For the last week I have been captivated by four words from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, “By faith we understand…” (Hebrews 11:3). Think about it for a moment. Does anything about that statement strike you as unusual?
What I find so interesting in that short statement is the linking of faith and reason. The word translated understand is the Greek “noeo” which means: to exercise the mind, to think over, perceive, consider, understand. The world often portrays Christian faith as nonintellectual; the heart-vs-the mind. That’s funny because in the Bible God appeals to both the heart and mind. He calls upon us to have faith in our hearts (Romans 10:9-10), and He invites us to exercise our minds as well (Isaiah 1:18).
The statement in Hebrews 11:3 is in reference to the origin of the physical universe, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” The knowledge as to the origin of the world cannot be found by speculation or by the gathering of scientific facts; it has been revealed to us by God Himself. By faith we understand that, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3).
God’s greatest truths are discovered by simple faith. The world always has been and always will be devising and rejecting its theories. The person of faith knows the truth now. And when we accept the truth by faith, God is pleased! (Hebrews 11:2)
Pastor Todd Weston
What I find so interesting in that short statement is the linking of faith and reason. The word translated understand is the Greek “noeo” which means: to exercise the mind, to think over, perceive, consider, understand. The world often portrays Christian faith as nonintellectual; the heart-vs-the mind. That’s funny because in the Bible God appeals to both the heart and mind. He calls upon us to have faith in our hearts (Romans 10:9-10), and He invites us to exercise our minds as well (Isaiah 1:18).
The statement in Hebrews 11:3 is in reference to the origin of the physical universe, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” The knowledge as to the origin of the world cannot be found by speculation or by the gathering of scientific facts; it has been revealed to us by God Himself. By faith we understand that, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3).
God’s greatest truths are discovered by simple faith. The world always has been and always will be devising and rejecting its theories. The person of faith knows the truth now. And when we accept the truth by faith, God is pleased! (Hebrews 11:2)
Pastor Todd Weston
