Dear Friends in Christ Jesus, “through whom all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made, [John 1:3]”
The theory of evolution is what Ken Ham calls, The Great Lie. The Bible tells us that God created the earth and the universe. Several books in the Bible reveal how God brought about ‘the creation,” and exactly how long it took him. The Bible also tells us what is happening to “the creation”, why it is happening, and where “the creation” is heading.
We won’t spend time talking about either the teaching of evolution that leaves out any intelligent design, or what they call “theistic” evolution, which says God created all things but used evolution to do it. Instead, based on Paul’s words we examine The Biblical View of Our Universe.It is created, decaying, groaning, and expecting.
The first two chapters of Genesis are an historical account of “the creation.” Four times, the apostle refers to God’s work, “In the beginning” as simply, “the creation.” Only God existed from eternity. In one sudden action by the power of his Word, God called all things into existence out of nothing. In six24-hour days, God formed that matter into the heavens and earth and everything in them, including man and woman.
Of these facts, there can be no doubt. The inspired Word of God reveals these facts in the clear language that characterizes any historical record. Moses recorded the history of the very first miracle.
Paul wrote of this miracle in the first chapter of his letter to the Colossians, “For by him were all things created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”[1:16, 17] God asked Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation…Who marked off its dimensions.”
There is solid visible evidence of God’s creation. If you are interested in what we call Creation Science, you know what those are. The evidence of creation is all around. It is still by faith, however, that we take God as his Word that he is the “Maker of heaven and earth.” The writer to the Hebrews penned in chapter 11, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.” We cannot prove “the creation” to anyone. God does not need to prove “the creation” to us. Instead of demanding such proof, in faith we sing, “How great thou art, how great thou art.”
We all recognize that “the creation” is not what God intended it to be. Instead of being mankind’s eternal home of perfection, “the creation” is decaying.
All around we see that the earth and universe is not getting better but decaying. Paul wrote, “The creation was subjected to frustration (vanity, loss of purpose, corruption) not by its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it.”
Because Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world, God subjected all “the creation” to decay and death. What God had declared to be “very good” now would wind down from order to disorder. Luther said, “The whole created universe is sighing for deliverance from the slavery of decay. Strange! What does this mean?
It means the principle of disintegration and degradation affects humans, animals, plants, and all other things even the earth. The entire universe is subject to the slavery of this decay. God has cursed all “the creation” and it all is decaying. Nothing can escape.
The Biblical view of our universe is that sin brought death and decay into “the creation.” God subjected his creation to the results of sin, and placed all things in slavery to them. The death of stars, the decay of plants, the extinction of animals, the viciousness of war and crime, the violence of tornadoes and earthquakes, the decreasing beauty and strength of our bodies are the undeniable proof that the universe is decaying.
Paul adds that as the whole universe decays it is groaning “as in the pains of childbirth.” Even we who have received the Holy Spirit as the first fruits guarantee of our glorious future now live our days groaning under the burden of the results of sin. We do not hear the groans but God does. Luther said that the universes’ groans are not a language like we speak, but the all-knowing, all hearing God notes the longing of all his creation for liberty from this decay.
The Biblical view of the universe gives us the reason for decay and for the outcries of not only men and women but the universe itself. We are decaying and groaning because of sin. This is the element a non-Biblical view of the universe omits or ignores. Sinful man cries out for the world and everything in it to get better even while he denies the cause and results of it’s not getting better.
Things are not without hope at least for those who take a Biblical view of the universe. Without such a view, there is no hope. The Biblical view is expecting.
Can you image going through childbirth without the expectation of a baby at the end of it all? Here is a fundamental difference between creation and evolution. While both address the universe’s beginnings, only the Biblical view has any expectation for the future result.
Paul saw the day when God would release “the creation” from its bondage to frustration. We live and the universe lives in “the eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” On that day, God will reveal what is hidden in men’s hearts. All creation will know who has clung only to Jesus’ blood and righteousness for forgiveness and salvation; the children of God.
God has adopted us as his children. That adoption is for the sake of Jesus who died on the cross. He suffered under the guilt and pain of our sin but did not see decay in the grave. He rose from the dead. With his resurrection, God promises to redeem our bodies that have decayed.
. The universe as we know it will cease to exist but will continue with us through eternity in perfection as God intended. Only with a Biblical view of the universe and the hope it gives is there any expectation of that redemption. We do not have it yet so that we keep hoping for it. We do not have it yet, so we learn patience in waiting.
In this hope,we were saved by Christ. In this hope we know, “That our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Amen.
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