Little faith, the cross and the character of God.

“And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship... And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And [Jesus] was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-41 

When the disciples asked Jesus, “don’t you care that we are perishing?” His response to them was “, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?’

We can gather a few lessons from that brief statement:

• Fearfulness is the direct result of a lack of faith in God. The reason the disciples were fearful is because they had no faith.
• Secondly, and perhaps more importantly is the fact that to think Jesus doesn’t care whether or not His disciples perish (especially when stormy times come) is an evidence of having no faith.

I’d like to just dwell on the idea in the second point.

Notice the idea: The lack of faith on the part of the disciples is connected to the (incorrect) understanding they seem to have about the character of their Master. The disciples saw their boat shaken by the storm. While all this is taking place, Jesus is asleep. They interpreted this to mean that Jesus must not care. They looked at their circumstances as a sign of what God thinks of them, and as a result, they were afraid and without faith.

We can see the evidences of the idea that when one has a misunderstanding about the true nature of the character of God, it is hard for that person to exercise faith (in Him). It is difficult to exercise faith in a God who doesn’t seem to care whether or not one perishes.

“What we think God thinks of us (or others who have fallen) has a direct impact on our experience of faith.”

The character dilemma

Faith is essential to the Christian experience (Eph. 2:8). Thus, in order to get us to have full faith in Him, God, through the gospel, is doing His utmost best to rightly present His character to fallen, blinded humanity. What we think God thinks of us (or others who have fallen) has a direct impact on our experience of faith.

Satan, understanding this, does all in his power to lead humanity to misunderstand the character of God. This is the essence of every one of his deceptions: to misrepresent God’s character.

Do you have little faith?

I ask you, what is your understanding of the character of God? What kind of “person” do you think He is?

It is very possible that the cause of the great unbelief evident among many of those who claim to be God’s people is because of a faulty and broken understanding they have of His character. Many think that God is willing to let them (or perhaps others) perish.

Where is the character of god most vividly seen?

“God is love,” 1 John 4:8. That is the core of His character.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

To cause us have faith in Him, God must show us His character: that He is not willing that any should perish. The gift of His Christ on the cross is the highest expression of this.

The disciples lacked faith because they questioned whether or not Jesus cares if they perish. The reason many Christian fail in believing and trusting God today is primarily also because of the same faulty understanding of His character.

But “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

Because God loves us, He is not willing that any should perish. His total unwillingness for any man to perish is seen in the gift of His Son to die on the cross. For our faith to be strengthened we must “Behold (pay attention, focus on) what manner of love the Father has given to us,” (1 John 3:1).

Carest thou not that we perish?

The question “Don’t you care whether or not I perish?” comes from a fearful heart that has no faith in God, especially when stormy times come. But God has given s strong response: “He gave His son that whosoever believes should not perish”

When we see the sacrifice on the cross, we see undoubtedly that Jesus does not want us to perish. The cross is an powerful response to the question “carest thou not that we perish.” And when we behold it, we shall find reason to have strong faith.

“Does God care whether or not I perish?” you may ask. Christ on the cross is your answer.