Living by Faith: The Creation and our Faith

In Hebrews 11:3, the author writes, “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.” God created the heavens and the earth to display his glory and build our faith. In other words, one of the main purposes of the created order is to help us believe in God. It’s to help us trust in his power and goodness and wisdom and beauty and ability to do anything he wants to do. It’s to help us press on in the assurance that he’s willing to act on our behalf for the glory of his name. 

Psalm 19:1-2 tell us that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of his hands day by day. In Isaiah 6:3 the angels declare in the presence of the Lord that the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord. Romans 1:20 teaches us that the creation was designed to reveal the glory of God to us and powerfully witness about some of his most important attributes, and the question is this: do we have eyes to see what our eyes are seeing when we look upon creation? 

Then here in Hebrews we’re told how God has designed his creation to function in the lives of those who believe. The believing soul is supposed to look upon creation and say, “O my soul, since the heavens and the earth and all that’s in them were created by nothing more than the will and words of God, he must be exceedingly great, powerful, intelligent, artistic, and good. And since he can stretch out a universe; since he can make the sun shine and rise and fall and govern days and times; since he can make the moon wax and wane in its cycles; since he can make the skies team with the birds of the air; since he can make the seas gather into their place and team with fish and all manner of creatures; since he can make the land rise out of the sea and be filled with lakes and rivers and mountains and trees; since he can make the land team with the beasts of the field and all manner of crawling things; since he can create men and women in his image and cause their nations to rise and fall—since he can do all this and so much more by nothing more than the word of his power, then he must be able to fulfill his purposes and promises in the world and in my life.” 

Many years ago I attended a pastor’s retreat in the mountains above Santa Cruz, California, and somewhere along the way I went out onto a deck to think and pray about some things that were troubling me. It’s funny that I can’t even remember what those things were now, but I can remember looking at the tall mountains and the pine trees that stretched out as far as my eye could see. I can remember beholding the night sky and gazing upon the millions of stars that filled it and I can remember breathing in the cool, crisp air. I can remember preaching to my soul and saying, “Charlie, if God can create and care for all of this, surely he can care for you. Surely he can handle your problems. Surely he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Surely he loves you more than these. So, trust in his will and words and ways, and believe that he will act on your behalf.” I can still remember the feeling of peace that washed over me in that moment and, though I don’t remember what happened from there, I suppose the Lord acted on my behalf because, again, I can’t even remember what was so troubling to me! 

Friends, the Lord is faithful and creation is designed to help us see and feel the power of this fact. In other words, creation is designed to build our faith. I’ll say more about this in the next post in this series, but for now, let me pose the question: when you look upon creation, do you have the eyes to see what you’re eyes are seeing? Are you allowing God to strengthen your faith through the works of his hands?