Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
The above passage of scripture would present an immediate confrontation with the fundamental premises of science as we know it, for the verse is saying unequivocally that God could create matter without using any preexisting materials. In other words, God could call things into existence from nothing.
The Big Bang theory and Evolutionary concepts beg to differ in their conclusions, for they both require something, such as atoms to exist first before any life or material objects can appear. Thus, these two concepts are diametrically opposed to each other, and do set up an ongoing feud between science as we know it and the sacred utterances of scripture.
Now, it is an indisputable fact that God often uses preexistent matter in His work of creation, as was studied from the Bible recently. But this is not the only way God can create, for our first passage says that He is not limited to creating things from things that do exist.
God can begin with a mere thought, and then speak that thought into literal existence, as He has done on numerous occasions. Let us think about that for a moment, because there is a valid reason why God alone is to be worshipped, and the Scripture most often cites His creative power as the main reason why. Let’s read:
Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 You art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created.
Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails.
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Psalms 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created: and You renew the face of the earth.
33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.
His singular ability to speak His thoughts into virtual reality sets God apart, in an entirely different class by Himself, for there is no one else in the universe that can even come close to achieving this. This also means that creating from scratch, with God, would also include starting with absolutely nothing.
Science finds this particular pill extremely difficult to swallow, and indeed it is a stretch, because finite minds cannot come to grips with such capabilities on their own, hence the reason why the Bible says that he who comes to God “Must Believe”.
Science is baffled and oft dumbfounded by what the Bible says about God’s singular ability to create. As was stated previously, it is true that God often uses preexisting materials to do the work of creating but these very materials had to come from somewhere originally.
The Bible gives us the answer that has boggled the minds of experts, and indeed has driven some folks to reject the authenticity of scripture, because its sacred utterances do not conform to, nor do they fit the mold that science as we know it specifies.
In everything that pertains to scientific discoveries and inventions, human agents must have something to start with, whether it be the automobile, peanut butter or Bitcoin, they all have one thing in common in that preexisting raw material is a must.
But here comes the Scriptures, saying beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is not necessarily the case with God’s creative power, for He can, and He has pulled matter into existence by just speaking it into existence.
Thus, there are usually only two main responses to this fact, in that some believe it, while science as we know it utterly rejects it. The fact that God can call solid matter into existence by just speaking it, is a mystery that finite minds will never comprehend, so the only thing one can do is to believe it or reject it. Let’s read:
Psalms 33:6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Hence the reason why Paul says in Hebrews, that if anyone desires to come to God, they must believe. It is not an authoritarian statement; it’s basically the only route that persons can take in coming to God, because man’s science cannot explain, nor account for God’s creative power. Let’s read:
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Therefore, whenever man’s science and scripture collide, we will find ourselves facing a stark choice of whether to believe God’s word, or whether to go with the deductions, discoveries, or precedents of science.
Thus, from the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, and continuing throughout, persons are faced with this daunting question of whether to believe, or not, and that against all odds. Let’s read:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
This first statement of fact given in Genesis must be thoroughly understood by all those who would pass through the final conflict of earth’s history, as the question of God’s creative power looms large.
Question: Did God in this first instance call the earth into existence on the first day of Creation, or was it in a disorganized, preexistent form, from which He then brought order out of chaos? In other words, was the earth in existence before creation week, as many Christians erroneously believe, or did it have its first beginning in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1?
It is worthy of note that Catholicism embraces the hybrid of Creation and Evolution, synthesizing both into one. And there are others who believe that it is true that God created the earth, but that He took a long period of time to do so, and that our planet, in its chaotic form existed prior to creation week.
It is indeed very important for us to investigate this question thoroughly, especially in light of what is written about the creation of the new earth, which would take place at the end of the 1000 sabbatical years mentioned in Revelation chapter 20, and also in passages of scripture. Let’s read:
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isaiah 66: 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
2nd Peter 3: 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Malachi 4:3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
[The Great Controversy pp 673] While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the holy city. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” [Revelation 21:1.] The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth.
It becomes obvious, that in creating a new heaven, and a new earth God employs the use of preexisting materials which are then run through the process of metamorphosis via intense heat, to produce a new world. Question: Did God follow this same script when He had originally created the world in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1?
Answer: No, He did not. In the original creation of the earth God employed the raw power of His word and spoke solid matter into existence. Let’s read:
Psalms 33: 6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast.
Exodus 20: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Thus, we will discover an ongoing feud between the science of the Bible, and that which is derived from the likes of Darwin and other philosophers who do not believe the word of God. In the days of Noah, science and scripture collided, for there was nothing that one could have pointed to in the natural world, to support or verify what Noah was preaching.
Rain had never fallen upon the earth but was rather watered by a mist that arose during the night. Thus, no then-known science, or precedent could be used in ascertaining the truth of Noah’s prophecy. Folks would have to either believe, or utterly reject what the prophet was saying. Let’s read:
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 97] The world before the Flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order. Heretofore rain had never fallen; the earth had been watered by a mist or dew. e rivers had never yet passed their boundaries, but had borne their waters safely to the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their banks.
They reasoned, as many reason now, that nature is above the God of nature, and that her laws are so firmly established that God Himself could not change them. Reasoning that if the message of Noah were correct, nature would be turned out of her course, they made that message, in the minds of the world, a delusion—a grand deception.
They asserted that if there were any truth in what Noah had said, the men of renown, the wise, the prudent, the great men would understand the matter.
Again, science as we know it also collides with the scriptures in the experiences of Abraham and Sarah, for after a woman passes menopause any possibility of having children is written off according to science and thus, any such expectation on the part of any woman would relegate her to the insane asylum.
Again, science as we know it would recoil from the command to cross the Red Sea on foot. We could all relate to crossing it in a Carnival cruise ship, like the Princess of the seas, but to walk across would make those who believed the word of God seem insane in the minds of finite man.
Strictly logical modes of thought, based upon our conventional knowledge of science, often puts the Christian at odds with what the secular world may deem reasonable or even possible hence the reason why the foundation upon which everything squarely sits, as it pertains to God, is none other than belief.
And as a result, at every step of advance towards the eternal kingdom, we would be confronted with many logical arguments to the contrary, causing us to have to make a deliberate choice, of whether to believe or not.
Here we go again with the sacred utterances of the scriptures, as it pertains to Moses. The Bible says specifically that Moses did not experience most of the natural aging processes that we have become accustomed to.
Moses’ hair became gray, according to the servant of The Lord, but other than that, Moses did not lose strength as he aged, nor was his sight affected with the passage of time.
According to science, as we know it, one’s vision usually deteriorates with the passage of time, thus, requiring glasses, or contact lenses as the case may be. Age related macular degeneration is the gradual loss of central vision. Objects may seem blurry, and shapes may seem distorted, and most persons lose their ability to see up close.
Also, the conventional wisdom on the natural aging processes is inclusive of cognitive decline, shrinking of muscle tissues, and the gradual waning of one’s life forces in general, together with feebleness, and an innate fear of heights, according to the Bible.
But apparently, most of these changes did not apply to Moses, for he was able to climb Mt Nebo, all by himself at 120 years of age, a feat that many folks in their prime may be hard-pressed to accomplish in our day. Mt. Nebo rises over 2000 ft, so, for a 120 year old man to climb it all by himself, without assistance might seem to be a stretch for science as we know it, to swallow. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 32: 48 And the Lord spoke unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession.
Deuteronomy 34:1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan.
7 And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
There is nothing in science as we know it, and there isn’t any research done by those in the medical field to even remotely suggest, that the above scriptural statement is possible. In other words, like Abraham and Sarah, and like so many other instances in the Bible, there is no scientific evidence to support such a statement.
Thus, the only thing we can do is to believe it. But if we are prone to only believe the Bible when science can prove or verify its sacred utterances, we will run into problems sooner or later for as our topic states, there are numerous occasions, where science as we know it, and Scripture do collide.
In fact, most of the heroes of faith mentioned in the book of Hebrews have attached to their record, one or more instances, or experiences which contradict our knowledge of science currently.
With David, for instance, it is humanly, and virtually impossible for anyone to use a slingshot to kill any giant, let alone, causing the stone to sink deep into the giant’s forehead. The bullet from a .222 caliber Remington, which can smash a skull, travels at over 2100 miles per hour, thus, from a strictly scientific perspective, the record of David and Goliath enters the realm of the impossible. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 17: 49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
Therefore, as the countdown to midnight gathers steam on our planet, God instructs the inhabitants of earth to not only believe Him and worship Him as Redeemer and Savior, but more so, to worship Him in His capacity as The Creator, because it is His sole omnipotent power to do the impossible, that causes many scientists and other persons to stumble.
Believing that Jesus died for our sins is not a stretch, and us being promised eternal life, virtually has no down sides; but for persons to believe that The God of heaven could bring matter into existence without any raw materials, is much more difficult for science to swallow.
The Biblical Sabbath stands as the memorial of the great facts of creation as they took place when God created the heaven and the earth. And the Sabbath continues, and will continue throughout eternity, to commemorate the Creative power of God, and it is this fact that the Bible puts forth as the main reason why God is to be worshipped. Let’s read:
Exodus 20: 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
In fact, if this truth is not understood, or is rejected, deliberately in our day it then becomes very difficult if not impossible, to worship God in His capacity as Redeemer, for the plan of salvation hinges squarely on God’s ability to create a new person. If this is not the case then our hope is vain. Let’s read:
2nd Corinthians 5: 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Some are baffled by the fact that a calypsonian like the might Sparrow, can give his life to God, and he then comes up out of the watery grave as a brand, new creature. That work of redemption in Sparrow hinges on the basic fact of God’s creative power.
Thus, in anything, and everything which pertains to creation and redemption, the singular, and creative power of God runs as a golden thread, throughout the various experiences, promises, and fulfillments that the Christian becomes accustomed to.
Again, with the Christmas holiday season looming on the horizon, many individuals would endeavor to worship Christ in His capacity as Redeemer. That is all well and good, but the worship God is looking for in our day, mainly has to do with His Creatorship.
In closing, science may question the sacred scripts, and in many cases our finite research and discovery would not be able to come up with logical answers, or any reasonable, rational, or scientific proof, so as to verify the statements in scripture.
Yet we are instructed and encouraged to believe, for it is only those persons who choose to believe, against all odds, that would be able to participate in God’s creative and redemptive power both now and in the great hereafter.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture that encourages us to believe, and to worship Christ, in harmony with that which is written in the scripture, even if its sacred utterances collide with our current knowledge of science. Let’s read:
Revelation 14: 6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
God Bless!