My ways are perfect, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who has sent me.
As the Father has the power to give life, so the Son has the gift of life, and has been given the authority to execute judgment, because he is the Messiah, the Son of Man."
--Jesus
If you think Jesus Christ is just your ordinary, run of the mill Messiah, think again as Apostle Paul paints this powerful portrait of another dimension:
"God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things
were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Letter to the Colossian Church
Jesus never disclosed any of what Paul claims of Him. At least not as recorded by his closest companions. Where then did Paul get the information and what qualifies him to make this astounding claim about Jesus Christ's involvement in the creation of all things?
Jesus was indeed unequivocal in his claim that he existed before ancient Abraham and that he and the Father/Creator are One. The apostle John, Jesus' closest earthly companion, opened his gospel by echoing the book of Genesis' mystical window into Creation:
In The Beginning...
But John turns his focus from physical creation to the Idea behind creation: The Word Made Flesh, Incarnate God. He reports that the things Jesus taught and did, even in His temporary visit to this planet, would fill more than the world could hold! Surely Jesus disclosed secret things to his closest companions that he knew one day would be proclaimed from the housetops. Things that these unsophisticated youngsters would have to ponder for many years in order to grip the magnitude of His claims! The Battle for Creation Theory Supremacy
A friend related how his pastor started a teaching series on his five year long study of the "flat earth" theory. The underlying inference, of course, is that "science" has set out to dupe people into mistrusting the Bible record. And as usually happens in these situations, essentially guaranteed discord in the body. One family left the fellowship.
Young Earth/Old Earth/Creation/Evolution?
A recent headline reported that a Minnesota congressman said the earth is only 9,000 years old (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/house-science-member-says-earth-is-9000-years-old/). This illustrates that the debate and accusations between evolutionists and creationists going back decades is alive and well today. Hugh Ross, Christian apologist, astrophysicist, author and scientist, attempts to put the animosity in perspective: "To sum up, many young-earth creationist leaders consider anyone who disagrees with their particular doctrine as a dangerous enemy that must be strenuously opposed until their credibility is destroyed. On the other end of the creation/evolution spectrum, British biologist Richard Dawkins in his book The God Delusion asserts that faith is fundamentally evil. He describes belief in God as a mental virus. The back cover of his book claims that “faith is not just irrational but potentially deadly.” More Than A Theory, Ross, Hugh.
What Would Jesus Explain (WWJE)
Since Jesus is the Ultimate Life Giver and the Perfect Revelation of God to man what has he given mankind that can help solve this conflict? More importantly, is it even possible to find harmony between scripture and science, faith and facts?
First of all He created us to know. Self-consciousness, reason and will sets us apart from all the created order. We are at history's apex of man's ability to know through revelation and discovery. But knowledge alone doesn't always lead to understanding.
Hugh Ross believes that modern science is more interested in the what and how rather than the why of how the universe came to be. In that he echoes George MacDonald's view that science can never explain God because it never focuses on the why or the truth of a thing. Botanist, for example, can tell you the parts of a flower and all its attributes but they can never explain what in the nature of a flower explains some aspect of God's character, meaning or purpose.
Ross explains why the Bible offers the best model to paint the creation picture:
"Constructing a good model to explain the origin and history of the universe and life also requires a well-built structure that can withstand attacks. Over fifty years ago British cosmologist Sir Fred Hoyle, though much opposed to the Christian faith, conceded that the Bible offered a worthy cosmological foundation. He wrote, “There is a good deal of cosmology in the Bible. . . . It is a remarkable conception.”1
While the Bible is not a scientific textbook, it contains a great quantity of information about the origin, structure, and history of the universe and life—more than any other religious text (see table 5.2, p. 61). These descriptions also uniquely predict scientific discoveries thousands of years ahead of time. Furthermore, the Bible frequently exhorts readers to discover the Creator’s handiwork in nature, referring to it as a second and complementary revelation from him. This surpassingly abundant commentary on the natural realm makes the Bible the best possible choice on which to erect a theistic model—one that is scientifically testable." More Than A Theory, Ross, Hugh, pg 71 (emphasis added)
Earth: A Unique Observation Deck
Psalm 19:1–3 describes one of God’s key purposes for creating the heavens: to make his existence and attributes visible to every human being. Once again, the Bible foretold what science discovered.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.According to Ross and his team of scientists, the Creator placed mankind at the just right place and time period to observe, know and understand His awesome Creation! He explains why:
"Throughout the history of the universe, the speed of light has exceeded the speed of cosmic expansion. Thus the proportion of history visible to Earth-bound spectators has increased over time. Eventually the entire history of the cosmos became visible. But it won’t be for long. As the cosmos ages, dark energy causes the universe’s expansion to speed up. It has already accelerated so much that objects formed immediately after the creation event are moving away from human observers at nearly the velocity of light. Someday dark energy will cause the expansion to accelerate beyond light’s velocity. Then distant objects will no longer be visible from Earth’s vantage point. As the universe expands at progressively faster rates under the influence of dark energy, researchers will see increasingly less of cosmic history. Humanity lives at the only moment in cosmic history when the first stars, galaxies, and even cosmic background radiation can be observed. According to the Bible and RTB’s creation model, the Creator perfectly timed humanity’s arrival in cosmic history to facilitate discovery of his existence and attributes through observation and consideration of the heavens (see Ps. 19:1–4; 50:6; 97:6; Rom. 1:18–20)." Ibid.
Perfect place.
Ross explains the uniqueness of mankind's observation point:
"At any other location in the MilkyAnthropic Inequality
Way Galaxy, a spectator’s view would be blocked by gas, dust, nebulae, nearby stars, star clusters, and/or galactic arms. In almost every other medium-large spiral galaxy (the size required for life), nearby galaxies and/or galaxy clusters would obscure the view of a distant universe. In every other location, knowledge of the deep history and structure of the universe remains hidden. Only from Earth can humanity see the magnificence of all cosmic creation." Ibid.
Here's an interesting idea that really puts in perspective God's love affair with Life:
"Brandon Carter, the British mathematician who first used the term “anthropic principle” in the scientific literature, observed a stunning temporal imbalance: the universe took billions of years to prepare for a species with the potential to survive no longer than a few million years. Carter called this imbalance between the minimum possible time required for the emergence of human life and the maximum time span for humanity’s survival, the “anthropic principle inequality.”
Physicists John Barrow and Frank Tipler later showed that this inequality is far more extreme than originally thought. They calculated that human civilization with the benefits of some technology and organized social structure can last no longer than 41,000 years. Furthermore, Barrow and Tipler demonstrated that the inequality exists for any conceivable intelligent physical species under any realistically possible life-support conditions. These conclusions were developed, in part, because it takes at least 9 billion years to form a stable planetary system with the right chemical and physical conditions for life. It takes at least another 4.5 billion years for a planet in that system to accumulate adequate biomass and biodiversity to support an advanced civilization’s activities. The convergence of “just-right” conditions for an advanced species to thrive and civilize in as brief a time as 13.73 billion years reflects extraordinary, even miraculous, efficiency." Ibid.
And you thought culture's preoccupation with "gender inequality" was news...
Just like the Minnesota Congressman, there are many in the Christian community who will chaff (actually get extraordinarily angry) at the idea that the earth and the universe are billions of years old believing it to be an attack on the Bible. This then becomes another litmus test for true discipleship.
A culture that surely has embedded within it Judeo/Christian influences, has certainly seen those influences challenged. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Jesus asked whether he'd find faith on earth when He returned. More importantly, what kind of faith will he find? One, most assuredly, tested and refined.
In all four court judgments, scientific merit set the primary standard. The courts acknowledged that this merit does not mean scientific perfection. If it did, no scientific model or interpretation could be taught. However, creation proponents must demonstrate at least some level of scientific value. Without it, access to the public education science curriculum cannot be justified." Ibid.
The problem, of course, is that not all Christ followers believe in the young earth creationist position. Trying to find consensus on any number of issues, from origins to baptism to atonement to sanctification, can be difficult in the Christian community. That often makes it difficult to make a compelling case for faith in God to a world trying desperately to explain the universe without Him and cares little for His redemptive work in drawing all mankind to Himself.
Hugh Ross makes the case that scientific methodology; i.e., the ability to observe, reason, theorize, test and understand the way things are, has its roots in the Biblical record of God's work in creating the universe and is a gift from God for knowing Him. That the world has successfully excluded the Creator from His creation using the very tools He's given may in fact be part of God's strategy for refining faith!
For which is a more compelling case to an unbelieving world? That the observable universe with consistent application of the laws of physics is a less reliable source of revelation than our ability to interpret and agree on ancient Hebrew and Greek texts? Is our faith really measured in whether we believe that God created the universe in six 24 hour time periods or took eons of time to produce the just right conditions for his crowning achievement: a being independent of Him with the ability to think, reason, and most importantly, love.
Western civilization, built on the foundation of faith in the moral and spiritual bedrock of Scripture's record of God's intervention in all of the created order, is experiencing great turmoil. Science, one of God's great tools for knowing and understanding Him, is being used as a political billy club for all kinds of evil from infanticide to incapacitating economies through fear of global climate catastrophe.
But as the data from the the skies proclaiming the work of his hands, daily pouring forth speech; night after night displaying knowledge, and where this speech and language is being heard and understood, the very science once hijacked to justify evil behavior is being turned on its head. For now we can see inside the womb to follow the development of new life. We can understand the sub-microscopic universe of quantum physics and their constancy of application throughout the observed universe. We can understand the fine-tuning of the universe to prepare a special planet that can literally see the Glory of God from "the beginning..."
Apostle Peter urged Christ followers to always have a "reason for why you believe." A good defense is a great offense. By embracing the harmony of scripture and science we have a special place as Christ followers to get a grip on the Greatness of the One through Whom everything came into existence!
The problem, of course, is that not all Christ followers believe in the young earth creationist position. Trying to find consensus on any number of issues, from origins to baptism to atonement to sanctification, can be difficult in the Christian community. That often makes it difficult to make a compelling case for faith in God to a world trying desperately to explain the universe without Him and cares little for His redemptive work in drawing all mankind to Himself.
Hugh Ross makes the case that scientific methodology; i.e., the ability to observe, reason, theorize, test and understand the way things are, has its roots in the Biblical record of God's work in creating the universe and is a gift from God for knowing Him. That the world has successfully excluded the Creator from His creation using the very tools He's given may in fact be part of God's strategy for refining faith!
For which is a more compelling case to an unbelieving world? That the observable universe with consistent application of the laws of physics is a less reliable source of revelation than our ability to interpret and agree on ancient Hebrew and Greek texts? Is our faith really measured in whether we believe that God created the universe in six 24 hour time periods or took eons of time to produce the just right conditions for his crowning achievement: a being independent of Him with the ability to think, reason, and most importantly, love.
Western civilization, built on the foundation of faith in the moral and spiritual bedrock of Scripture's record of God's intervention in all of the created order, is experiencing great turmoil. Science, one of God's great tools for knowing and understanding Him, is being used as a political billy club for all kinds of evil from infanticide to incapacitating economies through fear of global climate catastrophe.
But as the data from the the skies proclaiming the work of his hands, daily pouring forth speech; night after night displaying knowledge, and where this speech and language is being heard and understood, the very science once hijacked to justify evil behavior is being turned on its head. For now we can see inside the womb to follow the development of new life. We can understand the sub-microscopic universe of quantum physics and their constancy of application throughout the observed universe. We can understand the fine-tuning of the universe to prepare a special planet that can literally see the Glory of God from "the beginning..."
Apostle Peter urged Christ followers to always have a "reason for why you believe." A good defense is a great offense. By embracing the harmony of scripture and science we have a special place as Christ followers to get a grip on the Greatness of the One through Whom everything came into existence!
