“In The Beginning”
Genesis 1:1-11
Introduction to Series:
Play opening of X-Files clip: {“Are you familiar with the so-called X-Files?” Agent Scully replies, “I believe they are unexplained phenomenon.”}
That lays the foundation for the television show The X-Files. Each week, starting in 1993, Agents Muldar and Scully came into our living rooms, studying and contending with some of the most bizarre stories, cases that they could not explain rationally but that always taught them something. The X-files became a huge cultural hit and remains so for many.
Well, for the next four weeks we want to look at God’s X-files. Some of the places in Scripture where God works in the area of “unexplained phenomenon.” God often uses things that are unexplainable to inform or help us understand who He is and what He wants for us. Next week we will look at the “Crossing of the Red Sea,” where close to 3 million Israelites passed on dry land, through a body of water that should of been uncrossable. Then in two weeks we’ll look at one of the most bizarre happenings in Scripture... a man who’s donkey actually speaks to him! And this is no animated tale but real life! In three weeks we will study the story of a man who was reportedly swallowed by a huge fish... and lived to tell about it. As we investigate these stories my hope is that we will see, through unexplained phenomenon, God’s unique desire for each of us. My prayer is that in the next 4 weeks your minds will be stimulated and your hearts brought closer to Him through God’s X-Files. Prayer
Introduction to Sermon:
In the 70’s the sitcom All in the Family broke new ground. The Bunker family talked very openly about issues that had not been previously talked about on TV. For example there is an episode where Archie and Edith are having a discussion about God and Mike, their openly atheistic son-in-law, asked the question, “What God.” Archie is just about to respond when his own daughter, Gloria, says, “Yeah, what God.” Archie can’t believe his ears. He knew his son-in-law was an atheist, but he could not believe his daughter said such a thing. He looks at her and says, “Yous wern’t brought up that way little girl!” To which she responds, “I know Daddy, but we just don’t see any evidence of God.”
A recent Gallop poll found that 47% of Americans do, in fact they hold a strict creationist view, that God created man pretty much in his present form within the last 10,000 years. Some 30% believe in some combination of evolution and creationism, where God was involved. Only 9% of Americans believe in strict evolution. And yet, in our colleges, universities, most public schools & state parks evolution is not taught as theory but as fact. What should we believe? And then maybe the tougher question, “Does what we believe really make a difference?” Let’s look at maybe the ultimate X-File in terms of unexplained phenomenon.. The Bible would have us accept that God took absolutely nothing and made the earth and all that is in it. That’s what Psalm 24:1 says: “The earth and everything it contains are the LORD’s. The world and all who live in it are his. He laid its foundation...”(GW)
I. THE CHANGE: From Creation to...
Creation of life by God had been the prevailing theory of origins until the 1800’s. All European scientists from Galileo to Newton accepted the literal interpretation of Genesis and believed Genesis 1: “In the beginning God created..” But in the mid 1800’s some geologists began to question the Creation story. Friction came to a head when Charles Darwin wrote his now famous book: The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Darwin’s theories were not readily accepted and in fact in 1925 a man by the name of John Scopes, a biology teacher, began teaching evolution in his class in Dayton, TN. At that time, much like today, but in reverse, it was unlawful to teach anything but creation. The trial ended with Scopes losing, still lawfully unable to teach evolution, but it opened the door for an entire different theory of man’s beginnings. 25 years later, in the late 1950’s the National Science Foundation funded the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study which was instrumental in emphasizing the theory of evolution in high school biology textbooks. In less than 10 years biology, as it was instructed in public schools, was framed explicitly in evolutionary terms. Don’t get caught down in the details but just realize that it only took about 40 years to go from “Creation only” to “Evolution only” after the Scopes trial. Indeed in 1968 the late historian, Richard Hofstaedter wrote: “At this time opposition to evolution seems only a very distant memory.”
Recently different states, like Kansas, have tried to reinsert Creation has a plausible curriculum but have been defeated and evolution is by far the choice we are given to explain the beginnings of man. But actually there are a number of theories out there. Some plausible, some not. There are what I might call the “Big Two” - Life was created by an intelligent being, God. And evolution - life was created by chance and then natural selection took over becoming responsible for all the complexities we have today. Another theory is called “Cosmic intervention.” This proposes that aliens landed here billions of years ago and planted the seeds of life, then left our planet allowing life to find a way. This theory does not explain where the aliens came from but Agent Muldar from X-Files would be proud. Or, more recently some NASA scientists believe that a meteor from outer space with the genetics of life could of landed on hot, humid earth and started mankind. There are other more radical ideas.
For example, in Time Magazine in 1993 it was thought that life began around “smokers” from volcanic vents deep within the ocean. There is no explanation of how the volcanoes or even the ocean got there in the first place but they put that forth as a plausible theory. Or from bubbles that had raw strings of DNA in them, somehow floated from the oceans and started life.. But no matter how you try to explain it, the truth is no one knows for sure. Which brings us to:
II. THE CHOICE: Which belief system makes the most sense?
You see you get to choose how you think life began. But please understand this very basic, but profound principle: Any choice you make, even if it is one of the Big Two: Creationism or Evolution - is a belief! No one can prove what happened when life began because no one was there! No one watched it happen! No one was an eye-witness. So when everything is stripped away the truth is that based on what information we have, what clues we can obtain, we can only come to a “belief” that life was started in a certain way. So, let’s put aside the more bizarre notions and concentrate on the two belief systems that have been around the longest and argued the hardest: Creationism and Evolution.
First let’s consider some factors about evolution. Charles Darwin actually never said much about how life began but dwelt primarily with how he thought life progressed after it began, i.e., natural selection. Which simply means life progressed up the ladder of complexity as it adapted to it’s surroundings and needed to survive. Later in some personal letters we find that he most likely held to the theory of what we might call the “Big bang.” That somehow there was matter, probably amino acids, in some kind of primordial soup that was charged by some kind of energy, like lightening and that energy turned the amino acids into protein which became an RNA molecule able to replicate itself and finally turned into DNA: Life. Once again there is no mention as to where the soup, energy or amino acids came from because no one knows! You can have certain beliefs about where it might come from but no one can know for sure because - say it with me - no one was there! In fact in Darwin’s two most famous books, Origin of Species and Descent of Man he uses these phrase over 800 times “we may suppose” or “if this is true then...”
But evolution basically says that by chance life began and then that chance continued from that first molecule to evolve into all the complexities we see of life today. Please don’t misunderstand.. Not all of Darwin’s theories are wrong. There is such a thing as micro-evolution, i.e., changes within the species, that’s why we have some 200+ varieties of dogs. But science has failed over the last 150 years to prove “macro-evolution” explaining how amoeba’s became fish, which became reptiles, which became mammals. Even Darwin himself confessed: “There are two or three millions species on earth. A sufficient field one might think for observation; but it must be said today that in spite of all the evidence of trained observers, not one change of the species to another is on record.”(Life & Letters, Vol. 3, p.25) Evolution, natural selection is a belief. It is a person’s choice to believe that life began by chance. It is a person’s choice to say, “I don’t know where the first amino acid or lightning or anything for that matter came, but I believe it was not created but came to be by chance and life progressed from there.”
But let’s consider some factors surrounding creation. First, Creationism and science are not at war! Think of it this way - if God did create the world and all that is in it then science - that which is observable and provable - should point toward God. I believe it does. And I am not alone. Did you know that 100 scientists from a wide range of disciplines - with doctorates from Cambridge, Stanford, Cornell, Yale, Rutgers, Rice, Emory, the University of California and elsewhere - took out a two-page ad and signed their names to what they called “a scientific dissent from Darwinism.” They announced, “We are skeptical of the claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life.” In other words, “Evolution? We don’t believe it’s true.” In fact, I believe the more we learn about science, the more God is seen as the Creator. Let me give you just a couple of examples of that evidence from Lee Strobel’s book Case for a Creator. We could talk about seeing a Creator from biochemistry, cosmology or morality but for time sake let me share just 3 with you. Now, before I begin this section I want you to know I am not a scientist. However, what I share with you comes from a great deal of research from qualified and in some cases eminent scientists. If some of this is tough to understand just concentrate on the complexity of it and see if you think these things prove chance or creation.
1. We see a Creator through physics. One of the most striking discoveries of modern science has been that the laws and constants of physics – the numbers that govern the operation of the universe – unexpectedly conspire in an extraordinary way to make the universe able to sustain for life. In other words, according to Strobel’s study, “the universe is fine-tuned on a razor’s edge in a way that defies mere chance and which is better explained as the work of a Creator.” For example, consider the force of gravity, which is finely tuned to an incomprehensible degree so that life can exist. Strobel illustrates it this way. “Imagine a ruler broken down in one-inch increments going all the way across the entire visible universe – billions of light years across. There would be trillions upon trillions of inches on that ruler. This represents the possible range for gravity; in other words, the setting for gravity could have been anywhere along that ruler. However, it happens to be situated in the exact right place so that life is possible.” You see, the setting for the force of gravity just happens to be situated in the exact right fraction of an inch to make our universe capable of sustaining life. Strobel gives a number of other illustrations where physics points to a Creator.
Consider this. There has to be a certain number of electrons equivalent to the number of protons in order for planets, galaxies & stars to exist. How fine does that equivalency have to be? To an accuracy of just one part in a trillion, trillion, trillion. How can we conceptualize that? Well, one scientist used the example of a simple dime. What if we covered the entire North American continent with dimes 239,000 miles deep, which would extend all the way to the moon. Now pile dimes from here to the moon on a billion other continents the size of North America. Now, paint one dime red and mix it into the billion piles of dimes and blindfold someone and have them choose just one dime on the first try. The odds he would pick the one dime are one in a trillion, trillion, trillion - and that gives you an idea how breathtaking it is to have just this one aspect of the universe so delicately balanced. And there are dozens and dozens of other examples like this.
2. We see the Creator through the recent scientific development: DNA. Scientists have discovered that in every DNA molecule lies the blueprint of life. DNA is the most efficient information system in the world. But what is DNA? It’s a message; it’s a language; it’s information with content. Just like English uses a 26-letter alphabet, DNA uses a four-letter chemical alphabet. In fact, inside every cell of the human body is as many words as you could find in 10,000 editions of the Sunday Denver Post! It’s the specific, detailed, written instructions for how to build the human body. In fact, the new discoveries of DNA are convincing many scientists that their belief in evolution has been wrong. Let me introduce you to one. His name is Dr. Dean Kenyon, and he was a professor of cell and molecular biology at San Francisco State College. He believed he had the answer of how life could have created itself, without any need for a Creator, and he and a co-author described their theory in the book – Biochemical Predestination. This book was a text book for Universities across the country. Their theory was that the building blocks of life – amino acids – some how organized themselves into protein and then into the first living cell. In other words, living tissue just happened. There was no design, no elaborate mechanisms, amino acids somehow just did it by themselves. Then, as more and more evidence was discovered in recent years about how amino acids actually are assembled into proteins to create living creatures, Kenyon began to shift his opinion 180 degrees. In fact, experts have now produced a computer animation to show how scientists now believe the information from DNA is used to assemble amino acids into proteins. I want to show you a clip from a documentary called “Unlocking the Mystery of Life,” which has been shown several times on PBS. What you’re going to see is how cells use the information from DNA to build amino acids into the thousands of different types of proteins from which our bodies are constructed. As you watch, I want you to realize that although you may not understand everything that is said this is all happening in ONE cell! So as you watch, ask yourself this question: does this look like something that’s the product of random chance – or does this system look like the product of an intelligent designer? After you see this animation, then you will see Dr. Dean Kenyon offer his own conclusion about where the evidence of science points. VIDEO CLIP “Unlocking the Mystery of Life.” 3:36
Folks, Dr. Kenyon is right. The more scientists peer through telescopes into the cosmos and through microscopes into the complexities of the cell, the more they are concluding the unmistakable fingerprints of a Creator are all over the universe.
And all these things point to one other dramatic evidence of a Creator..
3. Teleology - or the argument of intelligent design. This thesis simply says: “If concrete evidence of a design can be found, then there must be a designer.” We see that truth everyday. There are all kinds of mountains out here in the west. There are different shapes and appearances. It is easy to say that their visual aspects has been formed by chance, wind, rain, erosion, etc. Until you see this mountain face: Mt. Rushmore. No one thinks that chance - wind, rain, erosion, carved four faces of four known Presidents in a mountainside. We look at that and know immediately there had to be a designer, a sculpturer. What do you think when you see this? Campfire? Do you say, “Why look at that! The wind must of blown those pieces of wood together and then lightning must of set it on fire... and molecules must of come together to form that Coke can and put Coca-Cola in it!” No! We say, “Someone must of just been here!” Because we don’t see chance there, we see intelligent design. Someone built that! Now, let me ask you.. When you look at the human body, those cells we just saw or the eye, which can handle 1.5 million simultaneous messages, or any of our organs. When you look at our universe.. Being just so far from the sun as not to freeze or burn up. The earth moving around the sun at just the right speed. When you look at our beautiful earth.. Are those things chance or do they cry out - Intelligent Design? Gen.1:1-“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”Vs:3 - “God said, ‘Let there be light.’” Vs:6 - “God said, ‘Let there be space between the waters...’” Vs:11- “God said, ‘Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant.’”I believe Romans 1:20 is right when it says: “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature.”
But you have a choice: Either believe all these things happened by chance and somehow they keep happening or believe that there is a Designer, a Creator who has put this all together just so! And that brings us to:
III. THE CHALLENGE: What does each choice mean?
Let’s close by talking about what each of these choices mean to your life. I would contend with you that the choice you make has extreme ramifications on you, your family, your friends, your future. Let’s look at them.
1. If I believe in evolution, what does that mean for my life? A prominent evolutionist named William Provine of Cornell University, was blunt in spelling out the implications of Darwinism. If evolution is true, he said, then there are five inescapable conclusions: 1. There is no God. Plain and simple we are a product of dumb luck, chance. 2. There is no life after death. Since we began by chance we die by chance and nothing else exists, why would it? 3. There is no absolute foundation for right and wrong. Who or what do we look to in order to understand my moral obligation? Ken Ham, a creationist, once gave a talk to a college class and a student came up to him afterwards and said, “Mr. Ham, I cannot accept your theory that a God created us.” Ken said, “Let me ask you, how do you determine right from wrong?” The student said, “Well, if I feel it is right I act upon it.” Ken said, “Ok, stay right here. I feel it is right to shoot anyone who disagrees with me, I’m going to get my gun.” The student said, “You can’t do that.” Ken said, “Why not?” The student said, “That’s wrong.” Ken said, “Who says it’s wrong?” “Well, it’s just wrong!” “Didn’t you say that you determine right from wrong by how you feel? What makes your feelings any better than mine?” You see, if I’m here by chance how do I determine my moral obligations? 4. There is no ultimate meaning to life. All there is, is birth, a few years and death. How aimless is that? No overall purpose to life or meaning. Everyone one of us wants to know “What am I here on earth for?” In October we’re going to spend 40 days asking and answering that question. 5. There is no love except to self. Why love and treat others with love? If I’m a creature of chance and only have a few years than I need to live in every way for me! What’s in it for me? What can I do to up my advantage? Why waste time thinking about any thing or anyone other than me? Live for all the gusto, it won’t last long or lead to anything else!
2. What a difference if I believe in a creation. For if creation is true than we are here by a Creator not chance; we are not just overgrown apes - simply formed by years and years of natural selection - but are created in the image of God! Made to be like God, to have a relationship with God. We are not destined to live by the survival of the fittest but by love. Could it be that this world looks like it has been designed because there is a designer? When I accept creation, I accept a Creator. I become accountable to a loving God that promises me purpose in this life & perfection in the next. You know evolution is based on faith & science. Creation is based on faith & science. Both are believed, but both are world’s apart! So, if you’re a Christian, you’ve made a choice and I hope you will celebrate the fact that through this unexplainable phenomenon of creation the heavens really do declare the glory of God. If you are a spiritual seeker, & maybe haven’t made that choice, or maybe you lean toward evolution being your choice. I hope & pray that your curiosity has be piqued enough to motivate you to do what some of these scientists have done - investigate the evidence. Because the good news, no the great news is not only is there a Creator, but He loves you and He’s inviting you into a personal relationship with Him, right now and forever. {All Scripture from NLT unless otherwise noted}
