Jesus Our Example, Author and Finisher of our Faith

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Jesus - Our Example

Jesus laid out an example as relating to Our faith. Notice the word 'Our' is capitalized. Why? Let's read on:

Hebrews 12:2: "Looking unto Jesus the AUTHOR AND FINISHER of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus was not only the author of OUR faith but also the finisher of it. Some translations read finisher as perfector. He was not concerned with His faith, but our faith. Remember in capital letters is the word OUR. It is our faith Jesus was concerning Himself about. But there is more to it.

Faith in God was shown by many God fearing people in the Old Testament then, by example, Jesus demonstrated until death the faith that we should be striving for. By His demonstration of His faith makes Jesus the author of our faith. In other words: an author is either the person writing something for publication, or someone who has it written for publication. The examples of faith that Jesus demonstrated was written for us today.

Being the finisher of our faith was not His death, but what lay ahead of Him. This is the 'Joy' Jesus experienced. He knew that much greater things were in His future, so much so that He was willing to let His life on this earth be taken. His death was not the end to His faith but the beginning of OUR faith.

In our quest for what God has laid out before us we sometimes concern ourselves with what is going to happen in our ministry here on this earth so much that we forget the "crowns of glory", "living for eternity", and everything else that awaits us in heavenly places.

Is our joy for what lies beyond this earthly life so great within us that, when the time comes for our lives to be taken for the gospel, we can become an example to others, just like Jesus did?

How do we establish within us that kind of faith? Let's look at another scripture.

Matthew 17:20: "... for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of MUSTARD SEED, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

According to Mark 4:31 the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, yet Jesus used this seed in His explanation of faith. My illustration of this: faith is like a muscle in your arm. We all have it, but if we don't use the arm, the muscle will never grow. We are all given faith as the size of a mustard seed, but do we use that faith?

The mustard seed is very small, but it has the makings of a large, beautiful plant. So it is with faith. Our faith, when used, takes on the same characteristics that Jesus demonstrated. In Matthew 17, Jesus said the people didn't have any faith. He also said that even a very small amount of faith can do much.

We are entering a period of time when our faith will be tested. If we focus on living forever and being able to live in the presence of God we will go through these times of testing with much joy.

Bishop M.D. Baughman

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