“I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith.[1] … Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words!”[2]
Without faith, we can estimate that the universe is about 93 billion light-years in diameter. That’s as much as we can see through a telescope. And how did it get there? Scientists tell us that “space and time emerged together 13.799±0.021 billion years ago, and the energy and matter initially present have become less dense as the Universe expanded.” Then, “after the separation of the four known fundamental forces, the Universe gradually cooled, continued to expand, allowing the first subatomic particles and simple atoms to form” and, voila! here we are.[3]
But they haven’t a clue who created space, time, energy, matter or the four known fundamental forces, and they don’t seem to be looking too hard.
Faith not only gives us the power to accept the Genesis account of creation but, vastly more important, faith is the only existing power that pleases God, “for we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who give all their passion and strength into seeking him.”[4]
If not for faith, we wouldn’t even be here, because “faith opened Noah’s heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But he stepped out in reverent obedience to God and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith the world was condemned, but Noah received God’s gift of righteousness that comes by believing.”[5]
It was faith that “operated powerfully in Abraham, for when he was put to the test, he offered up Isaac. Even though he received God’s promises of descendants, he was willing to offer up his only son! … Abraham’s faith made it logical to him that God could raise Isaac from he dead.”[6]
“Holding faith’s promise, Moses abandoned Egypt and had no fear of Pharaoh’s rage, because he persisted in faith as if he had seen God who is unseen.”[7]
Without faith, we are helpless victims of our appetites and the prey of rebellious angels that distort and pervert everything we see, hear, feel, touch and taste.
Religious Christianity doesn’t care much for faith, except when it yields tithes and congregational loyalty. Whereas faith is focused on God, the power and enabler of faith, religious Christianity is focused on community, events and entertainment, diluting faith and reducing it to a powerless self-help religion.
The days ahead will require faith far beyond what it takes to bow our heads, walk the aisle and pray the prayer. We will need the faith that moves mountains.
[1] Ephesians 1:19, TPT.
[2] Hebrews 11:3, TPT
[3] Planck Collaboration (2016). “Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters”. Astronomy & Astrophysics. 594: A13, Table 4.
[4] Ibid., verse 6.
[5] Ibid., verse 7.
[6] Ibid., verses 17-19.
[7] Ibid., verse 27.
