Homepage Message: August 2008
How Did We Get Here?
When we think of the Bible what comes to mind? Old stories, Jesus, salvation? It is a collection of 66 books containing a lot of stories about people long ago, and the life of Jesus Christ and his message about salvation. It is that and much more. The Bible is a book that records and reveals the major historical events in world history as well as what is to come. These events are so profound and influential that to remove or deny them is to alter the basic questions about life: Where did we come from? What is wrong with our world? What is the solution to man’s problems?
When we look at the opening line of the Bible it simply states: “in the beginning God created ...” It then states in six days God spoke into existence everything that is, including time; all in six days—not through evolution. However, many in and out of the church don’t believe the Bible is accurate from the very first verse. They say God did not create in six days, and the universe is billions of years old.
The underlying assumption is evolution is the mechanism God used to create—this is a flat-out contradiction of the Bible.
So how do we know anything about the past? All of us know your birthday, correct? Do we know the day of the week, or time? How do we know? Someone, such as a parent or nurse told us because they were there. We can’t remember back that far. If we go back farther, say to the Civil War, how do we know anything factual about that war? We learn it through history books, TV, or documentaries. From sources who were eyewitnesses to the event. Of course the information provided is as good as the integrity of the eyewitness. So we need someone who is honest and always tells the truth. What about in the beginning? God was the only one there! He has given us an eyewitness account that is honest and trustworthy. The Bible does not lie. God cannot be dishonest. So when Genesis 1-2 describes creation in six days that is the absolute truth.
One of the places people find fault is that the sun was created on day four. Yet on day one God created light, necessary for morning and evening. All you need for a day and evening is a rotating earth and a fixed source of light. Who are we to tell God you must have the sun in order to have light? So there was in the very beginning an earth rotating with some source of light, perhaps God himself who calls himself the Light of the world, until the sun was created on day four.
Some would argue the sun is the source of life. It isn’t, God is and by creating the sun on day four he makes it very clear God is the source of life. God warns us in Deuteronomy 4:19 not to worship the sun, moon and stars; that’s astrology, an abomination to God.
Instead, God has surrounded us with the beauty of his creation and for our enjoyment. It is easy to take the details of this world for granted. The beauty and majesty of the clouds, the blue skies, breezes, etc. Every day we see various colors in the sky; blue/gray, orange/brown and so on. By contrast the moon has no air and the horizon is black day and night. Now science can explain to some degree why our sky is blue, orange ... but the Bible tells us the purpose is to show the glory of God and his details in creation are pleasant to our sight. “And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.” —Genesis 2:9
It is the Lord God who created all there is in great beauty, detail and complexity. The God of the Bible is the reason there is life and all that exists, visible and the invisible. I believe this fits reality better than the theory of evolution, and is what God, the creator, tells us in his inerrant word.
Discover this month the power of Jesus’ love and forgiveness.