Do you want to have faith? Do you want to have faith that can move mountains?

Do you want to have faith that can raise the dead? Do you want a faith like that of David that can kill a giant? Maybe you have many giants in your life that you want to destroy? Most Christians do, including me. If you want to become a giant of faith, read on.

Often when Christians read Hebrews 11 they think that if only they could be like one of these giants of faith, they would be so happy. God would also be happy with them. This is because most Christians think that Hebrews 11 is written for us to know how we can also be like those giants of faith. But that is not the purpose of Hebrews 11. It is not even the purpose of the Old Testament. After listing all the men and women of faith in chapter 11 of Hebrews, the writer goes on to say, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews. 12:1-2 NKJV).

Have you noticed what it says? Those giants of faith are called witnesses, but, witnesses of what? The answer lies in the words of Jesus in John 5:17. Here Jesus makes a claim that God is his father. It says the Jews became very angry and wanted to kill him for making this claim (verse 18). Jesus then goes on to press his point that he is the son of God. Realizing that they do not believe him, he says to them that he has four witnesses who can prove that he is the son of God. He acknowledges that his own witness cannot be taken to be true. “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true,” Jesus said in John 5 :31.

Jesus calls witnesses

So if Jesus can’t bear witness of himself, who can? How do we know he is telling the truth? How do we know he is the Messiah? How do we know that his life, death and resurrection can save us? Well, he tells us where to look. Like a prosecutor who calls witnesses to verify a charge or claim that is being made, Jesus calls four witnesses.

Firstly, he calls on the testimony of John the Baptist as his witness (John 5:32-34). John said of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 35). Then Jesus said, if you don’t believe John, I have “a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. They have been assigned to me by the Father, and they testify that the Father has sent me” (verse 36). Some of them did not believe either John or Jesus’ teachings and miracles. Therefore Jesus gave them a third witness. “The Father himself has also testified about me” (John 5:37). When Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River by John the Baptist, God said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Some of his listeners were not at the river that day, so they did not hear God say that. Lastly, Jesus gives them the ultimate witness, which they have access to.

If you were listening to Jesus that day, you may not have seen or known John the Baptist, you may have been skeptical of Jesus’ teachings and miracles, you may not have heard the voice of God at the Jordan, but there would be no way of refuting the last witness. Who was the last witness? Listen to the words of Jesus, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”(John 5:39). Yes, the scriptures bear witness to who Jesus is. But, what scriptures are these? When Jesus was speaking, these were the Old Testament scriptures. How do they do that? Jesus is never mentioned in the Old Testament.

As noted in the beginning, the events and characters in the Old Testament are witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). They are witnesses of Jesus. They were “shadows of the real thing, Christ himself.” (Colossians 2:17).

What does all this have to do with you becoming a giant of faith? Well, everything! Let’s turn to the classic story of David and Goliath. The story of how a young shepherd boy has so much faith that he brings a giant down with one stone. The story is found in 1 Samuel chapter 17. Many of us read this story and wonder why we can’t have the faith of David. We think the story is recorded to teach us how to become like David, so that we too can believe in God, and kill our own giants.

In this story David does not represent us. We should not see ourselves as David. He, like the other witnesses in Hebrew 11, as indicated above, was a witness of Jesus, a shadow of Jesus. We are represented by the armies of Israel, who cowered before Goliath. Let me show you how. David was a shepherd, but he declares in Psalm 23 that the “Lord Is My Shepherd”. Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). David was from Bethlehem, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 17:12). David was sent by his Father Jesse to go to the battlefield (verse 20), and Jesus said he was sent by the Father.

King Saul promised that the man who could kill Goliath could marry his daughter (1 Samuel 17:25). Jesus will marry the church when he returns. For 40 days, Goliath taunted the armies of Israel (verse 16), and for 40 days Jesus fasted and was tempted by the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). David told Goliath, “I will strike you and take your head from you” (verse 46). It was prophesied of Jesus in Genesis that he would crush the head of the serpent, the devil (Genesis 3:15). Once Goliath was dead, the armies of Israel chased down the Philistines and killed many of them. The battle was already won when Goliath died.

We have no faith of our own

So it is with Christians. Jesus said “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The reality is that we do not have faith to face our giants, but Jesus does. He has faith for us. He has defeated the giants for us already. What is left for us is to chase down what is left of the enemy. We have no faith of our own. Jesus is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

Paul puts it this way, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

So, how do you become a giant of faith? By being in Christ. The giants of faith in Hebrews were witnesses and shadows of Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Apart from Christ, we can do NOTHING! It was not David who killed Goliath. It was Christ! Humans don’t even have faith the size of a mustard seed, which moves mountains. When Jesus said “if you have faith of a mustard seed,” he was sarcastically saying you have NO faith. You don’t become a giant of faith by doing something. You ARE already a giant of faith in Christ. He has already authored and finished your faith. Now go ahead and kill those Goliaths!