Chapter 1 Creation Distinguishes God

Scientists have long been at odds with the claims of religion that God is the Creator. But times are changing. In the current Saturday Evening Post (Jan. Feb. 1999, p. 42 ff.), Sharon Begley, in an article entitled "Science Finds God," states that a growing number of scientists are seeing support for a belief in God in their scientific discoveries. She makes this observation:

It turns out that if the constants of nature – unchanging numbers, like the strength of gravity, the charge of an electron, and the mass of a proton – were the tiniest bit different, then atoms would not hold together, stars would not burn, and life would never have made an appearance.

Ms. Begley points out that Allan Sandage, at 72, after a lifetime of studying the stars, and facing such questions as, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" makes this statement:

It was my science that drove me to the conclusion that the world is much more complicated than can be explained by science . . . . It is only through the supernatural that I can understand the mystery of existence.

And the author quotes John Polkinghorne, an Anglican priest, and formerly a distinguished physicist at Cambridge University:

When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly fine-tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

Have you ever spent the night out under the stars? You realized how small you are. Surely, you thought, some intelligent Being must have created all this greatness. These heavenly bodies could not have been set in their perfect order by mere chance. Surely you must have felt as David when he said, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man . . . ?" (Psalm 8:3,4). And David recognized that God’s abilities are not limited as are those of man. For he said this about God: "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name" (Psalm 147:4).

In the morning after your night under the stars you heard the birds singing, and you remembered that in your Anatomy class you learned how cleverly your ability to hear had been arranged. And then you looked around in the light of a new day, and you realized what a marvelous provision Someone had made to enable you to see where you are going, and all the beauty on the way. It was a very wise man who said, "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made both of them" (Proverbs 20:12).

Of course, the ear by itself does not hear. And the eye by itself does not see. For us to actually hear and see, messages must be sent to the brain. There the impressions of sound and sight are recorded and interpreted. Some impressions are deeper than others. Some "pictures" will be remembered for a lifetime, while others soon fade away. God has made the brain far more complex than any man-made computer. And while scientists know a great deal about the construction of the brain; the ability of the mind to interpret, to sort, and to choose is a mystery. This is God’s great gift to us. How it all works? That is His secret. Certainly we must agree with David’s declaration: "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).

We who believe the Bible to be God’s word agree with the assessments of David and Solomon relative to God’s marvelous creative power. For that reason we are called Creationists, as distinguished from Evolutionists. We believe that in six literal days God created the world by His spoken word, because the Bible tells us that is how it was. We believe in creation for another reason: it is reasonable. We recognize that our faith cannot be adequately based on reason alone; still it must make sense. We believe creationism to be vastly more reasonable than the theory of origins by organic evolution.

While a detailed discussion of the respective merits of Creationism and Evolution is outside the purpose of this work, and indeed beyond the ability of the writer, it seems profitable for us to consider just a few observations concerning the very clear division between animals and man. Numerous things set mankind completely apart from other creatures: Human beings have a natural sense of morality – of right and wrong. We feel the need to be modest, to wear clothing. We try to show courtesy and kindness to each other. We feel we must be fair in our dealings. Humans have the ability to handle abstract thoughts, to set goals, to become educated, to lay plans and to carry them out.

People can paint pictures, write music and poetry, and build skyscrapers. We manufacture and drive automobiles, trains, boats, and airplanes. We telephone across the world. We print books and read them. We build, program, and operate computers. Evolution can never bridge the gap between animals and man.

Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator, -- individuality, power to think and to do (Ellen G. White, Education, Mountain View, California: Pacific Press, 1903, 17).

In view of the above and many similar considerations, the Christian’s faith accepts the premise of creation by divine fiat as the factual explanation of the origin of the universe. The writer of the book of Hebrews states it thus: "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:3).

The Old Testament and the New Testament both express clearly that God has a right to expect our worship and praise because He made us, and we belong to Him. "For all the Gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens "(Psalm 96:5).

Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise; Be thankful to Him, and bless His name (Psalm 100:3,4).

How grateful we Christians are for the plan of redemption! We stand in awe at the foot of the cross. It is thrilling to recognize at this point that the purpose of salvation is to fulfill God’s purpose in creation. Sin has derailed this world from the track of God’s original plan. We praise God that on Calvary’s cross Jesus paid the cost of putting the world back on Creation’s holy track:

To restore in man the image of His Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized, -- this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life (White, Education, 15,16).

Near the close of the New Testament, in the very last book of the Bible, when the story of redemption is nearly completed, the book of Revelation carries us back to the great truth that God is worthy of our worship because He is our Creator: "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For you created all things, And by your will they exist and were created" (Revelation 4:11).

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