The Greatest Man of Faith

"The Sprit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord." Isaiah 11:2

I am sharing this word with you because it has been on my heart for two days. I woke up thinking about it this morning, and about how the very same Spirit lives in us when we accept Christ. And then I read the verse for today - and was pretty certain there was a reason this was on my heart. The above scripture is from yesterday. When I put our calendar of scripture readings together, I didn't go about it very purposely when it came to the order because I was in a hurry (unfortunately) - I just used verses that had touched my life or faith in the past. And I said a little prayer and asked that Spirit would help me put it together in such a way that would accomplish his purpose and he was so faithful in that - he is, after all, the God who has faithfulness around the sash of his waist (Is. 11:5) - the one who is called faithful and true (Rev. 19:11).

See, yesterday's word speaks of the Spirit of God that rested on Christ. By God's plan, today's work speaks of the Spirit of God that is in us. Here it is:

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in youm he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to you mortal bodies through the Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans 8:11

That is the word that was on my heart when I woke up this morning. Because here is what I've been thinking about. There are many people who come to mind when the question, "Who was the greatest man of faith that ever lived?" is asked. Perhaps you think of Moses or Abraham. For some of us Paul might come to mind. Or maybe St. Augustine, Martin Luther, or even Billy Graham. But I would argue this - I believe that the greatest man of faith was Jesus Christ.

Here's what I'm thinking - we often don't consider Christ to be a man of faith, perhaps, because how hard is it to have faith in God when you are God. However, most Biblical scholars and theologians would agree that while Christ was on the earth, he did not use his powers of God but rather relied upon and totally operated by the power he received from the Holy Spirit through constant communion and communication with the Father. It had to be that way, after all, for him to be fully man.

So by God's design, Christ became a man - but a man who operated on the powers of the Holy Spirit. His faith should be our guide, our model, our perfect example of what it means to live according to our faith. In fact, Hebrews 12:2 says that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Read this verse carefully, because that doesn't mean that Jesus is responsible for the growth of our faith - although he loves to do that when we ask Him and participate. Rather, my study notes in my Bible say, and I whole-heartedly agree, that this scripture refers to Christ as the "one who went ahead of all believers in their faith and the supreme model for their faith." So let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who models for us what it means to walk with a faith that perservers.

What did Jesus' faith-walk look like? Here are what I believe to be the key parts of His faith that we can and should model:

An intimate knowledge of the Father
It starts here. Jesus Christ knew the Father well. He knew that he was a Holy God, a Father perfect in love, a Father with a perfect plan the was encouched in his Holiness and Love. A Father that had the power to carry out his plan. A Father that was faithful to his purposes and promise. And so he walked a faith of perseverance, knowing that God would work out, with love and holiness, his perfect plan. It was through his knowledge of the faither that he was able to walk in obedience to the cross - because he knew and trusted God's plan and promises. And we also, can have this knowledge of God. His word is the full revelation of who God is - but we have to know God's word and take him at it. I walk in faith, we must walk in the knowledge of God available in his word. Without it, we have nothing on which to build our faith and our trust.

Constant Communication with the Father

Jesus spent his entire ministry in communication with the Father. At the beginning of his ministry - at his baptism - he was praying when the heavens opened and we was annointed with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22). We don't know what he prayed, but I'd be willing to bet he prayed for an annointed of the Holy Spirit. We also, can pray for that annointing. In fact, we can (I do) pray Isaiah 11:2 over ourselves every day. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go out into my day without the Spirit resting on me - because don't forget that according to Romans 8:11 we have that same Spirit in us!

Jesus got away and spent time alone in prayer with the Father - and so we should also. Check out Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Mark 6:46, and Luke 5:15 for examples. It is in this undisturbed quietness that are souls are best able to hear from God - because he often times will speak to us through a gentle whisper (1 Kings19:12).

Jesus prayed when making decisions. Before choosing his apostles, Jesus went to be alone and prayed through the night - Luke 6:12.

Jesus prayed for others. When he knew Peter would deny him he states that he prayed for him (Luke 22:32). He prayed for you - and all believers (John 17).

Jesus prayed with confidence. At the tomb of Lazarus Jesus looks up and thanks God for hearing him. He then adds that he knows that he always hears him but has said that for the benefit of those listening, so they might believe He was sent by God John 11:41-43). We also can pray with the same confidence when we pray in the name of Jesus (1 John 5:14)

Jesus prayed in obedience - with a heart submitted to the will of the Father.
In his greatest hour of need - when facing the toughest part of his purpose and ministry, Jesus was on his knees. He knew that God could stop him from having to suffer - but he also submitted to the will of the Father Matthew 26:36-46). He is a picture of unquestioning submission and perfect obedience - empowered by the Holy Spirit through communion with the Father to carry out the purposes of God. And so we can be also by following the example of Christ - we can pray that God would conform our will to his will and our desires to his desires.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit

This is the last element of Christ's faith that we can and should model. Romans 8:11 says that the same Spirit that Christ was annointed with is also in us. Do we operate according to that power? We should and we can! If we look to the example of Jesus and model our faith after him, we have access to that same power. We must know the Father, trust the Father, pray to the Father, and ask for him to pour out his Spirit into our lives, into our faith, into our work! Pursue it, my friends - ask God to build into you the faith of Jesus Christ. Ask God to pour out the same power that raise Christ from the dead into your lives. And you will have the indescribable, incomparable power promised for all who believe!

Today's blog was posted by Carol Bartels