“Jump, Jump. We’ll catch you,” the firemen call from the street to the man on the second story. Smoke and flames shoot up past the man and he can’t see the people calling to him from below. “Trust us. We have saved many people this way before. Though you can’t see us we can see you. Jump and we will catch you.” This man still has no glimpse of those who are calling to him. Can he trust them? This is an example of faith. He can’t see except for what he has been told. There is ample evidence for what he has been told. He could call the fire department and verify the records of people saved. But the question is will he trust what he has been told. Will he trust what he cannot see, and jump? Jumping is trust; jumping is faith.
Of course it is not biblical faith because it is not based on the promises of Scripture as we have seen from verses 1&2 of this chapter. Now in verse 3 we come to the creation as the primary example of biblical faith. Why is this? Because in all other parts of the Scripture we have some kind of background, some kind of history where we can see that what is said is not made up or embellished. We have the Scripture to tell us exactly what happened. For if we didn’t understand that the creation was made perfect and a resulting fall and cataclysmic flood plunged the world into death and decay we might be left a little in the dark as to how everything here came to be. But the Word of God gives us clear indication about how we came to be and how the world we live in has become so corrupt.
And this brings us to the key idea of the passage that God has given us as the primary example of real faith, belief in the description of His own creative power for the existence of the universe. It is not just belief in the creation.
Let me explain this key idea for a moment. Someone will be shown to have real biblical faith not simply on the basis in their belief that God created the world. They will be shown to have biblical faith if they believe in God’s own description of it. A person might accept the fact that He created it somehow but will not give God credit for having created it in the way that He said He did. This is still calling God a liar. It might make more sense to some that God simply created the world in an instant instead of in six days. But a person who is willing to believe the former still has a problem with God’s own description of it. Could God have created the world in an instant? Sure. But He didn’t. And this is what God has clearly portrayed in His Word. Some people are willing to believe that most history, as recorded in the Bible, occurred just as it was documented but they are unwilling to go back just a little further and see the creation account as valid. We will look at why this is so important a little later. But first, let’s see what happens if we have biblical faith.
I. By Faith We Have Understanding of the Creation of the World
First, we must note that by faith we have understanding of the creation of the world. This is what verse 3 describes. The author says, “For by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” There are two characteristics about the creation we understand from this verse.
A. He spoke it into existence
The first characteristic about the creation we understand from this verse is He spoke it into existence. The first part of verse 3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God.” The power of God’s own voice spoke the worlds into existence. He didn’t have to hire subcontractors or day laborers (day 1, day 2) to get the work done. We find the display of His power in Genesis chapter 1. “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” Literally, “Let light be, then light was.” God needed only to speak to bring to pass what He desired. And as He continued to speak He brought the creation from chaos to cultivation, from shapelessness to satisfaction. His words created what was to be and when all was literally “said and done” it was perfect. God was able to look upon His creation with His discriminating eye and could not find one thing amiss. Throughout the creation account we find God saying, “It was good.” And as He completed His masterpiece, as He stepped back to revel in His creation and rest from His creative work, even as a master painter steps back to view his canvas, the universe heard the reverberations of the voice of God, “It is very good. In it I am well pleased.”
B. He created it from nothing
The second characteristic about the creation we understand from this verse is He created it from nothing. The last part of verse 3 says, “so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” From this verse we find that matter is not eternal. This is the big sticking point of the big bang debate. Where did this matter come from? How did the universe we know appear? It came, the pseudo-scientists would say, from one densely packed group of matter billions of years ago. They call this pinpoint mass of matter a singularity. But even if this were true where did the singularity come from? After all the first law of thermodynamics says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed but only changed in form. It can be converted from mass to energy and energy to mass but it must be conserved. The second law says that everything runs down. Now if this is the case, this material of the universe cannot remain in its productive state forever. Because the matter was coalesced into a singularity doesn’t make it eternal. We don’t worship a singularity. Well, to find the source of matter you have to step back into the lap of God. You have to see that He brought it into being. And He brought it into being from nothing. Before God started His work on this universe there was no material world. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It was at this point that God brought the world, its associated matter and its laws into being. He created it from nothing.
So to see if we have biblical faith we need to look at the requirement of whether we have understanding of the beginning of the universe. Do you believe God spoke it into existence? Do you believe He created it from nothing? Do you believe the accounts of the creation as actual historical events? It is not foolish to believe such an event, especially in light of the evidence for such. One astronomer, Charles Burckhalter, from the Chabot Observatory, said, “The study of the book of Job and its comparison with the latest scientific discoveries has brought me to the matured conviction that the Bible is an inspired book and was written by the One who made the stars.” Only the conviction of real biblical saving faith can bring an individual to a point to recognize and receive the accounts of the first pages of Scripture as true.
So because of faith in the Word of God we gain the understanding that God spoke the worlds into existence. He needed neither tools nor assistance. He needed no materials from which to work. The angels stood back and watched the creation event. In Job, it says, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Oh that we might have seen the event itself and praised our God along side of those angels. Well with the eyes of faith we can see what took place at that event. Listen to the majestic voice of God call forth everything into being, “Let it be.” Watch the world and light emerge from the empty darkness of nothingness. Hear the water rush upon the earth in playful waves and crashing breakers. Watch the dry land appear out of the deep blue of the ocean like a whale surfacing from beneath the depths. Be amazed at the appearance of stars and galaxies before your very eyes. Hear the noise of animals playing and birds singing beautiful songs, songs that were encoded into their very DNA and which they began to sing from their first moment of existence. Then watch the scene as God makes Adam out of clay and Eve out of a rib. See the look of wonder on Adam’s face as he sees his beautiful bride for the very first time. Hear; yes hear the harmony of a world in which there is no fall, no curse, a world in which only joy can be found and in which only peace has made itself at home. And you will find yourself repeating quietly, “It is very good.”
II. Why Does God Make Creation a Litmus Test of Faith?
Now we want to look at the reasons for why does God make creation a litmus test of faith. Genuine faith causes us to realize that only God could have made the world in this way. This is the ultimate example of faith because no one was there to verify it except God and His angels. Though the scientific data best correlates with creation we cannot produce experiments by which we can substantiate that creation actually took place. However, for a person to have real faith they can’t look at the Word of God and deny His special creation. There is too much at stake to deny it. A person who sees all that the Scripture says about Creation and yet rejects it has to reject the historical accuracy and divine authority of the Scripture. Someone may be ignorant about what the Scripture has to say on creation but one who sees what it says and tries to weasel his or her way out of it misses what real faith is all about. Some will say, “I believe it by faith,” as if it is just something a person must assent to without actually thinking it happened literally. Or when they say, “It is part of my faith,” they simply mean “It is what my church believes.” Of course they won’t bring the worldview of creation into their laboratory or into their workplace. They won’t look at the world around them and seek to find God’s design in it. Well if this is their faith it is not biblical faith nor is it saving faith. There are five reasons we want to discuss why God has makes creation a litmus test of faith.
A. It separates the true God from idols.
The first reason God makes creation a litmus test of faith is that it separates the true God from idols. There are two passages of Scripture that make this evidently clear. First, Psalm 96:4-5 says, “For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. What separates the true God from idols? It is the fact that the LORD made the heavens. This creative work separates God from all the pagan deities enshrined throughout the world. There are all kinds of false gods in every culture. Our culture is no exception. The truth is that if you are worshipping a God who used natural means to bring about the world and all therein then you are worshipping an idol. What you worship is a god made in your own image. You are telling God what He could or could not do. Those who worship a God who used evolution to produce man have a misrepresentation of the God of the Bible. If this is you, you do not know the God of the Bible. As much as someone would want to deny this they cannot say they have an accurate picture of the God of Scripture or an adequate faith in the God of Scripture and deny His creative ability. Someone might object, “I’m not denying God’s creative ability.” But you are denying the very account God gave of His work on earth. This might be a person who will say they believe the historical accounts of Scripture back to Genesis 12 for which we have much archeological data to support it, but refuse to go further than that. When does God’s Word stop being God’s Word? Why would God fake one part when He has shown Himself to be completely reliable in every other? The problem is that this person does not have genuine faith that believes God’s Word. They are hedging on complete trust in His Word. They are worshipping an idol.
The next verse to look at is Jeremiah 10:10-12. Jeremiah says, “But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them, ‘The gods that DID NOT MAKE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.”
What Jeremiah declares is that those idols who did not make the heavens and the earth will be destroyed. They will not stand in the Day of Judgment because they are no gods at all. But this is the true God who made the heavens just as He said. He spoke and it came to pass. He willed and it happened. This is our God. This is, as Isaiah says, the Creator of the ends of the earth. But why should this be so troubling for someone who does not believe in God’s special creation as described in Scripture? Psalm 135:18 says that those who trust in these idols will become just like them. They will be condemned in the Day of Judgment. Creation is a litmus test of faith because it separates the true God from idols and it shows, not only who He is but whether or not we truly believe in His Word.
B. It is a definitive (and accurate) marking point for the work of God in the world.
The second reason God makes creation a litmus test of faith is that creation is a definitive and accurate marking point for the work of God in the world. It tells us what God has been doing in this world and for how long. In Genesis 1:1, we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” If this framework we have from Genesis is accurate and definitive then we have the start of the human race on this planet not more than several thousand years ago instead of some few hundred thousand years. If Genesis 1:1 is the framework for the creation of the animal world then they too appeared at the same time as mankind (give or take a couple of days). Any other attempt to secure the time and birthplace of civilization fails apart from the Genesis account.
Anthropologists understand that the cradle of civilization is in the Middle East. But not only is this evident from science it is evident in Scripture. Scientists get close to understanding origins but still miss the obvious conclusions that are available to them. I remember a Time magazine article I read while in college in which a group of scientists determined that genetically we all came from one woman. It is fine to have scientific corroboration for this but if they had gone to Genesis 3:20 they would have found out a lot sooner that “the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.” So what were the scientists’ final words on the subject after having concluded there was only one woman to whom everyone traces their ancestry? They said, “Obviously this well describes the events found in Genesis.” NOT! Here it is; well we know that we all came from this one woman but we don’t know how many husbands she had. Now if they would only go back to Genesis 3:20 they could save 20 million dollars and 15 more years of genetic experiments to tell us there was only one man involved too.
Scientists have also figured out what kind of material it was from which we were formed. They have categorically declared that this basic building block material for life consisted of a fine grainy substance containing mostly hydrated silica with aluminum. It is also known as clay. Again these folks could have saved a lot of time and money going into this with an understanding of Genesis 1:24 and 2:7. Can you see God looking down and turning to one of the angels next to Him and saying, “Look they finally figured it out. I’ve been telling them this for years.”
I am not saying we shouldn’t pursue science. Hopefully, you know me better than that. But we should pursue science with a view of the Creator’s hand. We should pursue the knowledge of the creation with a desire to extol the Creator’s virtue and power. Oh please I hope there are many young people in this place who desire to pursue science with the goal of honoring their Creator in showing people who He is through their work because the creation is the definitive and accurate marking point for the work of God in the world.
Listen to some of these brilliant well-known scientists who saw the work of the Creator in their studies. Lord Kelvin, said, “With regard to the origin of life, science…positively affirms creative power.” Louis Pasteur noted, “The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.” And Sir Isaac Newton exclaimed, “All material things seem to have been composed of the hard and solid particles…variously associated in the first creation by the counsel of an intelligent Agent. For it became Him who created them to set them in order. And if he did so, it’s unphilosophical to seek for any other origin of the world, or to pretend that it might arise out of a chaos by the mere laws of nature.”
Let’s look at a couple of other passages that describe the definitive and accurate marking point for God’s work in the world. These verses describe God as the one who clearly laid out the plans for creation and the accomplishment of the task. Psalm 95:5 says, “The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Psalm 104:19 tells us, “He made the moon for the seasons.” God placed the moon there purposely. It wasn’t captured by the earth’s gravity several million years ago as it passed by the earth as a large meteor. It was for seasons. It was also placed there to cleanse the oceans or else they would have become a morass of garbage and would kill life instead of sustaining it.
Exodus 20:11 also shows us the definitive marking point of God’s work in the world. “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Now this verse is God’s explanation for the fourth commandment. He tells the people that He has given a Sabbath day for the people so they would have an opportunity to rest and honor Him for His creative work in the world.
Did you ever stop to wonder why it is that almost the entire world is on a seven-day week? There is an astronomical reason for setting the day at 24 hours, there is an astronomical reason for setting the month (at around 28 days), there is an astronomical reason for setting the year at 365 days. But the only reason for society to set our week at seven days is due to the creation. There is no other explanation for it. This should be one of the greatest proofs for creation. Creation gives us this definitive marking point for His work in the world.
And so what have we seen so far. God created the world by the word of His power. God spoke and the creation came into existence. He created the substance of this universe out of nothing. And we cannot have real faith unless we see the creative work of our great God as He described it for us in the Scripture.