Bible Studies

TWO MIGHTY STATEMENTS

by Luella Campbell
04/01/15
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TWO MIGHTY STATEMENTS

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 (Heb. 11:1-3).

Two mighty statements! A superb definition of faith and a magnificent explanation of creation!

The writer referred to faith as the vehicle through which we enter this life in Christ, sustain this life and participate in all the benefits of Jesus's sacrifice and high priesthood. Faith. What is faith? Two words describe faith in a nutshell - confidence and assurance. Faith reaches out from our hearts into the unseen realm and lays hold of spoken words to pull them into the natural until the unseen becomes visible. The believer puts his confidence in the trustworthiness of the one who spoke the words.

Not every word spoken into the atmosphere has weight. Many, many of the promises spoken by unreliable people vanish into oblivion as soon as they are out of their mouths. What about the empty promises made by politicians to hopeful electorate to gain their vote? Their words have not weight because they cannot fulfil them or because they have no intention of honouring their word.

What about words spoken by parents to children which are never carried out, leaving their offspring disappointed and disillusioned about the trustworthiness of their promises, spawning frustration and rebellion. How can God be trusted when His representatives don't follow through on a simple promise? But God is reliable. That's who He is!

Assurance! Confidence gives birth to assurance based on the credibility of the one who has promised. Although the promises of fickle humans do not always offer assurance, we can have absolute assurance that the word of our reliable God cannot be broken. His word is based on His character. He cannot deny Himself. He is God, after all.

"Look at the universe", urges the writer. "How did it come into being?" God's word! God spoke and stuff happened. That's how powerful and trustworthy what God says, is. When He releases a word from His mouth, it has creative power. It can make happen in the visible world what is invisible in the atmosphere. God releases from His mouth what is already inside of Himself and it will translate into what He says because of who He is.

Faith = confidence and assurance. This is our invisible link with God's promises and His power to do what He has said. It is His chosen way and He cannot act outside of faith. When we fail to trust Him enough to rest in what He has said, His hands are tied. There is no link between the unseen and the seen realm. Faith is the fine gossamer thread that links the temporal with the eternal.

Let's look at the writer's illustration. Contrary to the "ex nihilo" - out-of-nothing - explanation of the theologians, the Bible tells us what He did. God spoke into the physical what was already in existence; He made the visible out of what was invisible - atoms, energy - which is within Himself. Out of His own divine energy He formed the universe by the power of His command.

It is by the same power of His command that He brings into the visible world that which already exists in Him - His will. If He could fashion the universe out of the energy that was already within Himself, how simple it is for Him to bring into visibility the promises He has decreed by His word. The fact that His delays are connected to His timing does not negate His faithfulness in fulfilling His promise.

The issue, then, does not lie with God's reliability but with our response. It is through faith - holding on to the gossamer thread that connects us to Him - and patience, the willingness to wait for His time that will see the promises fulfilled. Faith and hope, confidence and assurance, seeing the end result encapsulated in the promise and being confident that He who promised is faithful - reliable and secure.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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