I disagree. I know exactly what Kenneth Copeland is saying, as I believe the same way. Faith is the invisible substance that God created the Worlds by. It isn't by faith that we understand anything, in fact it is just the opposite, understanding is what gives us faith; not the other way around. This verse is directly referring to the faith of God as the invisible substance by which the worlds were created.
Interestingly enough, I have a whole section on just this subject in my book on the principles of faith. From Part II, What Faith Is, Chapter 2, Faith Is A Substance:
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FAITH IS the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for...[but] not seen.
1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
-Hebrews 11:1
FAITH is a REAL THING.
FAITH is so REAL that it is called a SUBSTANCE by the writer of Hebrews. That is, it has a tangible real existence of its own.
SUB’’STANCE, n. [L. substantia, substo; sub and sto, to stand.]
In a general sense, being; something existing by itself; that which really is or exists; equally applicable to matter or spirit.
-Webster’s 1828 Unabridged Dictionary
The word SUBSTANCE is translated from the Greek word Hypostasis (hü-po'stäsēs), which is also a feminine noun, (Ref:- Strong’s’ Greek Lexicon-G5287), that is, a THING.
Now, to be fair, not all translations use the word SUBSTANCE here. Many use the word assurance or confidence instead. While these conform better to our present cultural definition of FAITH, they do a disservice to the context of the surrounding verses, (which support the KJV translator’s use of the word SUBSTANCE), and make it more difficult to understand true biblical FAITH, in the manner that the Holy Spirit intended it to be understood. Look at the next verse:
3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,
-Hebrews 11:3a
The punctuation and word order of this sentence seem to indicate that it is FAITH that helps us to understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. However, I take issue with this interpretation; and submit the following reasons to support my position:
This interpretation does not line up with the greater context of scripture. FAITH doesn’t produce understanding; in fact it is just the opposite. It is understanding that produces FAITH.
Do a search of the words faith and understand, and you will see that nowhere in the Bible does FAITH help us to understand. Faith believes, faith speaks, and faith acts, but FAITH does not help us understand. (In fact, it is just the opposite; it is understanding/revelation that deposits faith in our hearts, not faith that gives us understanding/revelation). The Holy Spirit is our helper, and it is He that gives us understanding and revelation of the Word of God, and it is this understanding/revelation that deposits the faith of God in our hearts.
13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come.
-John 16:13
3How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;
5Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,
as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit;
-Ephesians 3:3a, 5
9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
-1 Corinthians 2:9-12
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
-Romans 10:17
In the original Greek manuscripts there are no punctuation marks, they have to be inserted for our benefit by the translators. This is up to the discretion of the translators, and, in many cases, like the one in question here; the placement of the punctuation can greatly change the meaning of the passage. For instance, if one were to change the punctuation of this verse slightly, we discover a whole new meaning in the verse:
3Through faith (we understand that)
the worlds were framed by the word of God,
-Hebrews 11:3a
We could also do the same thing by the placement of commas, as follows:
3Through faith, we understand that,
the worlds were framed by the word of God,
-Hebrews 11:3a
In other words, the changing of the punctuation here by the placement of parentheses around the words (we understand that), or the placement of commas before and after the same phrase, we understand that, create a sentence that appears to indicate something quite different, which is: we understand that it is through faith that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. This is consistent with the rest of scripture, and therefore is much more likely to be correct.
Also, in any translation from one language to another, sentence structure can vary widely, and often requires the order of the words in a sentence to change in order for the sentence to make sense when translated. This is also up to the discretion of the translators, and, in many cases, like the one in question here; the ordering of the words can again greatly change the meaning of the passage. For instance, if one were to change the order of the words of this verse just slightly, we discover a different meaning in the verse very similar to that in 2 above:
3We understand that through faith
the worlds were framed by the word of God,
-Hebrews 11:3a
In other words, the changing of the order of the words by moving the clause we understand that to the beginning of the line rather than the middle create a sentence that also appears to indicate that: it is through faith that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, and that is what we understand. Again, this is consistent with the rest of scripture, and therefore is much more likely to be correct.
Finally, the second half of the verse supports this conclusion further by saying:
3Through 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.
-Hebrews 11:3
The Wycliffe Bible translates the second half of this verse a little clearer for us:
3 ... that visible things were made of invisible things.
-Hebrews 11:3
This passage tells us that the visible things, (that is, the physical creation around us), were made of invisible things.
What are these invisible things that made the visible things? The writer has basically spelled out the answer to that question for us at this point; it is the substance of faith.
One might say, yes but couldn’t the writer be referring to THE WORD as being the invisible things that created the universe? This could be a plausible explanation except for two things:
Reading the passage in context from verse one, faith has already been defined for us by the writer as the substance of things not seen, or invisible things:
1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
-Hebrews 11:1
This creates a pretty much ironclad argument that the INVISIBLE THINGS in verse three are referring to the substance of faith, not the Word of God.
Referring back to the first half of verse three, we see that the subject of the sentence is FAITH:
3Through faith, we understand that, the worlds were framed by the word of God,
-Hebrews 11:3a
It would be improper use of language to have the predicate not refer back to the subject of the preceding clause. So then, the INVISIBLE THINGS that created the universe and all that is in it is faith.
Therefore we understand that God through (the unseen substance of) FAITH framed the worlds by His WORD. God spoke, and the worlds were created through the unseen SUBSTANCE of FAITH contained in His WORD.
This unseen substance of FAITH is the same thing that is being referenced by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans:
20For the INVISIBLE THINGS of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…
-Romans 1:20a
The invisible things that powered the creation of the world are nothing less than the substance of Gods own FAITH contained in His WORD.
20For the INVISIBLE THINGS of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his ETERNAL POWER and GODHEAD;
so that they are without excuse:
-Romans 1:20
Here the writer calls this invisible substance of FAITH his ETERNAL POWER, and places it directly in the GODHEAD. That is because the invisible substance of Gods FAITH is the ETERNAL POWER of God, and it is also the ETERNAL essence of the GODHEAD itself.
Therefore we conclude that GOD IS FAITH.
FAITH is the invisible substance of Gods eternal power, and it is also the eternal essence of the Godhead itself; and it is in every WORD that He speaks.
It is God’s WORD of eternal power, full of the invisible substance of FAITH, the third person of the trinity, the essence of the Godhead itself, which reproduced Himself as the Son:
1God…
2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3Who being the brightness of his glory,
and the express image of his PERSON,
and upholding all things by the word of his power,
-Hebrews 1:1-3
We know that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and the express image of Gods PERSON. What may not be so well known is that the word PERSON in the above passage is the same Greek word Hypostasis (hü-po'stäsēs), translated as SUBSTANCE in Hebrews 1:1. The word occurs 5 times in the Greek New Testament, and this is the only occasion where it is translated PERSON. That is because it doesn’t really mean PERSON, it means SUBSTANCE. The Greek word literally means “that which stands under” something else or “provides the basis for” something else.
Jesus was/is the express image of Gods invisible SUBSTANCE, that is, of His FAITH, the essence of the Godhead itself, because Jesus is The Word of God made flesh, and every Word of God contains the FAITH of God.
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The reason that Kenneth Copeland skipped over the words 'we understand that' was because it is an article in a magazine, and he was trying to skip over having to convey what I just shared above, without going into the detailed explanation that I just gave. I see he did put in the '...' to show that he was skipping over some words; but because he wasn't talking about our understanding here, he simply skipped over those words, and replaced them with '...'.
It would be no different than if I quoted any verse or passage, and inserted '...' to skip over parts that didn't have any bearing on what I was saying. I actually do this on a more than rare occasion, and in fact, if you noticed, started this chapter with exactly that approach from Hebrews 11:1, when I said "FAITH IS the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for...[but] not seen. Why did I skip over the words 'the evidence of things'? Because in the chapter I am not talking about Faith as an Evidence, (that is the next chapter), I am talking about Faith as a substance. So I simply skipped over that part of the verse that I was not talking about for clarities sake.
I am confident that this is the same reasoning that Kenneth Copeland had.
Peace...