Our Heavenly Father begins His Word, the Holy Bible, with the Book of Genesis. Most of us think of this book as His Creation Story, and while this is true, Genesis is also designed by God to lay the first layer, if you will, of the foundation of our faith. God teaches us by His example. We learn optimal living from the example of Christ, and we learn worship, praise, and holiness from the patterns and practices laid out in God’s Word. In Genesis, God has informed us about the existence of ‘nothing’ before He began His creation process. He did this so that you and I can construct a visual of what ‘nothing’ looks like. In Genesis 1:2(NKJV), He tells us, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” We can extract from this that ‘nothing’ is defined as faithless, void, and dark. We can also surmise that anything in this condition must be changed.
In Genesis 1:26, we learn the most life-altering piece of truth that can be known, and it is that we were created in the image of God. Given this piece of jaw-dropping information, it stands to reason and makes the most logical sense that the more we know about Heavenly Father, the more we know about ourselves. The less we know about Him, the less we know about us. Without knowing about God and His nature, we cannot know what we’re created to do, how we’re created to function, and what we must do to maintain ourselves optimally. Purpose is God’s credo. Everything He does has a purpose, and nothing with Him happens by happenstance. As we read His Word, we must do so with an aim to find out about our Creator, so we can know about His masterpiece creation, which is what you and I are, according to Ephesians 2:10.
Our lives should be a testimony to His goodness; a demonstration of His strength, power, and love; and the embodiment of the example of our big brother, Jesus Christ. Our Savior informed us of our occupation in John 5:19. He made it abundantly clear that we can’t do anything on our own, and it would be fruitless for us to try. Jesus Christ said of himself, “I can’t do anything on my own. I only do what I see the Father doing. Whatever I see my Father doing, that’s what I do!” In like manner, you and I should be doing what we see, perceive, read, and study Jesus Christ doing. Thankfully, through God’s Word, we have a written record replete with his activities.
God set the stage for faith through creation
First, God set the stage through creation. Genesis 1:2 tells us that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. We know resolutely that everything received its beginning from a thought in God’s mind, so it would not be improper for us to imagine that as the Spirit hovered, God’s thoughts were birthing the newness that was about to take form. How did it take form? Genesis 1:3 tells us that His thoughts took the form of words.
Words communicate will and intention. A person can confess, “I will make a cake today.” They may not have all the ingredients in front of them, but they have faith that at the appointed time of preparation, they possess the power, resources, and know-how to ensure everything will be available to mix the cake and bake it. God used faith to create everything there is. His faith in His own unlimited power, resources, and intelligence took nothing and made something out of it. Our confession of His Word will cause faith to work the very same way for us! Faith will forever and always move by the authority of God’s Word!
Confusing Faith and Hope
If you are confusing faith with hope, your intention will be misdirected, and faith will not produce the results you seek. Many of us are making this error. It sounds very pious to hope for the best when it comes to our prayer requests and the abundant life Christ has made available, but hope is not intended for the promises that God says we can pray to receive in the right now of our circumstances. God has given us life to enjoy today, not in the by and by. We rejoice and celebrate the victory Christ has won for us with our faith. We weren’t there to see with physical sight what he accomplished on the cross. We take it by faith. Again, not hope, but faith.
The way that heaven responds to faith is quite different than the way it responds to hope. Faith can call forth an army to wage war on your behalf, hope does not. Hope is the joyful expectation for something God has promised in His Word for the future. We have hope in the return of Christ, but we have no idea whether it will occur during our sojourn on earth. Moses had hope in the land God promised to the Children of Israel, but he died in hope, because he would not actually live in this land. He hoped that others would see it, but he couldn’t have an active faith for a promise that he couldn’t possess. This is why we have to know God’s Word, so that we can believe rightly for the promises that are available to us now.
1Corinthians 13:13 (NLT) tells us, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” This assures us that hope, like love and faith, is a wonderful thing; but it is not faith and doesn’t signal that we intend to walk in faith. For many of us, understanding the difference of the two will require a total paradigm shift, because we’ve taught ourselves to live in hope and stop short of being fully persuaded in an active, lively faith. God tells us in Hebrew 11:6 that we can’t please Him without faith. He doesn’t mince words. He says what He means, and He means what He says. We can’t afford to be walking around thinking we’re operating in faith, when our hearts and minds are not appropriating His promises properly. We need to know what’s available to receive in our circumstances, and then we need to get busy believing to receive.
Faith is full persuasion in what God says we can have right now. As spiritually mature believers, 2Corinthians 5:7 tells us to walk by faith, and not by sight. Some people only believe in what they can see. That’s not the way of Christ. We can have what God says we can have, be what He says we can be, and do what He says we can do, not tomorrow—not in the future, but today! Do yourself the greatest favor, get your mind and heart fully on board with faith. Start backing your faith! Believe and trust God for all He has in store for you!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Difference Between Faith and Hope” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.