Hebrews 11:3 ( NKJV )
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.
I was traveling last week so there was no blog. This week I will cover the last two messages. Remember, all messages are available via our web site, www.livingwordgreene.com.
What do we frame? We frame pictures. A frame sets the limits of the picture. It draws attention to it and in many ways defines it. When we look at this verse we see the author has used this term to describe the process of creation. It is an interesting choice of words. At first glance we might wonder why God would use that particular word in this context. To me there is a simple explanation. The creation of the worlds involves a picture that God uses words to frame.
What picture could be involved in creation? The picture God is framing with his words is the inner image He had of the worlds. God saw in his heart what he wanted. He could see everything that we call the natural world. When the time came to release the power of creation he didn’t just say random things or throw out a word to see what would happen. He framed what he saw inside with words. He set it’s limits, described it and defined the elements of what he was seeing. We do this all the time.
Whenever we speak we are expressing something in our minds or hearts. We have a picture of what we want to communicate and we frame it with words. This projects that idea, whatever it may be, to someone else. There is a difference in that and the process used for creation. In creation the ideas, the image, God expressed actually came into existence. When God framed the image of the worlds with His words He released a power that caused the natural world to spring into being. That power is faith.
It is interesting to me that the scientific community is so certain that the universe began with sound. They call it the “big bang.” I believe they are correct.
Genesis 1:3 ( NKJV )
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
There is the sound that created the universe. God said – and BANG!!!!! The universe came into existence. Praise God. Another interesting scientific idea is that the building block of all matter is light. How interesting. When God spoke the first words describing what He saw in his heart, He released the building blocks from which He would form all things.
In the subsequent verses He begins to further “frame” His inner image with words. He takes the initial building blocks and makes land, water and sky. He sets the limits of days, months and years. He creates the plants, animals and birds by releasing more words and with them more faith. The whole of the physical universe is framed by God’s spoken words and released by faith.
When God comes to man the process changes slightly. We see in the first chapter that God does say, “Let us make man in our image”, however He doesn’t just speak man into existence. Instead He forms man’s body out of what he had already created. To me this implies a particularly loving expression. When he is done with man’s body it is not alive. Everything else came forth fully formed and alive. Man’s life does not come with his body.
Genesis 2 says God breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul. What did God breathe into him. I believe God’s breath implies that God put something in man that did not originate in the natural world. I believe God breathed into him something that came from God’s realm, the realm of the spirit. The source of man’s life was not the natural material of his body but the spirit God put inside Him. Therefore man is a spirit being who lives in a physical body. That’s what makes him different. That’s why God told him and not any other creature, “You have dominion over all the earth.”
This is obviously significant for many reasons, however there is one in particular that is pertinent to our study of faith. Man is the image of God. God told man to keep or protect the Garden. He also told him to replenish the earth and rule it. Beside from the obvious process of bringing forth children, how was man to do these things. Was he to get a shovel or a rake and till the garden? No. The garden of Eden did not need such things since it brought forth what man needed naturally. Man was to control, or dominate creation with the same method used to create it.
There is only one being in the physical universe that can “frame” his inner image with words. God gave this ability to man and He expected him to use it to “keep” the Garden of Eden. I have already used my space for today, so tomorrow we will delve into this more deeply. However as you go through the day remember, God created the physical world by framing His inner image with words and releasing those words by faith. Imagine what that might mean to you.
Leave a Reply