Today, I want to invite you into a project.
In this project, we are going to paint.
I have already gathered everything we need: the canvas, the brushes, and the paint. So you do not have to worry about the supplies.
The only question is:
What are we going to paint?
We are going to paint a picture of faith.
But immediately, we face a problem.
How do you paint faith when faith begins unseen?
The Bible teaches that faith is connected to things hoped for and things not yet seen. That means faith does not begin in the visible world. You cannot hold it in your hand. You cannot place it on a table. You cannot weigh it on a scale. You cannot point to it like you would point to a chair, a house, or a tree.
So again, the question becomes:
How do you paint something you cannot see?
At first, that sounds impossible.
But here is how we will do it.
We will begin with what has already become visible. We will look at what has already appeared—what has already manifested—and trace it backward.
Back to where it began.
Back to when it was hidden.
Back to when it had not yet appeared.
Back to when it was only a promise from God, held in the heart by faith.
Because before faith becomes visible in life, it first exists in the unseen place.
It begins with what God has spoken.
It begins with hope.
It begins with believing before anything outward has changed.
So we are not just painting what faith looks like after it appears.
We are painting the whole journey of faith—
from the unseen to the seen,
from promise to substance,
from what God has spoken to what God brings into manifestation.
THE PROCESS
The process we will follow is simple.
Every painting has layers.
First, we paint the background.
Second, we paint the main subject.
Finally, we add the finishing touches.
Before we go further, we must understand what faith is.
Hebrews 11:1 says:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
A substance is something real. Not an idea. Not a feeling. Something that has reality.
So when Scripture calls faith the substance, it is teaching us this:
Faith gives reality to what God has promised—even before it is seen.
Faith does not create the promise.
Faith carries the promise.
Faith does not invent.
Faith receives what God has already spoken.
This is how God has always worked.
Hebrews 11:3 teaches that what is seen came from what was unseen.
Creation began this way.
God spoke—and what was unseen became seen.
So when faith brings God’s promise into manifestation, it is not creating something new.
It is moving in God’s order:
from the unseen to the seen,
from heaven to earth,
from promise to manifestation.
God’s provision is real—even when it is not yet visible.
This is why faith matters.
Faith is the organ that receives.
Faith is the vehicle that carries.
Faith is how the unseen becomes seen.
Hope looks forward.
Faith receives.
Hope reaches.
Faith stands until it appears.
So faith is not wishful thinking.
Faith is not pretending.
Faith is how spiritual reality becomes visible.
PAINTING THE BACKGROUND
Now we paint the background.
Two men.
Two heads.
Two realms.
In God’s plan, humanity is represented through two men:
Adam and Christ.
Adam became the head of the natural man.
Christ became the head of a new humanity.
These are not just historical figures—they are representative heads.
What is true of the head becomes true of those connected to it.
In Adam, all are affected by his fall.
In Christ, all are affected by His obedience.
So the real issue is not behavior.
It is identity.
Which head are you under?
Which realm are you in?
In Adam: sin, separation, condemnation, death.
In Christ: righteousness, reconciliation, grace, life.
God sees us according to position:
in Adam or in Christ.
There is no middle ground.
PAINTING THE MAIN COMPONENT
Now the background is set.
But the painting needs its subject.
This is where faith comes in.
FAITH: THE ORGAN AND THE VEHICLE
To be “in Christ” is about identity.
Think of a book and a bookmark.
Where the book goes, the bookmark goes.
Because it is in the book.
That is what it means to be in Christ.
His life becomes your life.
His righteousness becomes your standing.
You are no longer defined by Adam.
You are defined by Christ.
Salvation is not fixing Adam.
Salvation is leaving Adam.
Faith is how we live from this new place.
Works try to improve Adam.
Faith rests in Christ.
Faith says:
“I stop trusting who I am in Adam, and I rest in who I am in Christ.”
From that place, faith carries what is already true into visible reality.
Faith does not begin with striving.
Faith begins with resting.
UNDERSTANDING THE ORGAN
Your body has organs, each with a purpose.
Eyes see.
Ears hear.
Heart pumps.
Each one functions as designed.
And every organ existed before you saw it.
Unseen—but real.
So unseen does not mean nonexistent.
It means hidden.
The same is true spiritually.
What appears outwardly begins inwardly.
Faith is that organ.
Faith receives what is unseen.
Faith brings it into reality.
Faith is not imagination.
Faith is a God-designed instrument.
ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCHES
Every painting needs color.
And the color of faith is this:
FAITH RESTS IN WHAT IS FINISHED
Isaiah 53:5:
“He was wounded…
He was bruised…
…and with His stripes we are healed.”
It is spoken as finished.
Yet the cross had not happened.
Why?
Because it was already established in God.
That is faith.
Faith agrees before it sees.
Faith is agreement with heaven.
Faith does not make it true.
Faith receives what is already true.
THE PATTERN OF REST
In Genesis, God created for six days.
On the seventh day, He rested.
But man was created on the sixth day.
So man’s first full day was rest.
Man did not begin by working.
He began by receiving.
Everything was already finished.
That is the pattern.
THE SPIRITUAL REALITY
In Christ, we enter a finished work.
Not something in progress.
We do not complete it.
We live from it.
Resting.
Receiving.
Living from what is already done.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR FAITH
Faith is not striving.
Faith begins with rest.
Faith stands on what God has already completed until it appears.
God’s promises are real—even before they are visible.
Faith carries them into reality.
FINAL CALL
If you are in Adam, you will live in effort.
Trying to earn.
Trying to fix.
Trying to become.
But in Christ, everything changes.
A new position.
A new identity.
A new realm.
Faith becomes how you receive what is already yours.
You cannot carry Adam into Christ.
You must leave one and enter the other.
That step is taken by faith.
So the invitation is simple:
Come into Christ.
And if you are in Christ—live from that place.
Not striving.
Not earning.
Not proving.
But resting.
Because real faith is not working your way up to God—
real faith is resting in what God has already done.
Many people are exhausting themselves trying to do what God has already done.
FINAL QUESTION
Are you trying to build what God has already finished—
or are you living in what He has already completed?
Amen.
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