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Mankind has a way of becoming very arrogant and honing in upon only that which is visible. This leads him to false conclusions about his own power, strength, importance, and understanding. His fixation upon only what is visible causes him to be unable to see the signature of the Divine upon all of creation (Psalm 19:1-2, Romans 1:20). Indeed, by faith, even the creation testifies to its Creator. The order, the beauty, the complexity, the individuality, the symbiosis, and the laws of math and physics are just a few of the ways that the visible testifies to the invisible. Physical sight alone doesn’t lead to faith, but those who walk by faith rather than by sight will see in creation irrefutable evidence for a Creator Who desires all glory and worship (2 Corinthians 5:7). He has indeed left His mark upon the world.
God existed before anything visible came to be. He is the ultimate authority and the only sovereign. His Son Jesus was there with Him from the beginning, joining Him in the act of creation (Genesis 1:26, John 1:1). Paul says in Colossians 1:17 concerning Christ, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Without Jesus being real, alive, and present, the world would cease to exist. Only because God said so did the visible world come into being, and only on His authority and testimony does it stay that way. Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” The teaching of Scripture is that what we can see, namely all that has been created, the heavens and the earth and everything in it, was made from what cannot be seen. God did not use atoms to make more atoms or an egg to make a chicken. The invisible God made something visible from what was invisible, something tangible out of mere nothingness, simply by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3 says concerning Christ, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” The only reason the universe continues to exist is because Jesus says so. This is a reality that began in the book of Genesis. Genesis 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” There was absolutely nothing except God. Then, God created the heavens and the earth. Next, He got increasingly specific, and He created light. This He did by the power of His spoken word. It is the power of Christ expressed through His words that made the world come into existence and that currently sustains and upholds it. The whole of creation testifies that God is behind it, holding it all together. Should He say so, it would all come apart.
Hebrews 12:26-27 says, “And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” The Bible is clear that there will be a time after the second coming of Christ when the heavens and the earth will be destroyed, and ultimately God will create a new heaven and earth for His people who have put their faith in Him. 2 Peter 3:10-13 says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” Nothing will endure the day of the Lord, no edifices, no elements, no rocks, no trees, no bodies of water, nothing. The unsaved will be taken for judgment at the Great White Throne, while believers will get to explore, possibly even witness, God’s creation of an entirely new world, one that has not been corrupted by sin. Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” One day, we will explore and experience the eternal creative genius of God.
Despite these timeless truths, it is easy, even as believers, to forget the ramifications of what is invisible and the potency of the sustaining power of the word of God. In a sense, our sight can blind us if we forget to walk by faith. What is faith, after all, but “the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The reality is that there is so much more than meets the eye, and we have something eternal, indestructible, and new to look forward to. We should look forward to this new world of righteousness, and as we do so, it will motivate us to live in holy conduct in this present world of unrighteousness (Hebrews 12:28, 2 Peter 3:11, 14). “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)
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The Good News