God's Photo Album [33mb]

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Written Excerpts:

Hebrews 11:16

(NKJV) “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

(NLT) “But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

(The Message) “But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.”

Introduction:

Several months ago I preached a short series of sermons on the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. When I was doing that series, I mentioned this verse briefly and suggested that a whole new sermon could be given on the phrase, “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” 

I chose the title that I have for this message because this phrase definitely reminds me of a proud parent or grandparent showing off pictures of the kids / grandkids. I think this is essentially what the writer is saying about God. As he is describing the faithfulness of these people who demonstrated their faith in remarkable ways, the author proclaims, “God isn’t ashamed [embarrassed] to be called their God.”

It kind of reminds me of a Bill Cosby quote I have used on Father’s Day. He said, “Poets have said the reason to have children is to give yourself immortality; and I must admit I did ask God to give me a son because I wanted someone to carry on the family name. Well, God did just that and I now confess that there have been times when I have told my son not to reveal who he is.”

Not so with these people. God is saying, “Go ahead and tell everyone who your God is. I’ll gladly admit you’re my children any day!”

In the Old Testament book of Job, the story starts out in a similar way. It’s as if God is bragging to the Devil about his servant. I would compare it to God pulling out the old photo album of his children then while pointing to Job’s picture, exclaiming, “Look at this boy! Isn’t he fantastic?”

Transition:

I want to explore a few observations about God’s Photo Album that arise out of our text in Hebrews 11:16 and surrounding verses.

Observations:

I.       God is like a proud Father.

I’ve already touched on this in the introductory comments, but just want to reiterate the fact that the wording here does imply that God is like a proud father.

“He is not ashamed to be called their God.”

The word “ashamed” is the intensive form or strengthened form of a Greek word that refers to the feeling of shame or disgrace that arises from something that has been done. (Vine’s Expository Dict. of NT Words; see also Theological Dict. of NT, Kittel, et.al.)

Compare: 1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” John says that if we do not abide in him, we can end up being ashamed of ourselves when he returns.

There are some people that Jesus proclaimed he would be ashamed of… i.e. those people who were ashamed of him. Mark 8:38 “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

In Hebrews 11, the author is saying that rather than being ashamed of His people because of what they have done, God is NOT ashamed. In modern terminology we could say: God doesn’t feel the need to hang his head in embarrassment when the names of these faithful saints are mentioned.

If God isn’t ashamed to be identified as their God, then I believe that we can conclude he is “like” a proud father. He’s dragging out the photo album of his children and showing them off to the world of skeptics and doubters. Even bragging to the Devil about how faithful his children are, as He did in the case of Job.

II.     There are good reasons for His pride.

Notice in our text that there is a direct link made that gives us a clue about the reasons for God’s attitude. In verse 16, we find the word “therefore,” and we immediately understand that what follows is directly related to what precedes.

A. He was proud of their spiritual insight.

If we look immediately prior to this statement, we find that it is linked to the statement about these saints looking for a better country than the earthly one that was originally promised.

There are other promises alluded to here that they had not seen the actual fulfillment of (such as: descendents that were innumerable as the sand on the seashore), but the predominant promise referred to was the one about a land that they were to inherit.

Yet, they never did see that come to complete fruition. Instead they apparently diverted their attention away from the earthly to the heavenly fulfillment. So God is proud of the fact that these people get it. It’s not all about earthly accumulation of things and property and wealth. It is about a future world. That is something only people with spiritual eyesight can even envision and seek for.

We are living in an age where almost all non-Christians and many Christians are living out their lives as though they have their sights set on the things that money can buy. They are totally preoccupied with material possessions, entertainment and popularity. For many, if not all, of these people they would never consider the possibility of denying themselves of anything they want so that they might enhance their spiritual aptitude and awareness. Their lifestyles and their daily choices indicate that they are living for this world or this country, not the “better country” that is referred to in our text.

B. God was proud of their motivation and passion.

In reading the remainder of the sentence we find, “For he has prepared a city for them.” Again, the word “for” indicates a purpose and connection to the preceding statement. I don’t know if this is what you get out of it or not, but when I read that phrase it seems as though the author is saying: God is really happy about the fact that their desires, their tastes, and their real passions match up exactly with what he has prepared for them.

There is nothing more disheartening or sorrowful for a parent than to spend a great deal of time, money and effort to create or acquire a valuable present for a child, then discover that the child has no interest or desire whatsoever in the gift.

It almost seems like God is saying, “YES! They want what I made. They crave what I planned. I made it for them and it’s exactly what they want!” God has made a country and a home for each one of us if we will accept it and prepare for it. But I think the question we need to ask ourselves is, “Do we really want it?”

You might be thinking, “Well, of course; who wouldn’t want to have a home in heaven?”

Yet, there are many people who talk about a home in heaven who have done nothing to prepare for it. Some have never met even the initial conditions – saving faith in Jesus Christ. Others have had a moment in their lives when they confessed their sins and trusted in Jesus, but then they just kind of put their lives on autopilot and assumed that they will end up at the right destination without ever seriously seeking the things that please God or seeking a vibrant personal and ongoing relationship with Him. It makes one wonder how happy they will be if they ever do make it to heaven, because their treasures are all invested in this earth and this world.

Conclusion:

A.     How does one get into God’s photo album?

How does one get on God’s “bragging list?”

The simple answer is: Faith. However, there are all kinds of faith.

Saving faith – This is not just an intellectual agreement with some facts about Jesus. The demons have that much “faith” (James 2:19). Romans 4 talks about Abraham’s faith that was counted for righteousness. Then later in the chapter and in other passages the Scriptures elaborate on how Abraham demonstrated his faith with obedience (circumcision) and other works. (James 2)

Enduring faith – Look at the people mentioned here and you will see that every one of them had the kind of faith that kept them through all kinds of trials and tribulations.

Accomplishing faith – Many of the people mentioned in this context either accomplished great things through faith, or received great things through faith.

Focused faith – This is based on the verse that we used as our text. These people were focused on spiritual values and eternal values rather than earthly and temporal possessions and riches. They were focused on the same things that God values.

B.     What does it mean for me?

It means I’m going to have opposition.

It means I’m going to be stretched to the limit.

Whenever we find ourselves in these circumstances where we have been faithful to the Lord and are perhaps nearning the end of life or we are battling with discouragement and depression because we haven't seen the actual fulfillment of God's promises, I can imagine God showing us off to the devil or to other heavenly beings and He’s saying, “That’s my son; that’s my daughter! Look how faithful they have been. Look at what they have been through, but they haven't given up. They still believe and trust me."