You know, I just can’t get over how Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter, opens up. It absolutely blows me away. It consumed me Monday night as I tried to go to sleep. Why had I never noticed this before? Why does no one preach and teach what it reveals? Before touching on what a single hero of the faith did in faith to gain God’s approval, the chapter opens with these words: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Heb 11:1-3 (NASB) I have long believed that what one believes about origins and the age of the earth is indeed a reflection about what one believes about the Father, the Son, the Gospel and the authority of Scripture. Faith is the conviction of things not seen. Let’s face it … we can never see or recreate what happened ‘in the beginning’. One who believes in creation cannot scientifically recreate and test what he or she believes occurred. One who believes in evolution cannot scientifically recreate and test what he or she believes occurred. All one can do is examine the historical evidence … the same historical evidence. Whatever either proponent (or the great variation of mixed bag origin champions) chooses to believe is typically based on presuppositions and he or she is taking a step of faith based on those presuppositions. So then the author of Hebrews follows up with what the presupposition of a believer should be … By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. You know what the pivotal word is in this passage? We. It occurs nowhere else in all of Hebrews 11. The entire chapter is about the works of faith done by Old Testament saints … works we are not called to duplicate. BUT regarding belief in creation, we (both new and old covenant saints) by faith understand that God spoke the worlds into existence. By faith the men of old gained the approval of God. WOW! Check out these Genesis highlights … In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Day 1 - Then God said, "Let there be light." Day 2 - Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." Day 3 - Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear." Day 4 - Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth." Day 5 - Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." Day 6 - Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind." Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." And it was so … FAITH ISSUE #1: Do we believe that God, simply by what He said, spoke all of creation into existence? Note the first point regarding God that Paul made to the men of Athens in his sermon at Mars Hill: The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist , as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' Acts 17:24-28 (NASB) This was not a point the apostles needed to make with Jewish listeners because they already understood and embraced these foundational truths from the writings of Moses. FAITH ISSUE #2: Do we believe that we are God’s children and therefore He is not only our Father and Creator but also the creator of all things? What we choose to believe about our origins and the age of the earth can and often does undermine both the authority of Scripture (not only in Genesis but throughout Scripture) and the very Gospel itself. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Heb 1:1-2 (NASB) 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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:1-3 (NASB) ALL THINGS came into existence through Christ Jesus and apart from Him NOTHING came into existence … this is critical truth. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Rev 22:13 (NASB) FAITH ISSUE #3: Do we believe that all things came into existence ‘in the beginning’ through our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus the Son? After day 6 of creation … God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Gen 1:31 (NASB) FAITH ISSUE #4: Do we believe God would see death, disease and suffering as ‘very good’? IF the earth is millions or billions of years old and man has only existed a small portion of that life cycle, then death, disease and suffering existed long before Adam and Eve’s sin … and therefore death is not the wages of sin and places the entire concept of the gospel in question … For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NASB) And suddenly these biblical passages are also without authority … Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:12-21 (NASB)
FAITH ISSUE #5: Does what we believe about our origins and the age of the earth impact what we believe about God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Gospel and the authority of Scripture? As the Lord leads you personally; consider the above, testing what is offered against the entirety of Scripture and according to the interpretation of the Holy Spirit then examine and assess where you stand according to … faith ‘in the beginning’. | 
