Hebrews 11:1-3

Hebrews 11:1–3 - “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. 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.”

Faith is the foundation of our hope

Hebrews 11:1 - “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

One author defined faith this way - “It’s an attitude of trust in God, including beliefs about God and his goodness, that is essential to a right relationship with God.”

Another author said, “God-honoring faith takes God at his word and lives expectantly and obediently in the present, waiting for him to fulfill his promises.”

The Jewish reader understood the “conviction of things not seen” to be the future day of the Lord. Remember, orthodox Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to walk the earth for the first time.

The Gentile reader understood the “conviction of things not seen” to be partially eternal and partially things yet to happen.

For both groups, there was a conviction that something was in the future that God had not yet revealed to them, but was foundational to the hope they had in the Lord.

Faith - complete trust (Mark 11:22) and certainty of belief (Acts 17:31) as it pertains to the gospel.

Faith isn’t wishful thinking. Faith isn’t a religious identifier, like the Christian faith, Jewish faith, Mormon faith and so on.

Faith in Jesus Christ is certain that he has done something in the past, he is doing something in the present, and he will do something in the future. If God’s character has never changed thus far, his character will remain the same for the future. God’s word has been concrete since the beginning of time and will continue to be in the future. If his promises have been true for centuries, his promises will remain true for future centuries.

Our faith clings to the evidence of God’s character throughout history, which preserves our faith into the future when we might not see what God is doing around us or we might not understand what God is doing around us.

Faith is a powerful story told throughout history

Hebrews 11:2 - “For by it the people of old received their commendation.”

This is the point of our spending time in Hebrews 11. Over the next ten weeks, we’re going to dive into some powerful faith history of the Old Testament. Abel. Enoch. Noah. Abraham and Sarah. Isaac. Jacob. Joseph. Moses. Joshua and Rahab. The faithful judges of Israel. Samuel. King David. The faithful prophets of Israel.

All of their lives pointed Israel to the coming Messiah. All of them surrendered to a promise they would not experience. They had sweat equity in fruit they would never taste. Psalm 145:4 testifies to this powerful story - “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” Garth’s message to us last week was a great transition into this next series. The preservation of the gospel is passed down from generation to generation.

As we work our way through this chapter, we should be encouraged that our faith is part of the powerful story that will continue being told into the future. Like the men and women who have gone before us, our faith and our confidence in God’s word is significant as it invites others to embrace their own faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith helps us understand how the world was created

Hebrews 11:3 - “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.”

I think it’s important that we look at Genesis 1 and 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 were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Verse 3 is deeply significant to our theology and it goes against what many Americans believe. According to a 2024 Gallup poll:

24% of U.S. adults accept the theory of evolution, claiming humans evolved from less advanced forms of life over millions of years without God’s involvement.

34% claim humans evolved, but with God’s guidance.

37% say God created humans in their present form within the past 10,000 years.

Everything that was created in the universe was spoken into existence from nothing. “What is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” God didn’t use existing matter to create the world. God spoke it into existence.

That is one of the reasons why creation is able to contribute to the powerful story of Jesus. If creation’s origin was something different that God’s word, creation would tell that story.

Application

There is an African legend about Jesus. It’s not in the Bible. It is only a legend, but the lesson is obvious.

Jesus was walking one day with His disciples and asked each one to pick up a stone to carry for Him. They all picked up a stone. Peter, rather a small one; John, a bigger one. Jesus led them to the top of a mountain and then He commanded the stones to be made bread. The disciples were by this time hungry, and so they were given permission to eat the bread in their hands. Of course, Peter didn’t have very much. John shared with him some of the bread that had been made from the stone he had carried.

On another occasion, Jesus took the same disciples for a walk and again asked them to pick up a stone to carry for Him. This time you can imagine that Peter picked up a larger stone. This time, Jesus did not take them to the top of the mountain. He took them to the river. As they stood on the bank looking with questions in their minds to Him, He said, “Throw the stones into the river,” which they did at once in obedience to His command. Then they looked at Him, expectantly waiting for the miracle that would happen this time.

They waited. They watched. Nothing happened. With great compassion Jesus looked on these disciples whom He loved and He said, “For whom did you carry the stone?”

“If you have the faith of a mustard seed…”

As we go through this series, part of my prayer is that we will understand more deeply how our faith contributes to God’s greater story throughout our community, our state, our world and throughout history.

Did you know that a mustard tree is an invasive plant?

Some people consider it a weed because it grows so quickly and up to 12 feet tall. Part of my prayer is that our faith will grow from a mustard seed into an invasive mustard plant.

Philippians 1:6 - “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”