According to this verse, faith is a sort of substitute for sight and possession. Faith gives to invisible things a substance. Spiritual concepts that previously had no form, suddenly become embodied through faith. That which was once invisible becomes concrete and tangible.
But faith does more than give hard, fast reality to that which we do not see. It also makes us look differently at visible things around us. Through faith’s eyes, the concrete world in which we live becomes drained of substance and importance. Things around us no longer possess the glow of excitement when we look at life through the lens of faith.
Faith enables us to realize our true positions as sojourners on this planet. As a friend of mine once said, through faith we understand that we are not physical beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a physical experience.
Little wonder the world cannot understand a Christian’s faith. We have nothing, yet we possess everything. We are sorrowful, yet we are able to rejoice. We are poor, but we are rich. Such is life when, through faith, we ascribe substance to invisible things.
The New English Bible renders Hebrews 11:1 this way: “And what is faith? Faith gives substance to our hopes and makes us certain of realities we do not see.” Faith is what will enable us to see God as a God of love at work through hurt and hardship in our lives.
How do we cultivate such faith? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. If we would find the faith that gives invisible things substance, that enables us to live triumphantly, then we must find it by hearing the Word of God.
