Our God is an awesome God…He is the Creator of the universe and everything in it. So why do the schools teach that the universe and everything in it happened by chance? Why are we taught that we evolved from other forms of life? Does science disprove the existence of God? Does science contradict the creation? Some of these questions may never be answered. There are some good books and documentaries about this where the authors lay down the evidence. Check out The Case for a Creator and The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel or Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell for good discussions on these issues. So, what does God’s Word say about how the world began and how man came into being? Why should it matter? To me, knowing who God is gives me all the more reason to worship and praise Him and helps me realize how big a God He is.
Psalms 19:1-6
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Everywhere we go we can see God’s creation. The majesty of mountains, the serenity of lakes and streams, the mighty waves of the sea, the complexity of living beings shows God’s awesome work. When I went to college, I received a degree in Anthropology and Geology and later on a Master’s in Environmental Science. Needless to say, much of my curriculum involved how the world and life began and…evolved. I often struggled with this being a Christian with the contradictions between science and the Bible. But one thing I always questioned is why every time they taught evolution of species, there was always a gap unexplained. How did Homo Sapien evolve from Neanderthal and Homo Erectus and Homo Austrailopithicus? There was always a transition and always a gap. Discoveries that would provide some of the answer were often later disproved as a hoax or misinterpretation. How were essential survival mechanisms evolved and transitioned within a given species accomplished without them dying off and going extinct (though many did)? For example, how did a mockingbird evolve their skull structure without their brain turning into mush when pounding on a tree to get food? Or giraffes having the necessary heart and blood flow to reach tall branches without losing flow to their brain and passing out or suffering a stroke? How did trees evolve to protect themselves from cold and bring water and nutrients tens and hundreds of feet up and converting bringing in oxygen at the roots to distribute throughout its system and bringing in carbon dioxide through leaves to convert to oxygen and produce photosynthesis? By chance? To me, that would be like a tornado going through a junk yard and creating a car. What are the odds of that? I believe God created these things and provided every bit of these complexities and mechanisms to sustain life.
Genesis 1:1-2:7
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 hovering over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all* the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Many try to rationalize or explain away God’s work and creation and miracles. There was a big bang…God said so and bang! it happened! A theory in geology is “the present is the key to the past.” How do we know? How do we know with atmospheric and geologic conditions changing that they are the same now as they were back then? Geologists agree on one thing, that conditions were different. There were different levels of sulfur and oxygen in the air and there were many cycles of global warming and cooling (climate change has been going on since creation and is a part of the earth’s dynamic process). There were magnetic reversals and what was once tropics is now temperate or cold climates. There were shifting of plates and spreading of the sea floor. Again, all by chance?
As God did with Job and posed many questions about his (and his friends’) knowledge of God, we can ask ourselves the same questions and many skeptics:
Job 38:1-18
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
“Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Or who shut in the sea with doors,
When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
When I made the clouds its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling band;
When I fixed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;
When I said,
‘This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!’
“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
It takes on form like clay under a seal,
And stands out like a garment.
From the wicked their light is withheld,
And the upraised arm is broken.
“Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
Not all scientists follow the theories given by other scientists. Many have given evidences of evolution not being true. A good example is the book and documentary movie called The Privileged Planet. Also, if all scientists agreed on earth processes, we would be taught that the earth was flat and was the center of the solar system. Interesting that the
writers of the Bible inspired by God knew the earth was round. People were afraid that Columbus would fall off the edge of the flat earth in 1492, but Isaiah spoke of a round earth centuries before as did King Solomon:
Isaiah 40:21-22
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
Proverbs 8:27-29
When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth
I am thankful that my God is bigger than chance. He has blessed us with great wonders and His majesty is beyond comprehension.
My Daily Scriptures 