ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tuesday March 14, 2017

“FAITH is, the Knowledge of God”

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. - John 17:3

Faith in Christ

A.  ‘Faith’ in Scripture

B.  What is Faith?

FAITH is such an important word but unfortunately, it has been taken over by many different religious expressions and sentiment that it loses its true and unique significance. In Scripture, faith is generally the living personal trust in Christ. But it is common to hear other religions today described as ‘other faiths’ even though, faith in the biblical sense is given no part to play in them. Biblical faith is a much richer and fuller notion altogether and consists of several elements.

1.  Knowledge. 

Faith is dependent on what can be known about God. Even more significantly, in the New Testament, faith involves us in coming to a knowledge of God himself. This is the great joy which Christ shared with his Father in the high priestly prayer of John 17: “and this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Our Lord’s words are to be understood in the light of John 1:18, “no one has ever seen God, but God the one and only (Son), who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (NIV). The Greek verb, has made him known, is the root from which we get the word exegesis, the explanation and exposition of Scripture. What John is saying is, that Jesus is the exegesis of God, and makes Him known clearly to us. It is the same teaching we find in Matthew 11:27,… “No one knows the Son except the Father, no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” The revelation of the Father by the Son to the disciples, through faith, brings them to the knowledge of God.

All trust is ultimately dependent on knowledge. The problem we have in allowing complete strangers to take possession of our belongings is just that we do not know them well enough to trust them. But the knowledge involved in faith is not merely intellectual baggage, because true knowledge in the Bible invariably involves personal fellowship. The deep personal relationship of a man with his wife is described in these terms. This kind of knowledge does not mean that we analyze object from a distance, scrutinizing or objectively and dispassionately.

It is the kind of knowledge that brings us into immediate contact with God himself. There is no greater privilege open to man than knowing God and this is what is held out to us through faith.

Memory Verse:

He ‘oku fakae‘a ‘i ai ha mā‘oni‘oni mei he ‘Otua, ‘oku kamata mei he tui, pea iku ki he tui; ‘o hangē ko e Folofola, Ko e mā‘oni‘oni te ne mo‘ui mei he tui. – Loma 1:17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:17

Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)

Week 11 – Numbers 34-36; Luke 4