Hebrews 11:3 says “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Is this verse an argument that God did not create the matter we see but rather formed it into what it is now? I believe that God created the matter; otherwise, He is kind of bound by it if that makes sense. Or does this verse mean that He created all matter in the first place?<\/p>\n\t
The Hebrew word for “create” is\u00a0bara<\/em>. It is a special word that is only used in connection with God. The word\u00a0bara<\/em> means to make something from nothing, to create something that never existed before. It is used sparingly through the Bible. In Genesis 1:1 it is used to state that God created time (“in the beginning”), space (“the heavens”), and matter (“the earth”). These things did not exist prior to the beginning. In the making of light, it says that God separated the light from the dark. Since light was made from existing material, the word bara<\/em>\u00a0was not used. The word\u00a0bara<\/em>\u00a0is not used again until Genesis 1:21 when God created fish and birds. This was a new creation because life did not exist prior to this. In biblical terms, plants are not living as moving creatures are living. Yet when God made the land animals,\u00a0bara<\/em>\u00a0was not used as this wasn’t something new. Life was created the day before. Land creatures were a continuation of the previous day’s creation. However,\u00a0bara<\/em> was used again in Genesis 1:27 in the creation of man. In particular, the verse is discussing that man was created in the image of God. Again this is something brand new, without prior existence.<\/p>\n Thus, Hebrews 11:3 says, “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<\/em>.” God did not use existing material to create the universe; thus, the claim that God used evolution to form the universe is contradicted by this passage. The things that we see came into being by God’s spoken word, “Then God said.<\/em>” Spoken words are not visible but we trust (have faith) that God used the spoken word to make everything that we know. God took the things He created from nothing and formed them into our universe.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hebrews 11:3 says “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Is this verse an argument that God did not create the matter we see but rather formed it into what it is now?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[302],"class_list":["post-46215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-creation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-genesis-11-say-there-was-nothing-except-god-before-the-beginning\/","url_meta":{"origin":46215,"position":0},"title":"Does Genesis 1:1 say there was nothing except God before the beginning?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Here's another question and it may seem silly but all I want is you to answer it in the best way you can. Genesis 1:1 \"in the beginning there was nothing except God.\" or \"in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (different versions of the Bible)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1835,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-there-a-world-before-genesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":46215,"position":1},"title":"Was there a world before Genesis?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was there a world before Genesis? Answer: \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (Genesis 1:1). Approximately 4,000 years after this event, Jesus stated, \"And He answered and said to them, \"Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16387,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-was-god-before-he-created-the-heavens-and-the-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":46215,"position":2},"title":"Where was God before He created the heavens and the earth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where was God before He created the heavens and the earth? Answer: \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (Genesis 1:2). In this simple statement are many implications. Since it was \"in the beginning,\" it is implied that time did not exist before this. So thus,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-create-the-earth-without-a-shape-and-then-later-give-its-current-shape\/","url_meta":{"origin":46215,"position":3},"title":"Did God create the earth without a shape and then later give its current shape?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does\u00a0Genesis 1:1-2\u00a0mean God created the earth without a shape and later gave it the current shape? Answer: \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-god-create-our-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":46215,"position":4},"title":"How Did God Create Our World?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Prichard With just a few words, the first verse of Genesis, which is literally \"the book of beginning,\" introduces the idea of creation: \"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth\" (Genesis 1:1). This tells us clearly that the Creator is God. Scientists recognize five components,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-god-create-himself\/","url_meta":{"origin":46215,"position":5},"title":"How did God create Himself?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just always wondered, how God created Himself? Answer: God didn't create Himself. Eternal means He always existed. \"Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God\" (Psalms 90:2). 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