Faith in Nothing

Hebrews 11:3 ESV

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.

Preaching is an addiction that feeds my soul. It comes with tantalizing highs and epic lows, with a Greek drama thrown in. One of the greatest frustrations for me is when I look back and realize I didn’t say something, or when I jump to a conclusion without giving adequate reason from the text on why this is so. One of those happened this last Sunday. In making the point that a belief in God as “creator God” was needed to grasp the love of God in fullness I did not adequately show how Ephesians 3:14 is referencing this reality when Paul refers to the Father as “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” This references the reality that all of creation derives its name (the essence of what it is) from God. The creation account is also were we find the reality of our existence as one of faith.

As we enter into the “Hall of Faith” passage, with such epic men like Daniel, Samson, Abraham, Gideon, and even loves stories with Sarah and Abraham. We must not overlook the first steps into this hall of fame. The first act faith given by the author is one of that all of us must walk in and with. We are led into the presence of these “Giants of the faith” by the Latin phrase ex nilo, out of nothing.

The well-used illustration of a man telling God how he could have created things better is very apt. When told to do a better job, the man starts too look for the dirt to begin with and God tells him to “get his own dirt”. God created everything with nothing but his word. He created from no pre-existent mass or energy. This text point to the reality that existence itself depends on faith. The things visible came from nothing, and there longevity, even the proverbial stone wall, is completely a wisp, whose existence is at the discretion of God.  

What an incredible irony is it not. Those who wish to tell of how sure a thing is, tell us that we are walkin on “terra-firma”. Yet, the thing with the greatest assurance of continued existence is not the ground on which we walk but the spirit that God has given to every human being. Even as we feel our bodies return slowly to the earth from which we were created we know that we are bound for eternity. The irony that the eternal beings with us are the most stable of creations. That the firmest ground we rest our shoe upon is bound for destruction, and the persons we meet on the streets are bound for eternity (heaven or hell). Let us treat the lasting person’s we talk with, as the creations with the greatest honor, for this is what they are!

Coram Deo