Untitled Sermon (8)
Faith Is.
First, it anticipates the future. It does not place its reliance on that which is merely visible to our physical sight. It is the assurance of things hoped for. The ‘faithful’ characters arrayed in chapter 11 did not simply live for the passing moment; they realized that there was far more to life than the immediate and temporary scene. Life was a pilgrimage. They knew that there were better things ahead because, in one way or another, God had told them so. And they preferred to believe that word rather than the flimsy promises and facile assurances of the world around them.
Secondly, it evaluates the present. It would be wrong to imagine that the believer has no interest whatever in contemporary life. Indeed, the Christian looks far more closely at the immediate scene than the unbeliever. The person without any clear faith often accepts things simply as they are. If money comes his way, then it is obviously his to enjoy. If he is confronted with an opportunity for sensual pleasure, he will take it, regardless of its immediate effects or ultimate consequences. He does not necessarily sit down to consider whether it damages him or hurts others; that is not his concern. But the man or woman of faith possesses the conviction of things not seen. Such people look beyond the situation as it can be perceived by natural vision or enjoyed by the physical appetites. They do not look simply at their circumstances; they discern the activity of the invisible God (11:27) in their present situation and are able to endure
c. Faith recognizes God’s power (11:3)
The writer has made several references to creation and now returns to this theme in order to emphasize faith’s ability to discern God’s majestic power in the created order. The letter began by asserting Christ’s share in creation (1:2); it now turns to our understanding of it.
Only by faith can we accept the astonishing statement that ‘the visible came forth form the invisible’ (NEB). Bruce says that when our author makes this statement ‘the first chapter of Genesis is probably uppermost in his mind, since he is about to trace seven living examples of faith from the subsequent chapters of that book’. We have already seen that in referring to the Old Testament, he consistently uses the Septuagint. That version translates the beginning of the creation account in this way: ‘The earth was invisible’ (aoratos), the same word which is used later in this chapter to describe the ‘invisible’ God (11:27). God’s incomparable power is such that he can call the universe into being when there is nothing from which it can be fashioned. He simply declared that it was to be, and once he said it, it was done
It records the truth about them so that, amongst other things, we recognize that they were ordinary people who, by God’s grace alone, were enabled to do extraordinary things. In selecting certain individuals by way of illustration, the writer begins by introducing Abel, Enoch and Noah.
11:1. Faith guarantees what believers hope for