- The "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle nebula, 7,000 light years from the earth.
- The photograph is from Wikipedia (Public Domain) taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
The Creation
God the Creator
In the first chapter of the Bible we
read that:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day."
... and concerning the origin of the human race we read that:
"... God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them"
That God is the Creator is repeated
either directly or indirectly in many
other passages of the Bible:
God speaking to Job:
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
David the psalmist:
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him."
The prophet Isaiah:
"Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it."
Jesus Christ:
"... from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female."
The first century Christians:
"...when they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them"."
There appears to be evidence in the
world around us to support the
theory that the earth has been
in existence for many, many
thousands of years. For example,
the sedimentary rock formations in
Dorset in the UK, and the skeleton
remains within the rocks appear to
support this as does the geological
evidence of an ice-age that covered
Northern Europe. Evidence
indicates that dinosaurs existed on
this earth at some point in the past.
I do not think these ideas conflict
with the Biblical account of creation.
Should I believe all of the Bible?
The Bible teaches us that we should
not pick and choose which parts of
it to, study and believe; it says that
'all' of the Bible should be believed.
The Apostle Paul made this very
clear when he wrote to Timothy:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work"
Bible students who want to follow the Word of God
must have faith in God the Creator
as described in the early chapters of Genesis.
What is faith?
Faith is defined in the New
Testament in this way:
"... faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
It is through faith that Bible
students accept that God created
the universe, the sun, the moon,
the stars, the earth and the many
forms of life that live on this earth.
It is the faith of Bible students that
gives them the 'assurance' that God
created all things. The Bible does
not tell us the exact way in which
God created the world and every
living thing; it tells us "by faith we
understand that the universe was
formed". It does not tell us "the how"
or the order in which God
manipulated this DNA, that
enzyme, this molecule and that
atom, but it was His creative power
that caused it to happen in the way
that is described in the Bible.
Creation cannot be reproduced and measured in a laboratory. Neither can evolution. How can we be sure of the 'facts'?
Shaith/ shutterstock.com
Is there proof of creation?
When I was at school, practical
science lessons would often be
spent trying to prove that a
scientific theory or law was correct.
For example, a fundamental
principle of physics is the conservation
of momentum. We can
perhaps remember causing collisions
between spheres with
different masses and measuring the
masses and velocities before and
after the collision to prove this
principle of physics. Excepting
experimental error, the results are
easy to see and interpret and we can
reasonably prove to ourselves and
others that this principle of physics
is true.
Proving creation is more complex
and cannot be demonstrated at
home or in a school laboratory.
Look at the many different life
forms and the complexity of these
life forms, or consider the majesty
of a mountain range with snow,
lakes and waterfalls. Bible students
see these as wonderful examples of
the power of God and His creative
work, but to someone looking for
'proof' of a Divine Creator they are
often not enough.
Experts and faith
Some people will look to science to
prove that 'evolution' is not true
and could not happen as described
by some scientists. I have not read
the scientific papers which either
directly or indirectly relate to the
way that the world and our fellow
creatures have come into being. I
am also not an expert on biochemistry
and I do not have a good
knowledge of DNA – so I would
have to rely on others to interpret
the data for me.
Unfortunately there are many so called
'experts' who will put
forward a view for an atheistic
explanation of the origin of life, but
equally there are many 'experts'
who will put forward a Biblical view
of creation. The internet is full of
intricate details of hundreds of
different opinions on a vast array of
topics from every type of so-called
'expert'. The origin of the world is
no exception to this. There are also
many books, scientific papers and
articles, as well as the popular news
media, all with differing views on the subject.
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah USA
A wonderful example of the Creator's handiwork – or not? How do we decide?
kylepostphotography/shutterstock.com
Which 'experts' to trust and believe
is a difficult choice. Instead of
putting my trust in them, I would
rather put my trust in God and have
faith in His Word the Bible. I can
then believe the Bible account of
creation. To believe in the Bible
takes faith, but trusting in an
'expert' also requires faith in
perhaps an unknown author with
unknown allegiances. As a Bible
student I choose to put my faith and
trust in the Bible and not in these
unknown 'experts'.
Bible students are not required to
exercise 'blind faith'; it is faith that
is based on the reliability of the
Bible. It can be proven from history,
prophecy and archaeology that the
Bible is reliable, factual and can be
trusted. I would like to focus on just
one example.
The example of Israel
The nation of Israel is a clear,
visible and easy to understand
proof that the Bible is a very special
book. Thousands of years ago the
Israelites were told that they would
be punished if they disobeyed God.
For example, in Leviticus 26, we
read about the blessings that would
be given to the people if they
obeyed the Divine commands and
what would happen to the people if
they disobeyed the commands of
God:
"And if by these things you are a not reformed by me, but walk a contrary to me, then I also will a walk contrary to you, and I will a punish you yet seven times for a your sins. And I will bring a sword a against you that will execute the a vengeance of my covenant; when a you are gathered together within a your cities I will send pestilence a among you; and you shall be a delivered into the hand of the enemy."
1947 Jewish refugees crowded onto the illegal immigrant ship "Theodor Herzl" on the way to Israel
Schaja & Prina Klein – US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Israel did disobey God and as a
result they were punished. They
were divided as a nation and then
exiled. But significantly at the
hands of the Romans, shortly after
the time of Jesus, they were
banished from their homeland.
The promise that God made to
Israel is that He would never forget
them. Indeed, the promise goes
further and says that at a time in
the future He would gather them
from all over the world and bring
them back to their ancient
homeland. The prophet Ezekiel
foretold that although the Jews
were to be punished for their disobedience,
and would be scattered
all around the world, they would
eventually return to the land of
Israel:
"Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel..."."
Ezekiel is not the only Old Testament
prophet to allude to the
return of the Jews to the land of
Israel. Look up these additional
examples from the many found in
the prophetic books of the Bible:
- Jeremiah 33.7; Zechariah 8.7; Isaiah 11.12.
History tells us that after their
terrible persecution during the
Second World War, increasing
numbers of Jews returned to their
ancient homeland and on 14 May
1948 the State of Israel was
established. The survival of this
remarkable people has never left
the media headlines since that date,
yet they continue to survive and
develop as a nation. It is possible to
visit Israel, to look in its museums
and archaeological sites and see for
yourself this incredible story – a
story that was foretold in God's
Word thousands of years ago.
To trust in this account of the
nation of Israel does not need faith,
it can be established as fact. The
story of the Jews is interwoven into
the Bible and it can be proved
beyond doubt.
The Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem to the Jews who died in the Holocaust
OPIS Zagreb/shutterstock.com
Can the Bible be trusted?
The Bible can also be proven to be
trustworthy by fulfilled prophecy
(the history of Israel is but one
example) and by the evidence of
archaeology. Both of these topics
have been covered in detail in
special issues of Light (see LightMagazine.org).
The Bible can be relied on as being
an accurate record of historical
events and trusted because the
words of the prophets of Israel have
come true in every detail. If the
Bible can be trusted, then it is a
logical extension of this trust to
believe that creation as recorded in
the Bible is also true. Bible students
should not shy away from God
being the Almighty Creator. Let us
share the confidence of the
Psalmist who exclaimed:
"How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."
Author Andy Gray
Country Nottingham, UK
Source Light on a New World reprint from Volume 29.3
| 
