IDEA: Whatever we believe about beginnings takes faith.

TEXT: 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 (Hebrews 11:3).

PURPOSE: To help listeners see that belief in how the universe came into existence is a matter of faith.

The author of Hebrews 11 writes, "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" (11:3).

I. Why do you think that it takes faith to believe that the creation we see was not made out of what was visible?

People in the ancient world must have believed that matter was eternal. Why? Matter was "obvious."

Why would it take "faith" to believe otherwise? On what would that faith have been based?

Do most scientists believe in the eternality of matter today?

The almost universally accepted scenario today in the scientific community is what astronomer Fred Hoyle first called the "Big Bang Theory." From a pinpoint of plasma our current universe burst forth.

Scientists cannot venture back beyond that initial cosmic explosion.

Scientists today would agree that "what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

Would they necessarily believe that it was formed at "God's command"?

II. When it comes to the question of how the world began, is it only the Christians who exercise faith?

Do scientists who do not believe in God have "faith" or is what they assert based only on "fact"?

What do we mean by "faith" in people who don't believe?

Scientists make "guesses" (hypotheses, postulates) about how the world began, but the ultimate nature of reality is a mystery to them.

Some almost have "faith" that God was NOT involved.

Faith that shows up in endurance is grounded in a fundamental conviction about the nature of reality. Why?