"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, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator -- who is forever praised. Amen,” [Romans 1:20-25]
“For everything God created is good,” [1 Timothy 4:4]
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the sixth day,” [Genesis 1:31]
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy,” [Genesis 20:9-11]
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” [1 Peter 3:15]
This past week, the neighbor kids and our kids were all playing in our front yard. The kids were in a heated “debate” about how old the earth is. One of the neighbor kids said, “There’s nothing to prove that the earth isn’t millions of years old.” This neighbor actually lives in a Christian home and has gone to church his whole life. My kids were holding the line that the earth is only about 6000 years old. Another kids stood on the sidelines and wondered what the final determination would be. The kid who has gone to church his whole life also said, “There’s really no proof that there’s a heaven, either.” Is the neighbor kid right? And does it really matter how old the earth is? Is there no proof that heaven exists? How do we answer?
My kids know that there is plenty of evidence that God and His word are true, but they also know that we shouldn’t beat people over the head with the truth –we need to teach truth with gentleness and respect. So they looked at me with a look that said, “Hey, dad, help us out here!”
The evidence is not the problem. There is incredible evidence of God’s truth –tremendous and amazing truth that His Word is truth. There is overwhelming evidence in the creation that God is True. It is everywhere: It’s in the incredible mechanisms contained in a single cell, to the information stored in DNA, to the vastness of the universe, to archeological evidence of things happening exactly as the Bible recorded them, to the philosophical proofs that God’s Way really is the best way to live to the geological strata in the earth and fossils that indicate that there was a massive, worldwide flood, to the mathematical impossibility of someone other than Jesus fulfilling over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament with His First Coming, and on and on and on… Let God be true, and every man a liar [Romans 3:4]. There is no problem with evidence, the most remarkable of which is a changed, resurrected life in Christ. The problem is with “interpretation by intent.” In other words, I will force so-called “facts” to conform to my intent. For most of the “scientific” community, the scientific method no longer proves or disproves a hypothesis. Facts are not facts –there is a religion (and remember, religion means ‘slavery’) that says that facts can only be accepted if they fall within the guidelines of the religion. The religion has pre-determined that any facts that might indicate that the Christian God is the Truth must quickly be rejected. To put it in the words of one well-known atheistic scientist: “We want to make sure that Christianity becomes nothing more than something people might do on the weekends if they want.” In other words, God and His Word and His people are not welcome to express themselves anywhere –anywhere, except within the walls of a church building –they believe it should be illegal to share these views in the public sector and certainly within the scientific community. Ben Stein recently put together a movie called “Expelled” to drive this point home. The scientific community has adopted a philosophy that has divorced itself from fact. Upholding this philosophy supersedes whatever evidence might be discovered that might jeopardize this well-tuned philosophy. It’s interesting that many within this camp are quick to point a finger at the church for “condemning” people like Galileo when he made the claim that the traditional view of the earth’s position among the stars and planets may be incorrect. This part of the scientific community becomes rabid when someone suggests that the creation may have actually happened in six literal days –because the evidence supports such a view. The inquisitors are sent and the heretics are (sometimes) given an opportunity to retract the blasphemous suggestions that they have made. Like the dark conditioning that exists among communist regimes, people are not allowed to be part of the party unless they adhere to strict party rules. There is no freedom of thought, or said scientist could be stripped of all of her credentials because she dared to challenge the establishment.
I’ll speak more on this subject next week. But for now, be assured –there is more evidence than you can imagine for a young earth. But again, the problem is not evidence or facts. It’s blind religion that works to enslave the masses -to force them to adhere to a corrupted, man-made view of the world –that’s the problem. If there’s no God… then anything goes…
But Christians know better. We do not belong to religion; we belong to a Risen Savior! He is the One who was there at the very creation of the world and all things were created by Him and for Him and through Him (Colossians 1:16). The Truth has been revealed to us –according to the Father’s will and by the will of the One sent by Him (Matthew 11:25-27; Luke 10:21-22). And the truth has set us free. And when the Son sets us free… we are free indeed! (John 8:36).
More discussion to come…
On the Solid Rock we stand!
George