Leap of Faith

Faith in Creation

Science could not reject the idea that the world was created by the word of God.

If faith is exercised by men on earth, it must be concerned that everything that exists on earth is under God’s control

faith in creation is the foundation and a specimen of all faith

By the word of God- the power of his word

By faith we know that all we see around us and all that takes place on earth came from one we cannot see.

If God is in control of nature and history, past and present, every generation of believers can trust his promises about the future, no matter what it may cost them

John 1:1-3 New Living Translation (NLT)

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

The faith of Abel Gen 4:3-7-response to God

Here we see that faith is not simply trusting God for the future or trusting the Word of God for the truth about things that are invisible to our eyes, even things that happened in the past, such as the creation. Faith is also the means by which we live in response to the commands of God.

Abel is commended here in Hebrews 11 not because he gave an animal but because he offered his sacrifice by faith.

God was very concerned, as we see throughout the Old Testament, with the heart attitude of the person who brought a sacrifice to the altar. Very often in the Old Testament era, people simply went through the motions, offering their sacrifices in a perfunctory way, for which they were hypocrites. God said, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies” (Amos 5:21). God was displeased by the faithlessness of the people as they went through their religious practices

People go to church every Sunday and go through the motions of religion while their hearts are far from God. They act out their religion, as actors in a play, but without faith, without any real personal commitment to God.

But when Abel brought his sacrifice, he brought it with the sacrifice of praise. He wanted to honor God. He was trying to be obedient and to manifest his love for God and trust in Him.

The faith of Enoch-Please the Lord

We cannot come to God if we don’t believe there is a God. That’s simple, isn’t it? We cannot seek to please God if we don’t believe that God exists and rewards those who seek after Him. Enoch demonstrated his faith by seeking to please God, just as all faithful people do. So faith is central to the motivation of the human heart to live in a way that honors God.

We see this in the Gospels as well. When Jesus met people who went out of their way to show honor to Him, He commended them for their faith. This was because no one bothers to honor a person he doesn’t believe exists or is worthy of honor.