It is popular with churches today to make God an illogical magician who
“speaks” something into existence by a zapping process that occurs with
no natural process of any kind involved. It is assumed, for example,
that when Genesis 1:3 tells us that
God said, “Let there be light” that
there were no chemical or physical processes involved. The assumption
is that the production of light was not because of the change in the
energy of an electron, but that the process was totally mystical. A
frequently quoted passage is Psalm 148:5
“for he commanded and they
were created” referring to the sun and moon. Again the assumption is
that no natural process was involved, but that they miraculously
appeared. As astronomers study the Sun and Moon and other objects in
space, they see processes that seem to explain how such objects are
created even as we watch, and for some this becomes a basis of
atheistic beliefs.
Believing that God zaps things into existence is popular to some folks.
It is attractive because it requires no thought or understanding on our
part. Some people think that if you believe God used logical,
mathematical laws and methods to produce the cosmos, then God and His
attributes are reduced in some way. This makes faith a blind
acceptance. You either believe God miraculously spoke everything into
existence with no method or technique involved or you reject God as the
Creator.
This is a choice most young people reject. God has never
called man to blind acceptance. Psalm
19:1 tells us “The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”
(NIV). A work can be seen, admired, studied, and understood. When I see
a beautiful garden I know that someone has used skill, patience,
understanding, and knowledge to make that garden. When the Garden of
Eden is described in Genesis 2:8 –10,
the
language certainly does not
sound as though God zapped it into existence. “Now the LORD God had
planted a garden in the east, in Eden; … And the LORD God made all
kinds of trees to grow out of the ground … A river watering the Garden
flowed from Eden; … .” Romans 1:20
calls man to see God’s creative
skill,“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 … .” In Isaiah 40:26 we
read “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He
who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by
name.” In Isaiah 45:18 we read “he
who fashioned and made the earth, he
founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be
inhabited.” The wording of these passages suggests working, fashioning,
and designing.
One of the most interesting passages in this subject area is Proverbs 8
which deals directly with God’s methods. The passage is about wisdom
and incorporates wisdom’s role in the creation process. I would suggest
it is a biblical injunction to intelligent design. Verse 1 begins by
emphasizing the role of wisdom and understanding. “Does not wisdom call
out? Does not understanding raise her voice?” In verses 4 – 6 God calls
man to use wisdom to understand. “To you, O men, I call out; I raise my
voice to mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are
foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say.”
God is not a God of ignorance or illogical understanding. The creation
and the world we live in makes sense.
Wisdom is imbedded in God’s creative process. Verse 22 tells us that
before anything was created God used wisdom to do His will. “The LORD
possessed me at the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old. I
was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world
began.” God existed before there was space, time, energy, or matter,
and wisdom was a part of all He did with these quantities. In John
17:24 Jesus tells us that God loved
Him “before the creation of the
world” and 1 Peter 1:20 tells us
Jesus was chosen then as well.
Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God
chose those who would obey Him “before
the creation of the world” (not individually, but as a group). Second
Timothy 1:9 and Titus 1:2 repeat
this.
Proverbs 8:23
tells us that God used wisdom in the
quantum mechanical world — the material and energy that would be used
to form the world. Verse 24
tells us that all water systems, the basis
of life depend on wisdom. Verse 25
tells us that mountains and hills
are designed with resources for man with wisdom. Verse 26 reminds us
that the earth’s fields, soils, and nutrient systems demand wisdom.
Verses 27 – 28 indicate that
wisdom was involved in the formation of
the atmosphere. In verse 29 we
see boundaries to the sea and the land
had to be done with wisdom. Verses
30 – 31 tell us that wisdom is God’s
craftsman — the tool of design. “I (wisdom) was the craftsman at his
side.” This whole section of Proverbs gives emphasis to God’s technique
being a process of crafting, using wisdom, bringing power and
intelligence to all we see in the creation.
Biblical words used to describe God’s actions always use
a process, not a magician’s touch, to describe what is being formed. In
Genesis 2:7 we read “The LORD God
formed (yatshir) man of the dust … .”
This word is used to describe what a potter does with clay. There could
be a variety of understandings as to what method God used, but whether
you see someone molding and shaping a body directly out of clay or a
progressive act of naturally shaping a body, a process is involved.
Genesis 2:8 tells us, “Now the
LORD God had planted a garden … .” In
Genesis 2:9 “the LORD God made
all kinds of trees …” again implies a
process. When the Bible describes the processes used to produce the
cosmos we are told numerous times that the cosmos was stretched out.
The Hebrew word used to explain this is “natah” which indicates an
action like pulling the cord on an outboard motor. Passages that use
this word are Isaiah 40:22; 42:5; 44:24;
45:12; 48:13; 51:13; Job
9:8;
Psalm 104:2; Jeremiah 10:12; 51:15; Zechariah 12:1; and Job 37:18.
In Genesis
2:3 at the close of the creation chapter of Genesis 1 we are
told that these are the things the Lord “God created and made” (KJV).
The words bara (create) and asah (make) are both used here and indicate
both a miraculous act of God and a natural process which God directed
have been used in the creation of all we see. Bara is only used three
times in Genesis 1, in verses 1, 21, and
27. The indication is that
most of what God did in preparing the earth for man happened by natural
processes that we can understand. Proverbs 8 tells us that wisdom was a
major player in this process, and even with our limited ability to
understand we can marvel at the wisdom and creative intelligence that
we see all around us.
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Does God Exist? JanFeb11.