Hebrews 11:3

And in just a moment, we're going to look at verse three. But first, I want to begin with a question. Is faith blind? Is faith blind? Many leading Christian apologists emphasize that it's not. For example, in 1972, Josh McDowell wrote a book called Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Right at the very beginning of that book, he addresses this accusation that Christianity is about blind faith. And he says, when Jesus Christ and the apostles called upon a person to exercise faith, it was not a blind faith, but rather an intelligent faith. And then he quotes Paul Little, who says, faith in Christianity is based on evidence. It is reasonable faith. Or another example, in 2004, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek wrote a book called, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. And there's a little overview sentence describing the book. And it says, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek argue that Christianity requires the least faith of all worldviews because it is the most reasonable. Now, I agree with the point that these men are trying to get across. I agree that Christianity is the most reasonable and rational worldview, and I certainly don't think that biblical faith is blind in the sense of being irrational or without any supporting evidence. But, I also think there's an important sense in which the Bible does teach that faith is blind. In Hebrews 11 verse 1, as Matt preached on last week, it says, In other words, faith is convinced of things it's blind to. And this idea continues into the verse we'll be focusing on tonight. In verse three of Hebrews 11, we read, by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. As we meditate on this verse, I want to point out three things that this teaches us about faith. The first thing is this. Number one, faith enables understanding. Faith enables understanding. It begins, by faith we understand. Isn't that a striking statement? I mean, usually we would say things like, well, by reasoning it out, I came to understand. Or maybe, you know, I study the evidence, and I deduce such and such, and that's how I came to understand. Or, through my experiences, I have come to understand. You know, sometimes we think, well, our understanding is the base or the platform by which we come to believe something. But this says, by faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God. No human eye was there to see it. There's no scientific evidence you can point to to prove that God spoke the universe into being. And this is something that we have absolutely no rational idea how it worked. We have no rational way to explain creation from nothing by the power of words. But what we know is that God says in Genesis 1, and God said, let there be light. And it was so. And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters. And it was so. And God said, let the waters be gathered together and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God said, let the earth sprout vegetation. And it was so. And God said, let there be lights in the heavens for signs and seasons and days and years. And it was so. And God said, let the water swarm with living creatures and let birds fly across the expanse of the heavens. And it was so. And God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds. And it was so. And God said, let us make man in our image. And it was so. Seven times we read God said, and seven times what God says is so. God creates, He separates, and He fills the universe by His sheer word. And what the author of Hebrews is saying to us is that the only way that you and I understand that is by faith. By means of faith, we understand. As Augustine and some would say, it's not that we understand so that we may believe, we believe so that we may understand. In other words, true spiritual understanding and the right way of viewing reality is utterly dependent on biblical faith. There's no other way that that understanding comes. I think it's a similar idea that Paul ultimately has in mind in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, where he says, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. And he is not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. We need faith to have proper understanding. And I think this is so important for us to keep in mind when we struggle with doubt and confusion. What do you do when you lose a loved one? When you're diagnosed with cancer? When you find out that your spouse has been unfaithful? When you're facing trials and suffering that you just don't understand? And you're thinking, how could a God who loves me, How could a God who's in control allow this? How could He still be good? What do you do when friends and loved ones abandon the faith? You know, when many people stop following Christ and go the way of the world, and in spite of all the evangelistic efforts you put forth, they just all seem fruitless. And when the church and when other Christians and even yourself just don't seem to be living up to what we're supposed to be, And you're thinking, oh God, where is your power? Where are your promises? I don't understand. What do you do when you open up your Bible and you read about predestination? Or the slaughter of Canaanite children? Or God hardening Pharaoh's heart? And it just doesn't seem right or fair to you. And then what do you do when you face questions like about the Trinity or the origin of evil or how somehow God is sovereign and yet humans are responsible at the same time and it just seems impossible to figure out. It seems, how do I fit these things together? It doesn't fit into my own logical categories. Well, I think Hebrews 11, three reminds us of the proper starting place. By faith, we understand. And we don't come to these issues with a posture of, you know, God, help me to understand this so that I can begin to trust you. We come to these issues. We come to all of Christianity with the posture of God, I trust you. And I am seeking to understand whatever answer you give. And that's why we say faith enables understanding in this important way. Now, a second thing we learn about faith from this verse is that faith looks to the past. Last week, Matt rightly stressed that faith looks to the future. We see that faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It's looking ahead. But here in verse three, we see that faith also looks to the past. It looks all the way back to the very origin of the universe itself. And it's interesting that the author starts here because he's, in this chapter, he's gonna give a long list of examples of faith and all the rest have to do with the faith of others. They're all looking back to, you know, the saints of old and how they exercised faith. And with most of them, their faith was looking forward to promises that were not yet fulfilled. And ultimately he's gonna say, we need to be like them in looking forward to what God has promised us. But in this first example, he points not to the faith of others, but he says, we, by faith, we understand. And he points not to something future, but to the very beginning itself. And I think the point of all of this is this, that we as Christians ought to see everything through the eye of faith. It's by faith that we see the past. It's by faith that we see the future. And it is by faith that we are to live in the present. And if we're gonna look ahead with a bold, confident faith, then we need to start by looking back with faith. You see, it's not like we begin with the facts and the evidence and reason, and that sort of gets us 80% of the way there, and then we sort of take this leap of faith to bridge the gap and account for the part that, you know, our evidence and reason and other things can't quite prove or explain. No, I think that the biblical picture of faith is actually much bigger and much deeper than that. It's saying that faith comes first. I mean, it's what undergirds and interprets everything else. I mean, if it's by faith that we understand where the universe itself comes from and how the universe itself came into being, well then faith is what undergirds our whole understanding of reality itself. Far from facts and evidence and reason being sort of the things that produce faith, there's this important sense in which faith is really the foundation upon which our understanding and the interpretation of everything else rests. By faith, we understand that the universe itself was created by the word of God. God spoke and it was. So, again, what do you do when you face doubts? You know, when you're on the verge of giving up the faith, just like the Hebrews that are being written to in this letter. Well, Hebrews 11 3 reminds us that by faith, we are to look to the past. We need to remember who God is and what he's done. And whenever we're in that situation where we're maybe tempted to doubt God's ability, we're questioning, we look around and think, how is God gonna fix things? I mean, why is it taking so long? Why are things so bad? Is God really in control? Can he really bring about this new creation he's promised if there's such evil and such a mess in the world? Well, just pause and meditate. on God creating the universe by his sheer word. Just think about God literally speaking into existence the universe itself. And then by his word, forming and fashioning and separating and filling and ordering everything that is. I think as we just pause and meditate on the sheer awe, awesome power of God displayed in creation, I think that should just produce in us such an awe of God that should strengthen our ability to trust Him. Whatever God says, the very word that brought all things into existence, that same word will bring about what He has promised. I was thinking of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where Paul is dealing with those who are doubting or questioning or denying that there would be a physical resurrection. And apparently one of the objections is, he says, someone will ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? And it's almost as if they just can't figure out, well, our bodies rot, how does this even work? I mean, it just seems impossible to them. And I love Paul's immediate response, you foolish person. You foolish person, have you forgotten who God is? I mean, do you really think that that is somehow a valid objection to the resurrection of friends? When we doubt God and all of his promises, how that's what we need to hear, you foolish person. By faith, reflect on the past so that by faith you can look to the future. So faith enables our understanding and it looks to the past. And then third and finally, Hebrews 11 three shows us that faith looks beyond what is visible. It says, by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. In other words, faith recognizes that there is a greater and more eternal reality than the universe. It looks beyond all that the eye can see. It looks at every visible thing in all creation and recognizes that ultimately none of it came from that which is visible. that God created by his word, that God sustains it by his word, and God rules over it by his word. And because faith sees beyond the visible things, you know, earthly things lose their shimmer. Faith isn't allured by worldly lusts, and it's not daunted by dire circumstances. It knows that what it can see, that the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord stands forever. Think of what 1 John 2, verse 15 says. It says that faith, it doesn't love the world because it knows that all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father. but is of the world, and the world is passing away with the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. You know, when you're tempted, you know, by faith, look beyond what you can see, these things that wanna grab you, the lust of the eyes before you, and look to the word of God and the promises of God that abide forever. Also, in 2 Corinthians chapter four, It says that faith recognizes that all of our afflictions are light and momentary and not worth comparing with the eternal weight of glory that's prepared for us. Because faith doesn't look to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient or temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal. In other words, you could put it this way, that faith really is, in a sense, blind to present circumstances. It's not allured by the glitter of the world, and it's not overcome by the dire circumstances of the world. Because it's looking beyond what is seen to that which is invisible. It looks beyond to God himself. And it takes him at his word. It trusts him for understanding, and for life, and for salvation. As Romans 1.16 says, where Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. He says, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. And as Jesus tells Thomas, When he he couldn't believe unless he saw him and then Jesus says well you've believed because you saw Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed There's this crucial sense in which our faith is blind. It's it's not built on what we can see It is by faith we understand that God spoke and all things came into being And therefore this God who is there is the God who rules forever and will always rule. And therefore what he says is the absolute authority, the absolute thing we trust in and hope in and we rest upon. And therefore we treasure his promise that for all who come to him in Christ, he, he gives salvation bountifully and fully. So may we trust him more by looking beyond what is visible by, um, looking to the past and by remembering that faith enables our understanding. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We praise you as the God who has created all things. We confess that our faith is so often wavering and weak. God, we pray that you would use this message to stir our hearts to trust you more. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.