Creation: What MUST We Believe?

We began a series of discussions on creation last night in the college group I teach.  Studying this topic in any capacity must be inherently apologetic, because creation is perhaps the biggest source of contention for the scientific community with the Christian faith, but the beauty of developing our understanding of cosmology from a biblical perspective is that the entire Bible speaks to the important components of creation.  That means Christians aren't restricted to beating our foreheads against Genesis 1 & 2 and trying to build an entire theology around 56 brief verses.

In that regard, in order to properly understand creation's significance, its finer components, and the implications that it holds for us as modern-day followers of Christ, our study of God's work in the beginning must be systematic.

In other words, we must ask the question, "What does the WHOLE BIBLE say about creation?"

For example, when we read Hebrews 11.1-3, we are understanding creation through the lens of faith.  By definition, Biblical faith involves the most solid possible conviction -- not an uncertain "I hope this is true," but a steadfast "I know this is true because God said it was."  God-given assurance of past or future realities is not based on empirical evidence, though it is bolstered by it.

Furthermore, faith enables us to be comfortable with gaps in our understanding and tension between seemingly paradoxical elements, because our faith is primarily in the character of God, not in logic, science, or philosophy (though faith does not by any means exclude these elements).  No one has instructed the mind of God (Isa 40.13), which means that our highly sophisticated schools of thought and study are still substandard to His ways.  And because we were created in His image, by the way, it is only reasonable to conclude that the very tools which naturalists attempt to utilize in dissuading belief in intelligent design are actually God-given.

When we read Colossians 1.11-17 and John 1.1-5, we are understanding creation through the lens that is the person of Jesus Christ.  This is important for two reasons.  One, it clearly points to the fact that Jesus -- God the Son -- was the Person of the divine Trinity Who was responsible for the act of creation.  God the Father ordained, God the Spirit empowered, God the Son orchestrated.  Two, this beautifully illustrates the reality that redemption began at creation.  It was eternally purposed that the One who made all things would die for all things in order that they might be restored.

When we read Psalm 33, we are understanding creation through the lens of the Lord's steadfast love.  All of creation has His attention (33.13-14, 18-19).  All of creation -- including the hearts of men -- was fashioned directly by God (33.15).  In the same way that we love, cherish, preserve, honor, and protect the things we make, God loves, cherishes, preserves, honors, and protects the things HE has made.

When we read Psalm 104, we are understanding creation through the lens of God's divine power (omnipotence).  We understand that God possesses absolute power to create and tear down and sustain.  Furthermore, it is His flawless wisdom (omniscience) that dictated the manner, method, and motive with which He created (104.24).

These are just a few examples, but when we finally backtrack to the actual creation account beginning in Genesis 1, we have these important pillars in place so that we might more deeply understand God’s work of creating all things.  Understood this way, the Genesis account is therefore full of real, concrete, and -- yes! -- even historical detail, as well as personal application.  We can understand what God is doing in the beginning as something that is eternally purposed, as something that impacts our faith in His character, as something that influences our understanding of our own humanness.

We must certainly keep in mind the fact that, as this is an account of the beginning of time and cosmology and nature and reality from a human perspective, there will be things that are incredibly difficult to understand.  This is, after all, the moment of scientific laws being set in place, the open system of the universe being established, the elemental foundations being laid, and the sudden introduction of living, breathing, feeling, thinking, reasoning, growing human beings into reality.  All of this is going to be complex and brain-bending -- even if the Genesis account is the direct word of God given to man.  And it is exactly that!  Far from being a long-handed-down oral tradition among the Hebrews, the Genesis record was the direct result of God's extended conversation with Moses on Sinai, where God personally gave all of the Laws and instructed Moses about Himself.  This is important, because -- unlike the creation myths of various cultures that are kept in oral tradition and are prone to modulate over generations -- this is a stable, directly-from-the-mouth-of-God account of what He did at creation.

Additionally, it's also important to note that every subsequent genre of biblical literature (history, prophecy, poetry, wisdom, epistle, gospel) altogether support the literal Genesis account.  It isn't just the books of poetry, wisdom, or prophecy (which all incorporate lots of metaphor) that line up with a literal reading of Genesis, but the epistles, gospels, books of law, and works of history (which all don't incorporate lots of metaphor) also support a literal reading of Genesis.

So, with all these elements in mind, I think it's important to draw a line in the sand.  Regardless of where you land on the spectrum of creationism, I would strongly argue for six guiding components as the absolutely necessary conclusions (not presuppositions -- we're building this argument off of a systematic, whole-Bible understanding of creation) that must influence your beliefs if they are to truly be considered "Biblical."

1. God created from nothing -- ex nihilo (Job 26.7; Isa 45.18; Rom 4.17; Heb 11.3); only He existed before time, and everything that exists now had its source and beginning in Him
2. God created personally (Isa 66.2; John 1.3; Gen 2.7, 22); God actively created -- whether you think He employed evolutionary devices or that He literally spoke everything into being instantaneously, He must be personally involved
3. God sustains creation (Neh 9.6; Psa 104.27, 30; Isa 42.5; Col 1.17; Heb 1.3); God is still involved in creation, and without His divine influence, it would all collapse; in Him we live, move, and have being (Acts 17.28)
4. God is in control of creation (Psa 148.2-5; Rev 4.11; Job 38-41); God maintains sovereignty over all things; as He made it, He actively directs it
5. God cares deeply for creation (Psa 65.9-13; Matt 6.26; Acts 14.17); God did not act mechanically, nor does He have no regard for human suffering/need
6. God did not need to create man, yet He created us in His image, for His own glory (Psa 8.4; Jas 1.18; Rom 11.36); God did not act under compulsion -- of His own favor and divine Will, He eternally purposed to create and to redeem when what He made would require salvation

Whatever we choose to believe about the literal aspects and mechanics of creation, those beliefs must have both systematic Biblical basis and must point to the magnitude and power and majesty of God. Otherwise, they are biblically unfounded.  I believe the six principles above are quintessential elements of any cosmology that is truly Biblical.  When we abandon these pillars, we make room for all kinds of alternate and contradictory beliefs that undermine not only our understanding of creation, but also our understanding of the person of God Himself.

The big problem with many modern creationist theories and nearly all naturalistic evolutionary models is that they deny entirely God's role and existence, or they detract from God’s glory and instead glorify the system itself.  Neither man nor his habitat deserve this honor.  It is the system -- this glorious, wonderful, intricate system we call reality -- that gives glory to God, because He is the One who made it.  May it never be that we who purport intelligent design begin to tolerate notions that compromise and detract from the majesty of our Divine Father.

The reality that might be uncomfortable to some is that there is room for both Old-Earth and New-Earth theories -- and perhaps even Theistic/Guided Evolutionary models -- in the camp of intelligent-design creationism.  If we are truly wise, we will be willing to admit that we won't fully know what God did at the beginning of time until we see Him face-to-face, and so we must exercise the faith that grounds us in Him as opposed to our own understanding of cosmology.

In the meantime, if we can unite on the above principles and rally around the standard of redemption from sin through the grace of Jesus Christ alone, we can stand united -- even if we disagree on the nuances.  Together, as the church, we can make significant headway in dissuading completely unbiblical cosmology in Christian circles, and -- in so doing -- nurture creationists who can have tremendous impact on modern naturalistic schools of thought.