The world that God created was very good! No flaws. No strife. No disappointments. No death.
Adam was given the intellect to name every animal and bird God brought before him. That suggests Adam understood their nature and was able to put into words their distinctive characteristics. He witnessed nature functioning in perfect harmony. None of the creatures were on today’s menu. The Lord provided plants for the food of all His creatures. In view of this, it is said that Luther posited it may be better for their overall health if people would limit themselves to a vegetarian diet today. (And all the cattle and chickens said, “Amen!”)
So much of what passes for “settled science” nowadays is far from being either settled or science, especially when it comes to creation. Many of us have been blessed to hear Dr. David Menton and others shine light on the power and glory of God’s design in creation. Interestingly, many who embrace evolution have recently admitted that key aspects of their theory are not holding up. One example of that is in this quote by physics Nobel laureate Robert Laughlin, who has done research on the properties of matter that make life possible: “Evolution by natural selection . . . which Darwin conceived as a great theory has lately come to function as an anti-theory called upon to cover up embarrassing experimental shortcomings and legitimize findings that are at best questionable and at worst even wrong.” (Lennox, John C. Cosmic Chemistry: Do God and Science Mix? Lion Books, 2021, pg. 301)
It is only through the Bible’s account of creation that genuine and helpful insight can be gained through scientific studies of origins, biological activity at molecular (and smaller) levels, a sense of right and wrong, geography, astronomy, and the list goes ever on.
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17 nasb ) The world and everything in it depend on God every second. Gravity, motion, thermodynamics, energy, and so on were initiated by God so that life in this world can thrive. Scientists have observed these things and identified them as laws, but laws, in and of themselves, can’t make anything happen. God designed them, introduced them into His creation, and by His power maintains them. The slightest variation in any of them would render the planet lifeless. When some consider how these and other factors are so finely tuned to make life on earth possible, they exclaim, “Wow! What are the odds?”
In answer to that, some scientists have admitted it would take many more billions of years (than what evolutionists have previously posited) to account for all the improbable factors to come to pass and line up as they have. Others acknowledge that, since the odds are so great, it’s essentially impossible for these things to have happened on their own.
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth. . . . All things were created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16)
We perceive with wonder and delight all that God has created! Even in the context of living after the Fall, God’s handiwork is something at which we marvel. Sunrises and sunsets. Lady slippers and bluebonnets. Babies laughing. Puppies frolicking.
We also rejoice that the same Lord “gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)—a life that will be without sin and its effects.
“ Ah, Lord God ! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
So much of what passes for “settled science” nowadays is far from being either settled or science, especially when it comes to creation.
is pastor of Gift of God Lutheran Church in Mapleton, North Dakota, and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ponsford, Minnesota.