Faith Changes the Way We See the World

Sunday, October 4, 2026 · Pastor Dale Roh

"...God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did." — Romans 4:17 (NKJV) Scripture: Romans 4:17–25

The True Power of Faith

Today, let's think about the true power of faith. God has prepared so many things for us. Yet we often fail to receive what He has prepared because we hold on to our own thoughts. We remain within the boundaries of our own reasoning and judgment. To truly believe in God and experience His work, we must go beyond the limits of our own thoughts.

Romans chapter 4 shows us what boundaries we must go beyond in order to truly believe God. It took a long time for Abraham to fully trust God. Like Abraham, we tend to judge things according to what we have seen, what we have experienced, and what we think is possible. When something goes beyond that range, we easily conclude that it is impossible. But God does not work only within the boundaries of our experience and thoughts. What if God works? What if something seems impossible to me, but God works in it? This is where faith begins.

The Dead and the Things That Do Not Exist

God prepared a blessing for Abraham. Abraham did not receive God's blessing because he had done something to earn it. God first prepared the blessing for him, and Abraham received it by faith. In the same way, God has prepared many things for us. To believe in God is to believe His Word. God is invisible, but His Word has been given to us. Therefore, we discover and receive what God gives us through His Word. This is the difference between knowing and believing.

Knowing the Word of God and believing the Word of God are two different things.

Romans 4 tells us something very important about the God whom Abraham believed: God gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they exist. Here we can clearly see the boundaries that faith must go beyond—the dead and the things that do not exist. According to human reasoning, what is dead is finished, and what does not exist simply does not exist. But these are not absolute boundaries for God.

Before Isaac was born, he did not exist in Abraham's world. Abraham could not see him, and Sarah had not yet conceived him. Yet God had already determined his name. God told Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son and that he should call his name Isaac. To Abraham, Isaac did not exist yet, but God already had a name for him. Something may not exist in our world yet, but that does not mean that it has never been in the heart of God. We may have never seen it, experienced it, or even imagined it. Yet God calls things that do not exist as though they exist.

Faith Changes the Way We See the World

Hebrews 11:3 says that by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Notice the words, "By faith we understand." Faith changes the way we see the world.

Before faith comes, the visible world comes first in our thinking. We look at our circumstances and decide what is possible or impossible. Then we judge the Word of God according to what we see. But when faith enters our hearts, that order changes.

Instead of judging the Word by what we see, we begin to see what is before us through the Word of God.

From this new perspective, we can see that everything can be formed by the Word of God. His Word can bring forth something entirely new, far beyond human reasoning and experience. Faith does not simply give us new information. Faith gives us a new way of seeing reality.

God broke the limits of Abraham's thinking. Abraham had his own reasoning, experience, and understanding of what was possible and impossible. But God continued to lead him beyond those boundaries. In the same way, we should challenge the limits of our own thoughts through faith and go beyond them.

Challenging the Boundaries of Our Thinking

I came to realize the evil in my own heart. My problem was that I simply accepted these boundaries as inevitable. I thought, "This is impossible. There is no way. This has never happened before. There is nothing more we can do." I accepted these conclusions so naturally that I did not even recognize them as boundaries.

We can live within these boundaries for so long that we no longer recognize them. But once we recognize them and begin to challenge them, God will help us go beyond them. He will give us faith. God does not want us to remain trapped within the limits of our own thinking. That is why He often challenges our boundaries.

Perhaps faith that sees things that do not exist as though they exist also awakens a certain kind of imagination. Instead of looking only at what is before our eyes, we begin to think, "What would God do in this situation? Could God work in a way like this?" As we continue to think about what God can do, we may begin to consider things we have never considered before. At first, it may simply be, "God could do something like this." But that thought may eventually grow into faith: "God will work."

This does not mean that we simply imagine whatever we want and call it faith. Faith begins with God and His Word. But when we believe His Word, our thoughts can go beyond what we have seen and experienced. The power of faith becomes especially clear when we face what is dead and what does not exist.

Let Us Think About Things That Do Not Exist Yet

We will have a conference at the end of this month. Instead of simply repeating what we have done before, let us think about things that do not exist yet. Let us challenge our own thinking. Why not have a young adult conference during the week? Why not have a special CLF seminar? Maybe we have never done these things before. Maybe we do not yet know exactly how they could happen. But just because we have never done something before does not mean that it cannot happen.

Faith does not confine our thinking to our present experiences and circumstances. If everything was formed by the Word of God, then His Word can bring forth something entirely new beyond human reasoning and experience.

God challenged Abraham's boundaries. Abraham saw his own body, Sarah, their age, and the impossibility of their situation. But God saw something different. Before Isaac existed in Abraham's world, God had already given him a name.

What we see is not everything. What we have experienced is not everything. What we can imagine right now is not everything. Our reasoning is not the final authority. Our experience is not the final authority. Our circumstances are not the final authority. God's Word leads us beyond these boundaries.

Just because something has never existed before does not mean that it cannot exist. Just because I have never experienced something does not mean that God cannot do it. Just because I have never thought of something does not mean that it has never been in the heart of God.

God gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they exist. Let us recognize the boundaries of our own thinking, challenge those boundaries by faith, and go beyond our reasoning and experience.

Faith changes the way we see the world. Let us go beyond the limits of our own thoughts by faith and see how God will work.