3 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.
Yesterday we looked at the definition of faith: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Webster dictionary defines conviction as “the state of being convinced” . You might say faith is the stuff that enables us to see the unseeable. The rest of the chapter talks about what can be done by faith.
Where else to start than the beginning? Creation. Were any of us around at creation? No, so to us it’s invisible. How do we know how it all happened? God tells us in His Word and we believe – we are brought, by Him, to a state of being convinced. How did God create the universe? Through His spoken word. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’ ; and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 (NASB) When talking about Gen 1, you must tie it to John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Out of nothing, out of things that are invisible, God created through the Word, Jesus. We’re reminded that Hebrews is all about Jesus. At this climax of the letter, after the author has clearly demonstrated Christ is better than the angels, Moses, the law and sacrifices, as he is driving home the reason for the letter, encouraging them to endure and telling them it’s all about faith, and just before he introduces the hall of faith, the author goes back to Jesus, God, the source of all things, the Alpha and the Omega, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8 NASB) Reader, be likewise encouraged.