“I Believe-A Sermon Series on the Apostles’ Creed
“Designer Genes” (”Maker of Heaven and Earth”) -Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
Newsweek magazine ran an article about the controversy over Creation vs. Evolution. In response, a letter to the editor offered this observation: “While physicists are probing and deciphering the secrets of the universe, a higher question yet remains: why does the universe exist?” This is most important; we may argue over how things came to be, but there remains a greater question—why things came to be.
If our world is the result of chance; in other words, if life came about by accident, then life is devoid of meaning. This is the central teaching of the book of Ecclesiastes—if there is no Creator, and if life is simply the result of random molecules happening to mix and form life, then our existence is pointless, meaningless, and we are trapped in the chaos of an insignificant, futile life. Sounds pitiful? It is. For anyone who rejects belief in God as Creator, the only logical outcome is despair.
Let’s take this scenario one step further: If there is no Creator of heaven and earth, it matters not how we live. Without purpose (causality), there can be no basis for values or ethics. Any rules or laws we devise become arbitrary, without moral authority to back them up. If life is an accident, how we treat others and the planet no longer matters. There’s no way to determine whether we should help an elderly person across the street, or run them over in our car. If there is no purpose for life, then we’re free to “do our own thing”. The motto of our times has become: “Question Authority and Challenge Everything”.
Let’s apply this to medical ethics. We question the morality of genetic engineering, of cloning, of surrogate mothers, of abortion and euthanasia. As Christians, we claim that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and how we treat them matters. We believe all human life is sacred. But if life is merely an accident, the only question regarding any medical procedure or experiment is: “If it can be done, why not?” Not “should we do this?” but “can we do this?”
This past week I heard expressed on Talk Radio moral outrage over an alleged White House leak regarding a CIA Operative, and outrage over local blue laws in Boston forcing bars to close at 2 am. What could these 2 issues possibly have in common?
The matter is one of morality. If we assume there is an external, absolute standard, then it matters what we believe and how we live. If not—if life is just a cosmic accident, than nothing matters, and anarchy is OK—it’s all we have left. We lose any basis for human law other than maintaining order. If “right and wrong” are true concepts, then we should seek divine guidance to determine how to govern. We can learn whether compromising national security or allowing unrestricted access to bars is OK or not. If there is no Creator, then anything is permissible, and morality is just an outdated mistake. Even our thoughts are accidents--they are the result of a chance movement of atoms. Sound depressing? There is an alternative view…
In the opening pages of the Bible, we are confronted with God speaking the world into being. From nothingness came order; but it didn’t “just happen”. In Creation we see the triumph of God over the forces of chaos. The author of Hebrews states, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (11:3).
Human dignity and worth rides on whether God is the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Without a Creator, we are nothing more than smart animals. History shows how godless people have used and abused others. Scripture tells us that we are fashioned in God’s image, that we have a genetic mark of divinity on us. We innately know that we possess souls, that life is more than mere existence; we have purpose because God is causing us to grow and is preparing us for a life beyond this life. But if there is no Creator, then any thoughts regarding the value of human life are nonsense, wishful thinking. How did our complex genetic code originate? Creationists believe in “designer genes”.
We who believe in Creation have a reason to respect the sanctity of human life; we have a reason to love and respect others. For example…
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlin served as Commanding General of the 20th Maine during the Civil War, renowned for his heroism at Gettysburg. He attended seminary to be a Congregational minister, but instead became a professor at Bowdoin College. Chamberlin volunteered to serve in the Union Army largely over the issue of slavery, which he called the worst cause ever fought for: “Slavery and freedom cannot live together”. He said that when he saw another human being, regardless of race, he saw the spark of divinity within.
Those who accept the Apostles Creed uphold that human life has been fashioned by the work of God, the Father Almighty. Vincent van Gogh observed, “God is more of an artist than the artists; He works in the living spirit and the living flesh; He makes men instead of statues.” Last weekend Laura and I celebrated her birthday in New Hampshire. We watched the sun rise over Lake Winnepesaukee; we saw the changing colors in the sky blend with the autumn colors on the shore, and the light upon the water; then came a light snowfall. It was stunning; a marvelous sight and a moving experience. We looked at the wonder of this world, and knew Who to thank.
Human life reveals evidence of an intelligent construct. Yet Darwin’s goal was to exclude God as the explanation accounting for the design of organisms. It takes more faith to regard the complexity of life as an accident, than to say that Someone planned it. The more statistically improbable the formation of life is, the less likely it came about by blind chance. The key question is, how did something come from nothing? We may wonder how God turned nothing into something, but that is more reasonable than to say that nothing should turn itself into anything. How did life come from non-living material? What started it all?
In a weekly quiz for a 9th Grade Earth Science class, a question read, “Where did the earth come from?” A student answered, “God created it”, and got 20 points taken off his grade. The expected answer was the “big bang”. But how did the “big bang” get started? What caused the “big bang”? One of my favorite quotes concerning this debate comes from a Rabbi, who suggested that, “The ‘big-bang’ theory may be valid, but we theists insist that there was a ‘big-banger’.” This theory points to the fact that the universe had a beginning, just as the Bible teaches, but Creation was no accident. I don’t have enough faith to believe in random, chance evolution. The design of our world and the complexity of human life points to an intelligent Designer. And if so, this means we are accountable to our Creator, something many people would rather steer clear of…because if God is Creator, it matters how we live.
Every significant teaching of the Bible—God’s love, forgiveness, grace, atonement—and everything listed in the Apostles Creed—are rooted in Creation. Long before Einstein’s theory of the relativity of time and space, long before any notion of a Big Bang origin of the universe, the New Testament writers declared these truths as, quite literally, timeless. The foundation of our faith is in the knowledge that God made the earth, and that history is “His story”.
We may not agree on the details of how life came about, but hopefully we agree on Who and Why. Why are we here? To fulfill God’s plan for our lives; to know God, and live for Him, for our good and His glory. We have much reason for optimism if God is indeed the Maker. This means He has a plan. He is directing human history, and we can trust His promises for our future. We’re included in His plan. We believe in God the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth. He is the Lord of Creation!
