So their faith was faith in something that extended beyond their lives, far into the future. Their faith was ultimately in the one who was promised. Their faith, even though they did not realise it at the time, was faith in Jesus himself.
And this faith causes these faith heroes to change citizenship. Trusting in God’s promise allows them to acknowledge that they are aliens and strangers in this world. Their citizenship is with Christ.
As is ours. Our citizenship is not with this broken world, but with Christ in his kingdom. We too are citizens of a different world.
The author of Hebrews will return to this again in Hebrews 13, but Paul also reminds us of this in Ephesians 2:19, Philippians 3:20 and in 2 Corinthians 5:1. If the Bible tells us something four or five times, it is probably important for us to remember.
If you belong to Jesus by faith, then this is not your home.
So don’t expect to belong here.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us the book of Hebrews to teach us about how faith works. Thank you for reminding us today that our citizenship is with you in your kingdom. Help us to be thankful for that when the world treats us as aliens and strangers. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Take some time today to reflect on what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom. How does this perspective change how you live today?