His Blood, His Faith

“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.” Hebrews 12:2(NLT)

By Alexandra Copeland 

The more we grow spiritually, the more we’ll discover that there’s so much more to know. We have such small views of the grandiosity of God and all that He has made available to us through Christ. Our attempts to place our Great Big Wonderful God in our tiny religious boxes will never work. He cannot be limited, nor does He want us to be. If we were honest with ourselves, we’d have to admit that the plan He has for us is quickly growing beyond our little boxes. People who love God with their whole hearts are becoming restless with business as usual. They know there’s more, and we are opening our praise and hearts to Heavenly Father in ways that lift us up to heaven, instead of trying to bring heaven down to us. 

The difference between lifting ourselves up to heaven instead of trying to draw heaven lower to us is one of epic proportion. 1Corinthians 3:16 (NLT) tells us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  The Spirit of God dwells within those of us that are born-again. We spend a great deal of time and prayer trying to bring heaven down to us, when we already have a seat at the table in heavenly places. We want to feel something emotionally that lets us know a supernatural transaction has been made, when God has already told us to take it by faith. We don’t need something to happen in our right now reality to let us know that we’ve been blessed with all spiritual blessings. Ephesians 1:3 tells us this is the truth. Our responsibility is to believe it and walk upon the provision that God has already made. 

Some of us have put a mark in the sand in terms of what we will allow ourselves to believe regarding the goodness of God. We have determined to never think outside of certain parameters, and when our lives grow stale, we wonder why. If God has told us in His Word that something is ours, then we can have it! The most important thing is to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and to walk in the faith of Jesus Christ. 

We become frustrated at times, especially when it comes to having our desires manifested in the natural realm. Feelings of doubt lead to thoughts that God isn’t listening to us, or that He is withholding His blessings. Neither of those is true. God wants us to be abundantly blessed and happy. Everything that needed to be done so that we could have a more than abundant life has been accomplished by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

It isn’t our faith that we’re working with; it’s his! It’s faith in the name of Jesus Christ that allows us to access all the goodies of heaven while we walk upon this earth.  Hebrews 12:2(NLT) says, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.” If we keep our eyes on ourselves, we’re going to lose the race. Our methodology for trying to win would be to place all our stock in physical and mental effort, but Ecclesiastes 9:11(NLT) affirms, “The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle.”  Our faith must be in Jesus Christ! 1Corinthians 15:57 declares that he gives us the victory!

Folks these days don’t like to talk too much about sin. People want to do what they want to do, and live how they want to live. Some believe that as long as they are not hurting anyone, they don’t have to abide by God’s Laws or honor His Word; they think He’s okay with this. An attitude like this will never lead to victory. It demonstrates the degree to which satan has blinded them. Heavenly Father is a God of absolute sovereignty. In 1Peter 1:14-16(NIV), He commanded us “14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, God came down to us and walked upon this earth. He demonstrated His love for us and showed us how to have a relationship with Him through the example of Christ. During the time that Jesus walked the earth, people were in a desperate state. They were doing anything they felt like doing, and were not paying attention to the plan God had for them. It was very clear that on our own, there is no way we could have restored the connection we once had with God before Adam sinned. 

Adam lost his holiness, and this loss impacted all of us. Adam believed the word of satan over the Word of God. This distrust in the Word of God was a dishonor and irreverence that severed the cord connecting humanity to divinity. God tells us in Romans 5:12(NLT), “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” To be holy is to be set apart. That’s what we are as God’s people. We’re set apart for His purposes. 

This state of holiness allows us to have relationship with God. Heavenly Father came down to be with us through the person of Jesus Christ. His death—his blood that was shed on the cross, cleansed our sins and made it possible for us to connect to our powerful and loving Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ sacrificed his life so that his blood would cleanse our sins for all eternity. You and I weren’t there, but we’re not like Adam in the sense that we believe in what we did not physically see. We believe in what Jesus Christ accomplished for us. We know that it was nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ that could wash away our sins, and make us the children that God wanted all along. We have faith in Jesus Christ, and because of this faith, we are ushered into God’s Kingdom.

God came down to us, and made a way for us to come up to Him. Everything that is happening in our lives this very moment is a mechanism to draw us closer to God and to understand His love for us better. He wants us to recognize that the purpose of our faith isn’t just to get His goodies; He designed the universe to reward us automatically when we walk according to His plan and purpose. Our faith is the faith of Jesus Christ. It’s activated by our intention to do God’s Will. It is meant to stir up the memory of who we are in him, and what we were placed on this earth to do. This is where we ought to be focusing our attention. When we do, we’ll witness the miraculous continuously in our lives. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

New International Version (NIV), Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.