Genesis Part 1 - Creation

 Genesis Part 1 - Creation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

Years ago God pressed me to watch a documentary by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Now I would just about rather go to the dentist than sit through a long-winded documentary by a blowhard atheist or agnostic that works hard at pushing science above the God that made heaven and earth. To say such people are fools is not name calling, it’s the title God gives them:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. Psalm 14:1

Yet, since I felt God nudging me to do so I watched the show. As expected, Mr. deGrasse had very strong arguments and reasoning that “sounded” smart and convincing. Yet I knew the Who and Why of God’s Creation. I have been reading my Bible since boyhood. And I had my own way of reasoning outside of Mr. deGrasse and his high-sounding arguments.

Intuition. Common Sense. Experience. Intuition can be something that arises from our common humanity. A sixth sense that can warn us of unseen danger, or drives our convictions and beliefs. Intuition can, and often does, come from God through the Holy Spirit. And the longer you live as a Christian in fellowship with God the stronger that heavenly Intuition becomes in your life. 

Then we have Common Sense. Common Sense is the simple logic of the obvious. A complex creation must have a complex Creator. When too many so-called accidents do not add up, then you look for a more obvious explanation. For instance, even hearing and vision involve complex systems tied together in both humans and animals to work properly. How many “endless accidents” are necessary to make even one of those things work correctly? I have long thought that it takes far more “faith” to believe in a creator-less evolution than an Intelligent Creator. My Common Sense defies a godless creation. It is simply unreasonable. While I believe it is possible God used Evolution in the process of creation, I do not think it was necessary that God needed such a process. God has the power to make anything and everything in ways we still cannot fully comprehend. 

When we see a hawk or eagle fly overhead, watch a deer moving gracefully along a fence line, or step outside on a cold winter’s night and see the stars gleaming like diamonds across the night sky–in the depths of our souls we know there was a Maker for all that’s made. This involves both Intuition and Common Sense.

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. Romans 1:19-20

When God had Moses write down the book of Genesis the explanation of creation was geared toward all of humanity. From the simple shepherd and dirt farmer thousands of years ago to modern humans today. God kept Genesis simple on purpose. He could have defined physics, geology, microbiology, mathematics, etc., in the Book of Genesis, but that was not its purpose. We are given the basics of creation and then the Bible moves quickly into the purpose of creation–us.

The creation reveals a Creator. Pagans saw the creation and rather than understanding the creation was the canvas that God painted upon revealing something of Himself, our pagan ancestors created gods in the image of the creations, animals, reptiles, birds, etc. Today, those who deny God have set up new gods of Science and Knowledge reveling in their pride rather than humbly acknowledging the God who made them. Scientists of all types who refute and reject God carefully study what He has made and are without excuse for their unbelief. Of course some scientists are Christians and they are doubly blessed because they get to study the mysteries of how God created things while fully appreciating that He is the God who mastered nature.

My third tier in ways of knowing is Experience. For a Christian like myself who has lived on this earth over sixty years Experience plays a big part in how we believe and why we believe in God. There was a man not long ago talking to me about preachers. He was not a believer and was expounding upon the fact that he had never seen a miracle, implying that God must not be real any more than miracles are real. He paused, expecting my agreement. Instead, I told him I had seen God do miracles.  I launched into just some of the miracles I had seen God do in my life to his astonishment. I have too much experience at seeing God work in my life and the lives of others to be an unbeliever. I have both seen and believe. But the fact is when you start down this path of faith in God, Experience comes after that initial Intuition, faith, that God is, and the Common Sense that we are not a freak of nature but created beings made by a Creator.

The Creation, the universe, planets, water, sea creatures, plant life, birds and mammals, these preceded us. Yet they were merely the groundwork for the pinnacle of God’s creation with a plan in motion that would only fully be revealed over millennia.

Prayer: Dear Lord, as we study and learn more about Your creation and its process help us to handle such knowledge with humility. For it is with humility and awe that Your beautiful artwork should be experienced. Thank you for everything in the heavens and on earth that you made for us! Amen.