Creation – Part 2
A scientific case for creation.
Introduction
According to His story, God spoke all of creation into existence. By His Word He made everything out of nothing... According to His story, God created the heavens, the earth, and every living thing in six days.
– The HOPE, Chapter 1
Observe & Consider
Even among those who believe that the world was created by God, there are different interpretations of the creation account found in the Bible. However, among the predominant Biblical views there is also agreement on many key concepts. After reading the preceding excerpt from The HOPE video, let’s consider a few of these concepts.
First, because God is all powerful, not limited by anything, He can create however He chooses, even simply by speaking. This concept is clearly presented in the Bible:
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)
“...by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed.” (2 Peter 3:5)
Secondly, God made everything that is, out of nothing. Think about that. When we humans create, we must utilize or draw upon things that existed before us. When we “create” we are really “re-creating.” But God, who created from nothing, is creative in the ultimate sense:
“...God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.” (Romans 4:17)
Third, God created the whole world in six days. We find this concept clearly presented in the Bible:
“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them..." (Exodus 20:11)
While students of the Bible have long debated the meaning of “six days,” the assertion that God made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them clearly contradicts the notion that the world is simply the result of a natural evolutionary process.
Evolutionists disagree. They argue that the world was not created by a designer, but evolved from its simple organic beginnings to the complex system of life we know today. But this idea defies a fundamental law of physics: the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that in a closed system everything tends toward entropy (decay).1 This technical-sounding declaration basically says that without the intervention of an outside influence or force, everything in the natural world doesn’t improve over time – it eventually falls apart!
To make this even clearer, let’s revisit Paley’s watchmaker illustration from Lesson 7.
Suppose you were walking in a field and you came upon a little pile of watch pieces. Evolution might suggest that one day these random pieces would assemble themselves into a finely–tuned timepiece. Or perhaps they would become a car. The watchmaker metaphor would suggest that without the intervention of a designer those pieces would never just fall together into a working watch. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, we would expect those watch pieces to eventually rust and crumble into dust!
Simply put, the notion that this world is the result of a natural evolutionary process asks us to believe that over time, simple things somehow developed into far more complex things. The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us to expect just the opposite!
What’s more, the Bible tells us that God is actually holding the world together now. We find this in Colossians 1:17: “And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Nuclear science has determined that the smallest particles of an atom spin at incomprehensible speeds, but it has yet to find an explanation for what keeps the atom from spinning apart. In Colossians 1:17, the Bible claims that God is the One who holds all things – even the smallest atoms – together.
Ask & Reflect
- Considering the attributes of God we have studied this week, do you find it difficult to believe that God could have created the entire world in the manner described in the Bible? Why? Why not?
- It has been said that our view of the creation account in the Bible will determine our view of the rest of the Bible. How might this be true? If the biblical creation account is not true, then what would that say about God?
Decide & Do
Some people have difficulty accepting the creation account of the Bible. After all, it does seem to defy natural law, and it requires belief in a creative Being whose handiwork can be seen, but whose face cannot. Such belief requires faith, but it does not require blind faith. As we work our way through this study guide and consider and examine the Bible, we will learn that biblical faith is not unreasonable, and it is far from blind.
We have taken a significant amount of time in this study to understand why the Bible is trustworthy. Establishing this gives weight to what the Bible says about the attributes of God. And through what we have learned about the attributes of God, we can better understand how such a God could create the world and everything in it, just as the Bible says He did. This understanding of God’s character and nature doesn’t eliminate the need for faith, but it does eliminate the need for blind faith.
Many people reject or dismiss the claims of the Bible because they encounter them out of context, without having laid a foundation for faith. The purpose of this study guide is to create a context for understanding the claims of the Bible, to build a foundation for faith, precept upon precept. If you encounter things in this study that are difficult to understand or believe, don’t immediately dismiss them. Instead, ask God to strengthen the foundation of your faith, and strive to know Him as He is revealed in His Word.
Footnotes
1Wikipedia®, Second Law of Thermodynamics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics). Retrieved November 15, 2006.