Hebrews 11:3 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.

There are many reasons why Hebrews 11 is considered the ultimate “faith chapter” in the Bible. Not only does it start with the only actual definition of faith in the whole Bible, it then dismantles the theory of evolution very expertly with this one verse. This is what materialists balk at. They can’t accept that the material universe was created out of the immaterial, or spiritual. In fact, the very word, immaterial, is often used to mean “unconnected, of no consequence,” particularly in legal settings. However, one issue that astrophysicists, even ones who accept the “creation moment” of the “Big Bang,” continue to puzzle over, is how the seemingly essentially infinite physical universe came from that one incredibly tiny moment. Black holes would have absolutely nothing on it in terms of density! All of that difficulty goes away when we accept that the Creator is outside of the physical universe, and can cause things to come into existence by His expressed will (words). The kicker is that such a scenario can’t be “scientifically proven;” we have to accept it by faith. The vast majority of mankind doesn’t even think about such things, but the more we think about life itself, the more we run into such issues. I recently saw a very amusing and insightful video of five people of varying education and social background being asked to rank each other by IQ, strictly on the basis of such background. One woman was sure she was top, since she had a Masters degree, and she was very dismissive of a man who had entered the military out of high school. As it turned out, he had the highest IQ and she was next to the bottom! Human pride does many strange and foolish things, including trying to deny the existence of our Creator. Genuine faith is inseparable from humility, because we have to accept that there are things we will never be able to prove, or even understand, on our own. However, life is infinitely more peaceful and joyful when we have that foundation.

As I have written before, I was raised in a family that was highly educated as well as firmly grounded in faith. I like that combination! I have certainly had my struggles with pride, and I know there is no limit to the dead ends it can lead us into. I have always enjoyed both science and science fiction, and from childhood have been very happy running scenarios through my imagination. “Time outs” didn’t work as punishment with me! I have encountered many people in my life who didn’t want to acknowledge that there was anything outside of the physical universe, and they have always seemed sad to me. What is life, if there is nothing beyond it? I have had moments of worship in which I was more sure that God was real than that I was. Actually, you could say that the entire universe is no more than a figment of God’s imagination! I know the peace and the purpose that faith has given me, and I want everyone to have that. I recently got word that someone I knew had died. He had lived a rather despicable life, wounding many people along the way, but the report is that in the days before his death he was consumed with wanting the people around him to know Jesus, as he had encountered Him, and he seemed happy and at peace with leaving this world. I was frankly amazed, and confirmed in my conviction that nothing is impossible for God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your grace toward us all. I pray that I would be an effective instrument of that grace, so that more and more people may encounter You as their Creator and Jesus as their Savior, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!