October 10, 2024

Creation: God’s Design and Plan

Treasures

Audio length: 12:22
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For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.—Romans 1:20

The Bible teaches that “the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). A close inspection of creation in all its intricacy and balance reveals that there was a Designer who created it. If we analyze our world with a reasoning mind, it quickly becomes apparent that someone designed it, patterned it, and assembled it. Our world, the planets, the solar system, and the universe didn’t just happen by accident or randomly come into existence. Somebody had to plan it and synchronize it.

God’s creation works so beautifully, in such synchrony, so systematically and perfectly, because God designed it; everything was created by Him. When you look at the sea, the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the valleys, the trees, and the flowers, they’re all virtually shouting, “There is a God. Look at what a beautiful world He made for you to live in!” The existence of our invisible God is clearly seen through the beautiful world He made.

Theories of evolution and other explanations for the beginning of the universe often attempt to explain away the role of a Creator in creation by claiming that it all happened by accident and somehow just randomly came into being. Evolutionary theory became the general theme of modern scientific theory regarding the Earth’s beginning, taught in schools and university as indisputable fact, and yet, the theory of evolution has not been proved.

As biochemists discover more and more about the awesome complexity of life, it is apparent that its chances of originating by accident are so minute that they can be completely ruled out.—Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001), English astronomer and mathematician

The lack of fossil evidence

The theory of evolution postulates that small, incremental, beneficial steps propel the evolutionary process forward. It is much like a device where only one component of that device is modified at a time, so as to improve the efficiency of the device in some way, while at the same time allowing the device to remain functioning without any other modifications. But what if the upgrade requires more than one improvement at a time? Evolutionary theory cannot accommodate this.

Paleontologist Niles Eldredge wrote: “If life had evolved into its wondrous profusion of creatures little by little, then one would expect to find fossils of transitional creatures which were a bit like what went before them and a bit like what came after. But no one has yet found any evidence of such transitional creatures.”¹

The creation account in Genesis and the theory of evolution could not be reconciled. The story of the fossils agreed with the account of Genesis. In the oldest rocks we did not find a series of fossils covering the gradual changes from the most primitive creatures to developed forms, but rather in the oldest rocks, developed species suddenly appeared. Between every species there was a complete absence of intermediate fossils.—Biochemist D. B. Gower²

Proponents of atheistic theories have their faith bolstered every time a new discovery is made that seems to support them, only to have their faith shaken when that new evidence is proven scientifically unsound. Creationists, on the other hand, have their faith rewarded every day. From the synchronization of the cosmos to the wonders of nature and the intricacies of the DNA molecule, everything points to the hand of an intelligent designer behind this universe of ours.

In the 1900s, astronomers developed what is known as the Big Bang theory, which proposes that the universe began as just a single point, then expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now—and it is still stretching.³ This theory supports the premise of biblical creationism that our universe had a beginning. In the 1990s, the theory of intelligent design was developed, which holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as the theory of natural selection of Darwinism. These modern scientific theories serve to support the biblical narrative of creation—intricately designed and created by the supreme intelligence—God.

Creation: The visible manifestation of God

The Bible teaches that God’s eternal power and divine nature have been made visible by the things that He created (Romans 1:20). His invisible existence is manifested or evidenced by the things you can see—His creation. “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). The existence of our invisible God is clearly seen and understood by His visible creation.

That is why many people reject creationism and opt to believe in other theories for the origins of the world such as evolution. If the world and its inhabitants are God’s creation, then He is sovereign over the world and over every creation in it. But in Romans, we read that “they did not see fit to acknowledge God” and “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25–28).

The book of Romans goes on to explain that in deciding to do without God and the Bible, “they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21–22). Paul warned believers to avoid the “contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Timothy 6:20–21). “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but … will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

Theories that propose that the universe came into being randomly—that it all just somehow fell together without any design or intelligent creator orchestrating it—require more faith than belief in God. Walter Bradley, professor and co-author of The Mystery of Life’s Origin, wrote: “I think people who believe that life emerged naturalistically need to have a great deal more faith than people who reasonably infer that there’s an intelligent designer.”

Just as there had to be a watchmaker behind the synchronized perfection and order of every watch, it is logical and reasonable to assume that there had to be a Creator behind the synchronized perfection of the universe.

For myself, faith begins with a realization that a supreme intelligence brought the universe into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to have this faith, for it is incontrovertible that where there is a plan there is intelligence. An orderly, unfolding universe testifies of the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered: “In the beginning God...”—Dr. Arthur H. Compton (1892-1962), Nobel Prize–winner in physics

In the beginning, God

The Bible teaches us our true origins: “In the beginning, God,” not chaos, not some nebulous cloud of gases, but “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We read this in the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of God’s book, the Bible.

The Bible then goes on to say that “God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). The first human beings did not resemble apes or monkeys, or fish or birds. “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

Creation is the premise and preface and foundation of the entire Bible. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:11). In the book of Psalms, we read, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. … Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:6–9).

God is the only one who can give meaning to the universe, purpose to the planets, love to our hearts and peace to our minds, health to our bodies, rest to our spirits, purpose to our lives and joy to our souls. The Bible teaches that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10). When we reverence and acknowledge God, we find wisdom.

Do you question the existence of God? Take a look at the beauty and the intricacy of the world around you, the vastness of plant and animal life, the sea, teeming with life critical to the survival of the planet, and the sky above! Do you wonder whether God loves you? You can see His love and you can experience it in the beautiful world He’s given you to live in.

And that’s not all. Those who have made a personal connection with the Designer through His Son, Jesus Christ, can experience His loving presence. Through the truth He reveals to us in the Bible and answers we receive to our prayers, our faith is continually strengthened.

If you don’t yet know the Creator but would like to, you can start now by accepting Jesus as your Savior and inviting Him into your life. Simply pray: Jesus, I want to know You personally, so I invite You to come into my heart. Thank You for dying for me that my sins may be forgiven and so I can have the gift of eternal life in the world to come. Amen.

From an article in Treasures, published by the Family International in 1987. Adapted and republished October 2024. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.

¹ Niles Eldredge, “Missing, Believed Nonexistent,” The Manchester Guardian (November 26, 1978), 1.

² D.B. Gower, “Scientist Rejects Evolution,” Kentish Times [England] (December 11, 1975), 4.

³ https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/big-bang/en

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