Not Out of the Visible

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3)   Maybe you've not noticed it, but these opening three verses of Hebrews 11 run almost directly parallel to the opening verses of the book.  Let me give them to you, from Hebrews 1:1-2: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.  Faith is what the ancient ancestors were commended for says Hebrews 11.  Hebrews 1 says that their faith arose from the fact that God himself spoke to them at many times and in various ways.  And now Hebrews 11 will tell us how God not only gives the word that speaks faith into being, but also how God commends that faith—how it pleases him.  But first, the writer wishes to communicate something about the invisible nature of faith.  Out of the invisible, God speaks.  Visible acts of faith result wherever God's Creation responds to his word, through the creation itself and through the lives of the ancients who've gone before us.  But the place where that faith anchors itself is in the still-invisible future sustained by nothing more than God's word.     We make a lot out of what we can see.  The question always being: what have you produced, what have you earned, what you have made?  What do you have to show for yourself?  It is difficult to believe therefore that all of reality is actually created out of words—not out of what is seen, but out of what is heard.  This is the essence of Jesus as the "word-made-flesh."  The invisible nature of sound waves turns into a visible reality—a person, in the flesh, born into our world.  It was just the self-same thing that God did at the dawn of time through Jesus.  He spoke an invisible word that generated rock and sea, tree and sky, stars and animals, even you and me.  A word that became flesh. This is the nature of faith: do you believe that nothing but God's word can create such concrete realities as the ground under your feet?  It happened twice before you know—at Creation and redemption.  In just this way God has commended himself to us and to our five senses.  And he has promised more.  A creation re-made, sin and death destroyed, an eternity of life to the full in a visible relationship, face to face with our God. Do you believe that nothing but God's word can create all this in a way that's as concrete to you as the ground under your feet?  That kind of faith is what the ancients were commended for, and the kind of faith that we are invited to.    As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:     May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.