Last year we started a series on the Apostle’s Creed. We need to ensure our faith is built on the Rock - Jesus, the Word of God, otherwise we will be tossed by every wind of doctrine that sweeps across the Earth especially in these dangerous times we live in. Today we’re going to talk about the Creation, the 1st statement in the Creed.
By the time we’ve finished , you will know the Apostle’s Creed by heart. Feel free to join in...
- I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
- I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
- who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.
- Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
- He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead.
- He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
- From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
- I believe in the Holy Spirit,
- the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
- the forgiveness of sins,
- the resurrection of the body,
- and life everlasting.
Amen
During the last 170 years, this first statement in the Creed has been under tremendous attack.
Thanks to Charles Darwin and his book “The Origin of Species” in 1859, within just 20 years by the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of intellectuals had accepted evolution as a fact. Mankind has ever since moved further and further away from a belief in God as the creator of all things to a theory that in all honesty makes no sense.
Evolutionists often repeat the mantra that “Evolution is a fact” and not a theory without explaining 3 essential things;
- Everything from nothing
- The order and complexity of the Universe
- The effect of the Big Bang on Time
Watch this video as Richard Dawkins debates with George Pell.
1. Everything from nothing
Richard Dawkins says something that brings spontaneous laughter from the audience and he doesn’t know why.
“You can dispute exactly what’s meant by nothing but whatever it is, it’s very very simple.”
Believers of Genesis are using the scientific law of cause and effect to explain the universe yet are mocked. Scientists cannot explain how everything came from nothing yet they are applauded !
The Bible says that Jesus is the Creator;
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.
Colossians 1:15-17
Although Richard Dawkins calls it a cop-out, it is completely logical and scientific to say that God built the visible Physical Realm using elements from the invisible Spiritual Realm in which he resides. Surely it is possible to move from there into time and space (where do black holes go anyway?) and bring the building materials with him. In fact it may even help explain why the materials are so ancient !
2. The order and complexity of the Universe
Dawkins admits a second problem that
“Scientists are struggling to explain how we get the fantastic order and complexity of the universe out of very simple and therefore easy to understand, easy to explain beginnings”
Usually adults are not very good at admitting we are struggling, pride gets in the way. So credit to Richard there for admitting that Scientists are struggling.
The Lord wants us to know that he has explained it very simply so even a child can understand it, that is the wisdom of our God. If he told us exactly how he did it, there is not even one scientist on earth who could comprehend it and even if there was, what use would that be to the rest of us !
Did you know that the word intellectual only appears once in the Living Bible (and in no other main versions), there must be a good reason for that;
Then he was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the intellectuals and worldly wise and for revealing them to those who are as trusting as little children. Yes, thank you, Father, for that is the way you wanted it. I am the Agent of my Father in everything; and no one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Luke 10:21-22
You don’t need a PhD to know how the Universe was made, that’s Good News. Don’t be too smart for your own good ! All anyone needs to do is observe the Creation to understand there must be a Creator.
In 2009, Richard Dawkins sponsored an Atheist advertising campaign on London Buses encouraging people
“There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.
Note the word probably, he’s not sure. By enjoy, Atheists mean it doesn’t matter if you do something the Bible defines as sin because there is no God to be accountable to, no final Judgement. But the Bible is very hard on those who spread lies;
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-20
The Bible goes so far as to say no-one is truly atheist, they are lying. In the final Supreme Court, the excuse that there was not enough evidence to believe in God will not stand up. The truth will be plain that people were wicked and because they rejected God, God will reject them.
3. The effect of the Big Bang on Time
Richard Dawkins says
“it’s no good invoking Thomas Aquinas and saying that God is defined as outside time and space, that’s just a cop-out”.
Yes our belief is that God is in another dimension but what’s unscientific about that ? Scientists believe in other dimensions. When Richard Dawkins talks about time and space he knows that there is something called spacetime which fuses the 3 dimensions of space to the 1 dimension of time to create the so-called 4th dimension.
According to the standard Big Bang model, the Universe was born during a period of inflation that began about 13.8 billion years ago. Like a rapidly expanding balloon, it swelled from a size smaller than an electron to nearly its current size within a tiny fraction of a second.
That sounds remarkably like the Genesis account. Remember the first words God spoke in Genesis ?
God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!
Genesis 1:3
Now Scientists say;
- Diameter of Universe = 93 billion light years And they have calculated that the
- Speed of light = 299,792,458 metres per second = 9,454,254,955,488 km per year
- S = D / T and T = D / S
Therefore the Big Bang caused the Universe to expand much much faster than the speed of light.
Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity do suggest a scientific basis for the possibility of backward time travel in certain unusual scenarios. The prediction is that beyond the speed of light, time can go backwards. Stephen Hawking in his last book “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” discusses the possibility.
Here’s the question for the Scientists. Did time go backwards at the Big Bang ?
If the vast Universe started and rapidly expanded in a split second in a so called “Big Bang” as scientists believe, is it possible that in such heat and light and speed at which it travelled to the edge of the Universe, that time went backwards then returned to it’s beginning point from which at the creation of man, history began ? That would give sufficient time for the Universe to cool after the explosion. It might explain the pathways of light to the stars. It also explains how God can see the future because it’s already happened !
But all these theories don’t mean a lot because I wasn’t there. Neither were Mr. Hawking nor Mr. Dawkins.
We should stay humble because the only difference between us is God’s gift of belief. Here’s how the musician King David humbly put it.
O Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth! You reveal your majesty in the heavens above. From the mouths of children and nursing babies you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them? You made them a little less than the heavenly beings. You crowned mankind with honor and majesty. you appoint them to rule over your creation; you have placed everything under their authority, including all the sheep and cattle, as well as the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that moves through the currents of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!
Psalm 8
Believing in the Creation is not the end game. Worshipping the Lord as King David did is the desired result. The Apostle’s Creed starts with Creation, same as in Genesis.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Simply put Mr. Dawkins !
That very first verse, if we believe it, is enough to put us face down on the floor, silent, in awe and gratitude. While thinking about what to write, I was chatting to my Dad last weekend and he mentioned that the Word for the Day was this week doing a 5 day series on “The Truth of Creation”. The timing of that is amazing and I’d encourage you to read it for some more encouraging quotes about Creation. Folks, let’s remember to keep it simple as the Bible teaches us. As Rodgers and Hammerstein put it...
Let’s start at the very beginning...
Word for the Day Truth of Creation links;
