Good morning. For our thought today I would like to bring to your attention the most controversial (for many anyway) words found not only in the Bible, but some would say the most controversial words ever uttered in any setting:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
What is that you say? Those can’t possibly be the most controversial words ever written? Yes, they are. Those words are the basis, the very foundation, of faith in God Almighty, our Creator. Those words are also the “roll up your sleeves and do battle” words of those who refute the existence of God. For this latter group, the standard argument is to hide behind the slogans of science and maintain that any person with a functioning intellect would choose the evidence of science over the stories and tales that have been brought together in what the faithful call, The Bible.
Our thought for today is to make it clear that this argument that puts intellect in conflict with faith is a bogus argument at its point of origin. The first, and by far the most critical, aspect of the argument is that the evidence of science disputes and even disproves any cause for our world other than natural processes. Given their need to put complicated words to use for everything, they call this philosophy: methodological naturalism. In short, it says that there is no need to look for a creator since everything that exists, even life itself, is easily and best explained with a functional understanding of natural processes.
This way of thinking was standard and proudly supported throughout the scientific community for decades, and then their camp started to leak. I don’t mean that they were losing adherents in a “slow drip” type of pace. I mean that it started as a drip and has turned into something of a torrent. You see, when the evidence is looked at objectively and honestly, that evidence cries out for the existence of a Creator.
While the evidence cannot be denied (although it definitely does continue to be denied by many stubborn souls who would rather refuse reality as it smacks them in the nose than admit they were wrong about a topic of such importance) many continue to struggle mightily to give credit where credit is due. These folks cannot bring themselves to admit, or to say out loud, that there is a Creator God. Instead, they have put into play a more comfortable title: Intelligent Design, or ID for short.
The number of people of science from virtually every scientific discipline who have come to accept the idea that the evidence in our world points to a designer rather than to pure natural process is an incredibly high number, and it is growing constantly.
What it comes down to is an acceptance of cause and effect. This is a key point for virtually all areas of scientific study. Something can be determined, and scientifically recognized, if an action has a predictable and repeatable consequence. Forensic scientists, for instance, rely on this principle for virtually all of their findings. The evidence tells them whether a person died of natural causes, by accident, or by an intentional action of another person. Cause and effect.
Studying the world around us gives all people a clear understanding of cause and effect. There are far too many things occuring in nautre that are happening now, and others which have happened in the past, that are impossible to understand through natural process. The evidence declares that these undeniable consequences must be understood through the work of an Intelligent Designer. The list of these types of occurances range for the incredible complexity and organization in living cells, to the Monarch butterflies returning to the same group of trees in Mexican mountains to spend the winter, but with 6-8 generations separting the visits.
Those who ony grudgingly have come to acknowledge that much of what is seen in creation requires the existance of a designing agent struggle mightily to give this force of design a name. We, as Christian people, don’t have that problem. We call Him God Almighty, Creator of all, and we say His name with awe and reverence.
In the beginning, God created….that’s the fact. For those that continue to want to poke fun at God’s Word, I would remind them that God had their number over two thousand years ago. We read it in Romans 1:18-23 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Yes, God called it like it is. The evidence is all there for any person with the courage and the intellect to look at it honestly. There is no other explanation, and there is no other name. It is all about God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They were all there in Genesis 1, or perhaps I should say that He is and was fully present in all of His person and power.
(If you want a hoot, look up the theory of the beginning of life called directed panspermia. As ridiculous as this theory is, it continues to be favored by many Darwinian evolutionists for the simple reason that they don’t have a better answer without turning to God)
Enjoy your day!
Vern