WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TELL US ABOUT THE CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH?
God did it.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Do the Physical Sciences disprove this?
Astronomy postulates a Big Bang:
This is based on evidence that the universe is expanding outward at a rapid speed from a massive explosion of highly condensed matter that occurred at one point in space at one point in time
So it does point to the universe having a clear beginning –
at a certain point in space
and at a certain point in time!
Where did all that highly condensed matter come from?
Astronomy has no idea –
because no one was there to see it
because they can't investigate what existed before such a massive explosion
Astronomy can only speculate –
and speculation is not science
Speculation is speculation!
So Science has met a limit beyond which it cannot go.
What else is very difficult for the Physical Sciences to explain?
Periodic Table
Amazing design and mathematical order!
They can describe it
But they can't explain how it happened
So, again, science has met a limit beyond which it cannot go.
But has the Bible also met a limit at this point?
No, it is very reasonable to think that a Designer could easily do this.
God created life forms, each after their own "kind."
This is indeed how we see them today – arranged according to "kinds."
We do not see a continuum – like with the color spectrum.
Take a reddish purple color for example:
Does it fit in the red category?
Or does it fit in the purple category?
The choice is unclear. We cannot be sure where one color begins and another color stops.
But the difference between "kinds" of living things is quite clear.
For example:
An elementary school child can fairly easily identify all the "kinds" of farm animals and common pets.
This is true even if there are many similarities between "kinds."
These similarities rarely confuse us as to whether a particular animal fits in Kind A or in Kind B.
So we don't see life forms as a continuum – like macro-evolution describes it.
This, of course, is one of the main arguments against macro-evolution (large scale evolution).
1. Today, we clearly see life forms as divided into "kinds."
2. Today, we don't see the many transitional forms (for example, between Kind A and Kind B, and between Kind B and Kind C) that we would expect to see if there was actually a continuum of life forms from a one-celled bacteria to a human being.
3. We see a lot of "kinds" in the fossil record. But we don't see enough transitional forms in the fossil record to satisfy many of us that life is a continuum from bacteria to human. That's why we call them "missing links."
Of course, evolutionists disagree.
They believe that the gaps in the fossil record are not significant.
We believe that the gaps are very significant.
Either way, it is a matter of interpretation, which makes it a matter of belief or faith.
IT IS LOGICAL THAT LIFE WAS DESIGNED BY A DESIGNER-CREATOR:
Cladogram/Diagram of the Development of the Wheel / Vehicles
This diagram looks like the cladograms in biology that show the relationship between all life forms.
But, instead, this diagram shows the technological development of means of transportation.
What the Diagram Tells Us.
• Each object in this diagram was designed by a designer.
There is basically no other cause for the differences between each object.
• The same features appear repeatedly in different objects.
This is true because designers reuse good ideas from older objects when they design new objects –
so certain great ideas (like the wheel!) are reused in every new object.
As a result, great ideas become common features in all future objects.
But this doesn't mean that those objects have any direct relationship with each other.
They are only related through the mind of the designer.
• So, no newer model evolved from an older model.
Although someone might look at this diagram and claim that having similar features proves that a newer model evolved from an older model,
we know for a fact that that is not true.
We know that one model did not magically morph into the next model.
We know that each model was individually designed.
Two different models may look a lot alike, but we know that there is no direct relationship between them – except through the mind of the designer.
• This illustrates to us that design, alone, can be the reason for similarities between two objects.
In other words, a similarity between two things does not have to be the result of evolutionary activity –
or some other morphing activity.
This applies to cladograms of living things in biology:
They can legitimately be viewed as diagrams of Creator God's design choices when he created life on this earth.
• As this diagram illustrates, designers' conscious choices are what led to advances in vehicle technology. Likewise, cladograms (diagrams) in biology just as easily illustrate how the Designer-Creator's choices resulted in the similarities and differences between the life forms that we see today.
Cladograms were in use (before Charles Darwin popularized evolution) to group all the different "kinds" of living organisms into their appropriate Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. The various "kinds" were grouped together according to their similarities and separated from one another according to their differences.
As was discussed earlier, the distinction between "kinds" is so strong that this barrier is rarely crossed.
Each Family and Species has its clear identity.
This is supported in the cladograms, even today, by the relative lack of transitional forms.
For example, in the Cat Family we see distinct Species of large, wild cats, but we don't see transitional forms between two different Species of big cats.
So cladograms were not originally interpreted as illustrating an evolutionary continuum.
But evolutionists use the same basic cladistic system, but interpret the cladograms differently:
They focus on the similarities between living things, and minimize the differences between them, and claim that one living thing evolved from another.
So they believe that the cladograms show an evolutionary continuum of all life forms from one-celled bacteria to humans.
So two people looking at essentially the same cladogram can come up with very different interpretations.
Some see a cladogram as illustrating the design decisions of Creator God.
Others see a cladogram as illustrating the continuum of one Species evolving into the next Species.
Both are looking at the same scientific information –
But the position one takes often depends on what one believes.
Scientists also have faith.
It is reasonable to think that Design can produce exactly the life forms that we see
If scientists do not know how something happened, how can they say that God did not do it?
They are making a statement of belief, not a statement of science.
SO FAITH IN GOD AND THE BIBLE IS REASONABLE:
Don't ever let a Materialistic Scientist convince you that your faith in God is unreasonable or "unscientific."
• Materialistic Scientists also have faith:
They believe in certain fundamental ideas that they have never conclusively verified.
Belief is not "science." It is simply belief.
• Belief in Creator God is easily as reasonable as believing that the universe and all livings things simply got here by chance or by some unknown cause.
Two Crucial Question:
• What explanation of the universe fits best with everything that you see around you?
• And more importantly: Who do you choose to trust?
God who made everything – and loves you?
Scientists who weren't there at the beginning – and don't even know that you exist?
Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
HOW CREATOR GOD OPERATES SHOULD OPEN OUR EYES!
Where do we usually begin when discussing the beginning of all things?
We usually start with the scientific data.
Why we shouldn't begin with the scientific data.
If we start a discussion about the origins of the universe and life by focusing on the scientific data –
• That is where most of the attention is focused.
• That becomes the basis on which truth is determined.
• That becomes the basis on which even God, himself, is judged.
It becomes a tacit acknowledgement that Materialistic Science is the ultimate judge of what is true or false.
Then the debate centers around whether science proves or disproves Evolution –
or whether it proves or disproves God.
Where should we begin?
Materialistic Scientists want to start with the scientific data.
• They want to control all aspects of the discussion.
They want to determine what is admissible or inadmissible evidence – for example:
Distinguishing between Macro- and Micro-Evolution is inadmissible.
Quoting from the Bible is inadmissible.
• They want to limit the discussion to materialistic factors.
They automatically reject all spiritual or non-materialistic explanations.
• They want to guarantee that the solution will be a materialistic solution.
They automatically reject God as a legitimate cause for the existence of all things.
Starting with the nature of Creator God transforms the discussion.
It starts the whole discussion about origins in the right place:
• With the Creator.
• Not with fallible science.
It starts the discussion where God starts the discussion in the Bible –
In the beginning God...
Genesis 1:1
So let's start with what God is like!
This is a terrific theme to consider and will provide unexpected insights.
Let's also investigate how designer-creators work.
1. Does God function in ways that are similar to designer-creators in our world?
2. Does how God (as designer-creator) operates make sense out of the world and universe we see around us?
WHAT IS CREATOR GOD LIKE?
1. When dealing with major imperfection, God's pattern is to destroy and recreate:
• The Great Flood.
1656 years after Adam (based on genealogies in Genesis 5) God destroyed all living things with a flood and started over with Noah, his 3 sons, and their 4 wives.
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. ...So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people...so make yourself an ark. ...I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life. ...But...you will enter the ark––you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you."
Genesis 6:5, 13-14, 17-19
• God threatens to destroy Israel at its inception.
In about 1400 BC God threatened to destroy all of Israel for their continual rebellion against him even after he miraculously brought them out of slavery in Egypt.
The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they." ...Moses said to the Lord, "...In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now." The Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as...the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth...not one of them will ever see the land [of Israel that] I promised on oath to their forefathers. ...In this desert your bodies will fall––every one of you twenty years old or more...who grumbled against me. ...As for your children..., I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected."
Numbers 14:11-13, 19-21, 23, 29, 31
• God destroys Jerusalem in 586 BC.
The Lord...sent word to them [Israel] through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place [the temple in Jerusalem]. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. ...He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword...and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to [King] Nebuchadnezzar. ...They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
II Chronicles 36:15-20
• Through the cross and resurrection of Christ, God destroys and recreates spiritually.
Our Old Self was crucified with him [Christ] so that the Body of Sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin––because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Romans 6:6-8
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.
II Corinthians 5:17
• Jerusalem was destroyed again in AD 70.
[In about AD 30] as he [Jesus] was leaving the temple [in Jerusalem], one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings." "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
Mark 13:1-2
About 40 years later the Romans came to Jerusalem to put down a Jewish revolt, totally burned and destroyed the rebuilt temple and slaughtered many of the inhabitants and dispersed others throughout the nations.
Israel ceased to be a nation.
• Israel was recreated as a nation in 1948 as God had promised about 2600 years before.
This is what the Lord says [in about 700 BC]: "...Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion [Jerusalem] in labor than she gives birth to her children."
Isaiah 66:8
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations passed a resolution that Israel would become a nation again at midnight on May 14, 1948. The United States president, Harry Truman, recognized the new state of Israel on that same day (May 14, 1948) .
• We now wait for the 1000-year reign of Christ that will follow a great, destructive battle.
John, a disciple of Jesus, saw the following vision about the future:
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider [Jesus Christ] is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. ...Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ...On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. ...Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and...thrown alive into the Fiery Lake of Burning Sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. ...And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. ...They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Revelation 19:11, 15-16, 19-21; 20:4
• Finally, heaven and earth will be destroyed and a new heaven and a new earth created.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? ...That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
II Peter 3:10-13
John, the disciple of Jesus, says:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. ...And I heard a loud voice from the throne [of God] saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Revelation 21:1, 3-4
One Conclusion: There is a Lot That We Don't Know!
Creator God has a pattern of periodically destroying what exists and starting over.
He has clearly done this in the past (after Genesis 1) and will do it again in the future.
Whether God did or did not do cataclysmic things to the earth before the 6 Days of Creation that are recorded in Genesis 1, the Bible does not clearly say.
Nor are we told whether there are geological formations or fossil remains on the planet, today, from possible cycles of creation and destruction that might have pre-existed the 6 Days of Creation recorded in Genesis 1.
We don't know.
Another Conclusion: Earth has Undergone Sudden, Great Changes
This is significant because Materialistic Scientists believe in the Steady State Theory.
This theory is that everything in the universe and on earth has operated in a steady predictable pace or manner since the Big Bang.
So the pace of changes has been steady and predictable from the beginning.
There have been no sudden or dramatic changes or interruptions in what has happened.
This means that many of their theories about the beginning of things are based on this idea of steady, predictable progress.
There is no way to prove this over the course of 13 billion years.
It is a belief.
But, as we have just seen, the Bible is clear that God's actions in the universe and on earth have at times been very dramatic.
Yet, in general, he has set up the universe to operate in a steady manner.
The New Testament, written about 2000 years ago, predicts that people will take a "steady state" view of the universe and the world – assuming that nothing will change.
And that they ignore God's dramatic actions in the world in the past –
especially mocking the account of the Great Flood as a myth.
And that they ignore his promised dramatic actions in the future.
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' [again of Christ that] he promised? Ever since our fathers [ancestors] died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was form out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed [in the Great Flood]. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
II Peter 3:3-7