Creation, Genesis 1-3

Wow. Creation and the fall of man, all in one day. That's alot of ground to cover, but some really important topics that deserve attention. Obviously, these two major tenets of the faith have been debated by scholars far more worthy than myself, so please put my thoughts and opinions in the proper perspective. If you've heard of "apologetics" which means "defense of the faith", that's my angle. I want to really know what I believe and I wrestle with things that don't make sense at face value. But as much as I want to understand it all, there is a great amount of the Faith, and of the Bible specifically, that is not meant to be fully understood by our finite minds. One day it will all make sense, and that is enough for many people (like my husband). I think faith like that is a gift. But for those like me who struggle to work out the difficulties, a good verse to commit to memory is from 1st Corinmthians 13:12. It reads, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known".

All that said, here goes my attempt to consolidate what I have read regarding the debate between evolution and creation. Scientific theories are always changing, and though taught as fact, are filled with plenty of holes. Faith is required to accomodate either theory...creation or evolution. Though atheists have grabbed hold of the theory of evolution as a means of discounting the existence of God, Darwin himself believed that a creating God was necessary to explain the existence of the primordial ooze from which he believed all life originated. Despite the basic discrepancy regarding the involvement of a creator, there are many areas of agreement between science and creation. The science of astronomy maintains that the earth had a beginning; geology holds that life began in the sea with lower life forms appearing first and man being the most recent; physics (specifically the law of thermodynamics) teaches that the world is running out of energy and therefore is not eternal and therefore had a beginning; biology teaches that creatures reproduce their own kind (this is consistent with fossil records which do not support macro-evolution from species to species...still looking for the "missing links"); anthropology asserts that there is only one race of mankind, having one common ancestor; and finally mathematics, through the law of probability, confirms that the chance of life beginning spontaneously is ridiculously small. I've seen many different numbers, but I've always found it most easily understood by the analogy of a tornado blowing through a junkyard, resulting in the creation of a 747 jet. My father-in-law likes to use the analogy of a man stumbling upon a watch in a field. That man would never suppose that the watch was self-existent but that a watch-maker had been responsible for it's creation. We'll all have different opinions on the particulars of creation, but what is essential is a belief in a sovereign Creator. When we view the complexity and majesty of this world and all that's in it, our only response should be reverent worship. Trying to understand it is fine, but in doing so, we cannot give credit to any other process than creation. The "Big Bang" theory that we were taught in school, is neither logical nor consistent with the Bible. Many things are open to interpretation, but that fact is not.

If you have accepted the fact that the earth was created intentionally, as opposed to happening by random and improbable chance, there is still room for debate about the time span involved in creation. Was it seven 24-hour days as we understand them? The text certainly reads that way, as it says "there was evening and there was morning" in reference to each day of creation. However, the Hebrew word for "day" is used in other places to mean longer periods of time. Second Peter 3:8 reads "a day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years is like a day". Were the days merely intended to indicate stages of creation; a sequence rather than time-line? According to one of my resource books, the Hebrew translation did not include the definite article "the" before references such as "on the first day" or "on the second day". It actually should be read "on a first day", "on a second day", etc., meaning that there could be gaps between the days of creation. Could the author (Moses) have used "days" as a means of simplifying a very complex process? If you hold to the literal, 24-hour day interpretation, it is still somewhat unclear how old the earth is due to gaps in the genealogical record but conservative scholars place the earth's age somewhere between 4000 and 6000 years. Bear in mind though, that even if the world is only a few thousand years old, God created a "mature" earth. Trees were full grown and already producing seeds of their own kind, Adam was a full grown man, animals were presumably not babies, as they had no parents to care for them. God could have created the earth however old He wanted to, so the age of the earth cannot really be used to discredit the Biblical account, even taken in its most literal sense. Again, the important point to make is that God created all that was made. How long ago is a non-essential, though very interesting, topic of discussion.

I promise I won't always write this much, as I know this has been more of a time commitment than the actual scripture reading! In fact, I'm going to skip discussion on the fall of man altogether, as the New Year's ball is dropping in one hour! Happy 2010 to all of you and happy reading!

Tomorrow's scripture readings: Genesis 4 thru 6

About Melissa Gibbs:

Melissa is the mother of four boys and the wife of her junior high sweetheart, JD.  He is the President of Joe Gibbs Racing and the son of NFL Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs.  JD and Melissa have been married 16 years and are actively involved with Young Life, Motor Racing Outreach, their church, and other ministries.  Their youngest son Taylor is nearing completion of a 3 year treatment protocol for leukemia, which has been a powerful faith walk for their family.  Since his diagnosis, Melissa has been called upon to share their family's testimony with many local churches. Much of her energy is now focused on a huge festival planned for mid May in celebration of Taylor's victory over leukemia and in effort to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer.  If you'd like to check out what she's up to while not blogging, go to www.finishlinefestival.com.

Visit Melissa at http://chronologicalbiblein2010.blogspot.com/.