It was not through magic that the universe was formed, and it is not through magic that the righteous live eternal.
Our ancestors did not know what is true and what is a lie concerning the Living God - their unconscious slumber is a testimony of this. They did not know God nor did they believe God. Those people had many beliefs, and their faiths were founded on books and writings and sayings, and not on God's power. This faithlessness led to sin (bad deeds), and therefore, they perished.
It was a sad thing that happened to the early church. The faith of the church was initially founded on God's power through Christ's resurrection, but, for many reasons, they stopped seeking God and they put their faith in words and scriptures - even as the church does to this very day. Their scriptures are filled with a little right and a lot of wrong - and they based their faith on these things and not on the simplicity found in God. This faithlessness led to sin, and they perished.
My faith was not founded on Christ's resurrection (being so very long ago), but on God's power through other means. Christ said a single statement to me, and I understood him. I only had to walk to God's door and knock. God opened the door, gave me the key, and let me go in and out as often as I pleased.
For a man or woman to be acceptable to the Living God, they must be faithful - they must have a childlike faith. To define faith, I'll use the example of a baby - since true faith can be easily seen in babies who have no desire to be anything other than human beings. Babies trust the protecting arms of their mothers, they never ever question this. They never begin to doubt and ask themselves, "Will my mother toss me into a pit of fire?" This is the type of trust that God seeks in mankind. If it is not found, then they will go on toward the grave.
Israel was faithless, full of faithless people. They put their trust in writings and sayings and laws, never heeding the words of the prophets who told them to trust God and do good. So God rejected them, even as their own scriptures testify. No law has ever saved a man's life - salvation has only come through faith in God - believing and trusting God. This isn't to say that the law has no merit, it certainly does - especially if you find yourself constantly doing what you know is wrong (and no merit beyond that). But the faithful are not bound by the letter of the law because the Law of God is written within them, and their righteousness allows them liberty under God.
The church is also faithless, full of faithless people. This church is not what Christ worked for, nor is it what he gave up his life for. When I say, "gave up his life", I mean that at any time, he could have abandoned his work - he had the liberty to do so. But he chose to be a living testimony against the ignorance and bad deeds of mankind because he knew that God was going to save him from death and raise him back up. He trusted the arms of his Father. As a result, people found God through him and his salvation.
Faith in God is not a feeling - much like a child trusting the arms of his mother surpasses a simple feeling. Belief is feeling, true faith is not. Faith is trust, and the more a child sees his mother caring for him and protecting him, the more he trusts her saving hand; he will expect it from her and will not see it any other way.
