Biblical Worldview - Part 3 - What is the Origin and Nature of the Universe?
By Ben Quine
****The way we act is shaped by the way we look at the world. Our lives are shaped by our basic assumptions and convictions. These Worldview Articles will explore what a “worldview” is. Each person has a worldview, whether they know it or not, and it determines every decision and choice a person makes. Do you have a Biblical Worldview or are factors other than the Bible informing your choices and decisions. In this series of articles, we will take an in-depth look at 7 Vital Worldview Questions, as the starting place for building a Biblical Worldview. (These articles are adapted from David Quine’s Answers for Difficult Days “Seven Vital Worldview Questions.” David is Ben’s father and the founder of Cornerstone Curriculum a Biblically based Homeschool Curriculum.)
“Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?” From ordinary people to famous philosophers, everyone has wrestled with questions of origin. In fact, every culture, every religion, and every worldview has attempted to answer questions of origin.
Our lives are shaped by our basic set of beliefs, called a worldview. Those beliefs may be based on truth, or they may not. They may lead to inconvenience, or they may mean the difference between life and death. Most people have never seriously considered their basic beliefs, having simply absorbed them from family and culture.
Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 are essential to understanding God, the Bible, and our lives, because they give the answer to origins. But the answer starts with the Trinity:
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)
It is important to remember that before creation, God already existed — not a solitary God — but a Trinity!
He was already in fellowship, He was already showing love, He was already acting with thought, communication, and relationship.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
The first verse of the Bible teaches, that at this moment, God created time (“in the beginning”), He created space (“the heavens”), and He created matter (“the earth”).
This was not a Big Bang, where all of the matter of the universe was already present and compacted into a tiny dot, which suddenly exploded outward.
No, this was the eternal God, the uncaused cause of the universe, bringing everything that is into existence out of nothing.
“In the beginning” is a technical term stating the fact that at this particular point of the sequence, there is a creation ex nihilo — a creation out of nothing. All that is, except for God Himself who already has been, now comes into existence. Before this, there was a personal existence — love and communication. Prior to the material universe (whether we think of it as mass or energy), prior to the creation of all else, there was love and communication.
This means that love and communication are intrinsic. Hence, when Modern man screams for love and communication (as he so frequently does), Christians have an answer: There is value to love and value to communication because it is rooted in what intrinsically always has been. (Francis A. Schaeffer)
It is easy to forget the significance of Genesis 1:1, but the Bible’s teaching on origin is utterly unique:
“No other cosmogony, whether in ancient paganism or modern naturalism, even mentions the absolute origin of the universe. All begin with the space/time/matter universe, already existing in a primeval state of chaos, then attempt to speculate how it might have “evolved” into its present form. Modern evolutionism begins with elementary particles of matter evolving out of nothing in a “big bang” and then developing through natural forces into complex systems. Pagan pantheism also begins with elementary matter in various forms evolving into complex systems by the forces of nature, personified as different gods and goddesses. But, very significantly, the concept of the special creation of the universe of space and time itself is found nowhere in all religion or philosophy, ancient or modern, except here in Genesis 1:1.” (Henry Morris)
The earth was initially formless, but God, a God of order, was about to instill order into the universe.
“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2)
This order is the foundation of modern science. Furthermore, God ordered the Earth such that it is fine-tuned for life — Earth’s location, atmosphere, distance from the moon, and thickness of crust (not to mention thousands of other important attributes!) are all ideal for plant and animal life. God created light, liquid water, and food necessary for life. The earth is the only environment we know of that is suitable for life.
“And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” (Genesis 1:5)
It is clear from Scripture that the “days” of creation, refer to literal 24-hour periods. Day is defined directly in the text as the time from one evening to the next evening. God didn’t need a longer time to create and organize. Evolution requires massively extended periods of time in its attempt to compensate for the statistical impossibility of life coming from chaos. No, God could have done it all in an instant, but as the creative artist that He is, He even organized His process of creation into days! Furthermore, after the sun was created on day four, Genesis continues to use exactly the same phrase to talk about days — where sunrise and sunset connote 24 hours.
“The word yom in the Old Testament almost always is used in this natural way and is never used to mean any other definite time period than a literal day. This becomes especially clear when it is combined with a number (“first day”) or with definite bounds (“evening and morning”), neither of which usages in the Old Testament allow non-literal meanings. It is occasionally, though rarely, used symbolically or in the sense of indefinite time ("the day of the Lord”), but such usage (as in English or other languages) is always evident from the context itself. Thus the so-called day-age theory, by which the days of creation are assumed to correspond to the ages of geology, is precluded by this definitive use of the word in its first occurrence, God Himself defining it!” (Henry Morris Study Bible)
There is no need for any time gaps in Genesis Chapter 1 because God created a mature universe. He created soil that was ready to produce (1:11); it didn’t gradually develop from decaying rock. He created animals and humans in maturity (1:20-21, 1:26-27); they didn’t hatch from eggs or start as babies. He created plants and trees already yielding seed, not grown from seeds (1:12). He created stars with light trails so that they could be seen (1:16-17). God even communicated with Adam in mature language, not caveman gibberish (2:16-17).
God’s universe was fully functional from the very start.
There are some important details to notice in the order God chose to create: God created by locations, not from the simple to the complex. He formed the sea and sky on day two, then on day five created all the animals to fill the sea and sky (fish and birds). He formed the surface of the earth on day three, and on day six created the animals that live on the surface of the earth.
Thus by God’s design, He made all of the plants before any animals and even before the sun!
He also created birds at the same time as fish, and before any land animals. These details (and many others) are completely irreconcilable with evolutionary theory.
“…according to its kind” (ten times in Genesis Chapter 1)
God repeats the phrase “according to its kind” ten times in this first chapter, to emphasize the fact that there has been no evolutionary transformation from one kind into another. God’s genetic codes allow for wide variation within kinds, but no transformation between kinds in plants or animals.
Genesis uses the word “created” to highlight three levels of creation:
First, God created everything out of nothing (Genesis 1:1). Next, He created animals, or conscious life (Genesis 1:21 — “soul” encompasses mind [to think], emotions [to feel], and will [to act]). Finally, Genesis repeats the word “created” three times (Genesis 1:27), to emphasize the importance of humanity.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”(Genesis 1:26-27)
These verses are some of the most important in all of Scripture. Plants have a body. Animals have a body and a soul. But humans have a body, a soul, and a spirit, the capability for fellowship with God! (I Thessalonians 5:23)
Humans are like God, but we are NOT God. We are designed to advertise deity, to show creation what God is like; we are to reflect the image of God by creating and exercising dominion; we are to love God and relate to Him morally; God Himself would one day become a man and inhabit a human body.
Ben Quine is Vice President of Christians Engaged and is the Director of Curriculum Development and Strategic Ministry Partnerships.
Learn more about Ben on our website: christiansengaged.org/leadership
Find Ben’s corresponding “Answers for Difficult Days” books in our Christians Engaged Store