When I was a kid my family went to Cooperstown New York and visited the baseball Hall of Fame. I don’t remember much about the visit except that there were a lot of bronze statues and busts of a lot of unknown (to me) players from the early 20th Century. Getting into the baseball Hall of Fame is expensive. It costs you a lifetime of hard work and dedication. Thousands of professionals have played the game but few make it into the hallowed halls at Cooperstown.
Hebrews chapter eleven is the Hall of Fame in the Bible. Each one named there has a special place in the history of what God has done and is doing through faith. Verse thirteen is the amazing result of all of this faith!
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
These men and women were characterized by faith to the point of death. They were promised things which they never fully received. Yet in faith they knew that God Word was as good as God. God had promised and He would fulfill His promise.
It is the same with every believer today. We trust Christ for something that we have not fully received, our Salvation. How do we know that we will receive that promise? We know it by faith. We only have faith. But faith is enough. We trust the trustworthy one, the God of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses and the millions of others who have gone before us in faith.
Those who have entered a Hall of Fame feel the awe of greatness. They revere players who have given their lives to demonstrate greatness. Those who enter the Hall of Faith awe and wonder at the Greatness of our God. He who gave His all so that we might be a part of His Gracious Salvation. One day we will stand in His presence with the greats of the past. Can you picture yourself there?
