Digging Deeper

Genesis 1:1 states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Today science says, “In the beginning, bang, there was the whole universe.” Is the big bang theory a friend or foe of Christianity? Do the Bible and science conflict on the most fundamental issue of all – the beginning of all things? These are reasonable questions – some of you may be asking yourself or are being asked by someone else.

Today the vast majority of scientists recognize, some reluctantly, that universe began to exist a finite time ago. Prior to the 1920s science could deny the need for a creator or banger by appealing to an infinitely old universe. The universe, they said, was eternal: it had never not been! Why is it that scientifically this theory cannot be maintained any longer?

It’s interesting that often times that scientists’ explanation of the earth’s origin’s sound similar to the Bible. As scientist Robert Jastrow, puts it: “What is the ultimate solution to the origin of the universe? The answers provided by the astronomers are disconcerting and remarkable. Most remarkable of all is the fact that in science, as in the Bible, the world begins with an act of creation.”

Philosopher William Lane Craig summed it up in this way: “Isn’t it incredible that the big bang theory thus fits in with what the Christian theist has always believed; that in the beginning God created the universe? Now I put it to you, which makes more sense? That the theist is right or that the universe popped into being uncaused, out of nothing? I, at least, have no trouble assessing these alternatives!”

The big bang theory, rather than doing away with a creator, has served to demonstrate that it’s scientifically and philosophically more intelligent to believe that God created the universe a finite time ago – just as the Bible has always taught. The big bang is a friend of Christianity, not a foe.

Question to Consider: How has your understanding of the big bang theory given you more confidence in the Bible’s teaching that God created the universe.

***Editor’s note: I apologize for getting this entry in late (Darrel’s fault)***

A few weeks ago my 14 year old son, Carter and I were leaving our church when we noticed fast-moving clouds passing over a silvery full moon. Carter remarked how incredible it looked and I agreed. Over the years I’ve seen God’s beauty hundreds of times in the nature around me.

What in nature leaves you speechless? Maybe it’s the glory of a breathtaking sunset, the beauty of a morning sunrise, or some natural wonder like the Grand Canyon.

The psalmist expressed it this way-

The heavens declare the glory of God: the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens has has pitched a tent for the sun… (Psalm 19:1-4)

The Bible does not attempt to explain how the universe was created as much as it says who created it. Because of this, the Bible doesn’t limit its teaching about God as the Creator to the book of Genesis. All the biblical writers acknowledge God as the cause and Creator of all existence.

There are several things the Bible implies about God and His creation-

>God created all things out of nothing. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Colossians 1:6) This is unlike pagan cultures and their creation stories. They always begin with pre-existing matter.

>God is the author of life, specifically human life. The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lie, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) All the biblical writers acknowledge the historical reality of the first human couple, Adam and Eve.

>God’s purpose in creating the universe was to display His own glory and honor. Isaiah speaks of God’s sons and daughters as those… “whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” The evidence of God in creation demonstrates HIs great power.

>God delights in His creation. God is pleased with the result of His work. He declares His creation good after each stage. (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21 ,25) It culminates in Genesis 1:31, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.”

The Bible is very clear about God and His creation. Spend some time today acknowledging His greatness and enjoying all that He made.

Question to Consider: Is God the crowning passion of your life?

Many people view science as fascinating and full of mystery. We absolutely benefit from the scientific discoveries of recent years. Just consider the progress in medical science. Heart surgery some years ago was extremely risky and now is considered very common place. I had a friend who was the heart association poster child back in the 60’s because she had had open heart surgery and it was considered experimental back then but now we see operations to correct heart defects while still in the womb. Amazing stuff!

Many questions of faith and religion are not answered through scientific experiments. Some people say either you believe or you don’t and that’s what faith is. Others might have a religious experience of some sort, like God speaking to them, so they feel compelled to believe. To many people outside the church walls, faith is both blind and irrational. Here are some examples.

Mark Twain joked that faith is “believing what you know ain’t so,” H.L. Mencken, the American anti-supernaturalist critic of Christianity, once said, “Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable”. Evolutionary biologist, professor and famous atheist Richard Dawkins said, “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even because of, the lack of evidence. Christian author and professor Paul Little told a story of a Sunday school teacher who asked the question, “What is faith?”. To answer the question a boy quickly popped up with “ believing something you know isn’t true”. Wonder where that came from?

From the time of Jesus, faith has never been unreasonable. The overarching issue as we begin this week is whether or not thinking people can embrace faith in an age of scientific discovery. We’ll tackle questions like, “Has science made God obsolete? Are faith in God and scientific knowledge incompatible? Does knowledge from science outweigh religious knowledge? Which one is more reliable, and what do we do when they contradict each other?”

Compared to scientific discovery, religious claims in modern day culture are viewed with less credibility. In the realm of science, faith in God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ are seen as personal-based claims unlike the knowledge-based claims of science.

Christians have always understood there are two books: the book of nature and the book of revelation(the Bible). The book of nature is the observable universe with the discipline of science as her reader. The book of revelation is God’s spoken truth to humanity. For Christians, both of these books have the same author and therefore should be intergrated at some level. So the real question becomes: “Can science be done with God in mind?”

The modern day champions of science say “absolutely NO!”. They also say, “Sure you can believe in God, but in the real world, science is equated with knowledge and religion with faith. These two are not equal”

Science has become the owner of knowledge in society, accompanied by the modern philosophy of naturalism. This is the view that all life rose spontaneously from non-living matter and then evolved by purely naturalistic means. In other words, chance combined with physical law created life on this planet and evolved to its present state. This idea is embodied by Carl Sagan’s famous words, “The Cosmos is al that is or ever was or ever will be.” God is excluded. He’s not required to explain anything having to do with the natural world. Scientific explanations are limited to natural processes and the laws of nature, so supernatural explanations cannot be offered to inform or augment science in any way.

However, both science and faith (theology) do make knowledge claims. For example, Christian belief is founded on history and evidence. Arguments for God’s existence can be offered as evidence for our knowledge of Him. The difference is that science and faith view reality through two different windows. The late Stephen Jay Gould, famous Harvard paleontologist and champion of Darwinian evolution, believed science and faith occupy different domains. He called his philosophy NOMA (non-overlapping magisterial). Gould said “the net of science cover the empirical universe…(while) the net of religion extends over questions of moral meaning and value.” Galileo said, “Science tells you how the heavens go, and the Bible tells you how to go to heaven.” Are science and faith in conflict? We’ll look at some of the details this week.

If you ask God, “Wisdom and knowledge will be given to you” (2 Chronicles 1:12) God will bless your efforts to learn more about Him.

What evidence do you rely on for your faith?

Read Psalm 19 as you answer that question

I can remember the exact details, the smells and where I was when that phone call came that everyone dreads, “Mr. Drake, your son has been in an accident, and we need your consent for surgery.” My Dad was an extremely tough, strong guy but I remember vividly, the ashen look on his face as he hung up the phone and told my Mom that my brother Barry had been in a car accident and they needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. My brother died an hour later. Years ago my sister died of cancer. In the realm of pain and suffering, death certainly ranks near the top. Maybe you have received similar phone calls. The loss of our life or the loss of someone we love is generally considered one of life’s greatest experiences of pain and suffering.

Followers of Christ can experience the genuine sadness that actually accompanies the death of a loved one from a different viewpoint. They can even look at their own death from a completely different perspective. The Apostle Paul wrote to some Christians who had experienced the death of a few of their friends. He told them that he does not want them to “grieve like the rest of men who have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13) Notice here that he did not tell them not to grieve, but rather grieve from a rich vantage point of hope. Do I miss my brother and sister? Sure, but I know because of their relationship with Christ that one day we will be reunited and “live with the Lord forever” (I Thessalonians 4:17) The promise of eternal life completely change our view of death. For the Christian it is a beginning rather than an ending. This prompted the apostle Paul to write, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where O death is your sting?”(I Corinthians 15:54b-55)

The truth of eternal life caused the apostle Paul to look at his own death a gain. He wrote to the church at Philippi, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body”(Philippians 1: 21-24) When we are following Christ and growing to love Him, we can also look forward to the day that we will get to be with Him forever. Our view of death can change. The Bible speaks of this internal desire to eventually come to our heavenly home. II Corinthians 5:1-2 says, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.”

The truth of eternal life will not only change our view of death, it will also help followers of Christ gain a different perspective about our suffering here on earth. The grandeur and a life spent with God forever can make the temporary nature of our sufferings on earth seem different to us. Paul wrote “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we a wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal”(II Corinthians 4:16-18) Paul also wrote “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”(Romans 8:18). So the apostle Paul, who experienced tremendous suffering in his life, helps us to see the pain and difficulty we experience here on earth from a different vantage point.

The Bible doesn’t give us a lot of detail about what happens after we die, but it does give us two really important facts:1) there is life after death, and 2) followers of Christ will go to a place of unspeakable joy and experience life with God that will last forever. Death is not the end. Jesus said, “I am going there (heaven) to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14: 2-3)

How will an eternal perspective help me change my thoughts about life and suffering?

Read John 14:1-14

When we face pain and hardship in our life it causes us to ask some hard questions-

• Does God see what it happening to me?
• Does God care about what I am going through?
• Is God on my side?

The writer of the Psalms wrestled with these questions and cried out, “My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long? Turn O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.” (Psalm 6:3-4)

When you sift these tough questions down to their cores, they are really asking, God, do you love me? There is a longing to know that God not only sees what we are going through and cares, but that He truly loves us.

From the beginning of the Bible, God is pictured as a personal God. He talks with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He talks with Noah, Abraham and many others. He establishes special relationships with people. He gives people laws that show people how to relate to Him and to each other. He saves them from difficulty, delivers them from slavery, does incredible deeds for them, and promises that He will never leave them.

But someone might say, “These are very nice stories, but they don’t have a lot to do with me today. Those things happened thousands of years ago. God feels very distant from me today.”

How can I really know that God loves me?

The answer is Jesus. No one forced Jesus to become a human being and die for us. He did it out of love. The apostle John says, “This is how we know what love it: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us…We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 3:16, 4:19) God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. Then He sent the Holy Spirit to live in His people so that they could love us too. That’s how we know God loves us.

Question to Consider: What does God’s love mean to you? How would you try to describe that love to someone else.?

How does a young child conquer fear?

Whether the child is afraid of roller skating, riding a bicycle, going down a slide, or stepping onto an escalator, the solution of choice is usually the same.

The child holds on to a parent’s hand – then proceeds without fear.

Why does this work? As long as the child can feel the supporting hand of someone he or she loves and trusts, fear stays away. In fact, what was a fearful prospect just a few minutes earlier is often transformed into an adventure! Instead of crying and cowering in fear, the child is giggling in eager anticipation.

As we grow up, we’re told that we no longer need this kind of support. We’re big people. We should be able to handle problems on our own. So we put on a brave face, hide our fear, and stoically keep trudging forward. We want to look brave, even when we’re quaking inside.

God doesn’t expect us to live that way. Even though we face pain and suffering in this world, and we encounter things that cause anxiety and fear – God wants us to trust Him.

How can we look directly at our fear, realize its seriousness, and still find the strength to go on? The same way a child finds courage from a parent. Jesus said that if we bring our troubles and concerns to Him, He will give us rest (Matthew 11:29) The apostle Peter says we can cast all our anxieties on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) The apostle John tells us that God is love (1 John 4:16) and that perfect love drives out fear (4:18).

When we cling to God, who loves us perfectly, our fear goes away. His love drives out fear – just as a child’s fear disappears when holding a loving parent’s hand.

Question to Consider: Think about when you were going through a fearful time. In what ways were you able to sense the presence of God? Take some time to thank Him for His presence with you.

Have you ever thought of the similarities between Jesus and the comic-book hero Superman?

• Both existed somewhere else before they came to earth.
• Both cames to earth as babies.
• Both grew up like regular people.
• Both had a “normal” identity.
• Both possessed the power to do amazing things.
• Both used their powers to help people.

There are some significant differences, however. In the comics, when people needed help, Clark Kent would sneak away to change, and Superman would appear to save the day. He would catch the bridge as it fell, keep the airliner from crashing, stand in front of flying bullets – to prevent the disaster or to fix everything afterwards.

Jesus wasn’t that kind of superhero. He was always who He was. People knew what He looked like, where He came from, how He talked. When He did a miracle, He did it as Jesus. He didn’t go somewhere to put on a costume. And He didn’t always prevent disaster. Some sick people died before He got there, so He raised them from the dead. And most of the miracles involved helping people one-on-one.

When disaster comes, many of us would like Jesus to act like a superhero who will fly in and dramatically fix everything for us. Jesus does not operate the same way that Superman does, but He is a lot more help than any comic-book superhero could ever be. All we need to do is call on Him, and He’s there. He has promised never to abandon us in times of trouble. He usually doesn’t choose to do away with the disaster and fix all our problems. But He’s there to help us through whatever we experience.

If you’re in the middle of a personal disaster, look around for evidence of God’s presence. He’s there in the hearts and hands of His people who care for the poor, the sick and the suffering. He can encourage you, comfort you, advise you, meet your needs, and give you the strength to keep going. And when the disaster has passed, He’s there to guide you and walk beside you for the rest of your life.

Question to Consider: Do you know someone who is suffering? What can you do today to show the love of God to that person?

This is a reasonable question.

We naturally experience a strong emotional reaction when we see or experience suffering in our world. When we see good people suffer we wonder, why did this happen to them? Where is the fairness? Where was God?

If you think about it, you will begin to realize that today’s question is based on several unreasonable assumptions. One assumption is that God’s purpose is to protect us from pain. Another assumption is that there are people that exist who are so good that they deserve a pain-free life.

Some of the people who listened to Jesus made similar assumptions. They thought that human suffering was a consequence of sin. If a person was injured in an accident, they assumed that the person must have done something to deserve the pain.

In Luke 13:1-5, Jesus addresses the issue. He mentions two events as examples. The first was an atrocity. Pilate’s soldiers had killed some people from Galilee as they were worshiping in the temple. Jesus asked whether these people were more sinful than other Galileans. The second event was an accident. A tower had fallen, killing eighteen men. Jesus asked whether these people were the worst sinners in Jerusalem. Jesus intended His hearers to answer “no” to both questions.

So what reason did Jesus give for these tragedies? He gave no reasons at all. Essentially Jesus is teaching the people that suffering is going to happen. Suffering comes to everyone regardless of whether they live a good life or not. In fact, Jesus promised in John 16:33, “in this world you will have trouble.”

If God’s purpose is to keep us from pain, then this is not a loving response. But what if that assumption is wrong? What if God has a different purpose for us? Luke 19:10 says that Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. And Romans 3:23 says that all of us are imperfect, that we are sinners. Jesus didn’t come to make people think they were good enough to make it on their own. He came to help them see their need for salvation so that they would come to Him and be saved from their sin.

Question to Consider: How does the suffering of Jesus affect the way we think about our own suffering? How has God ussed your hurt or pain to produce good?

Earth has a history of catastrophic events. We have been witness to some natural disasters that have devastated the lives of people we know and care about. Tornadoes, hurricanes, sandstorms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis are among the list of those things that we have seen and other widespread disasters.

Some natural disasters have human causes. For example, mismanagement of natural resources can contribute to droughts and landslides, carelessness can lead to huge wildfires and unsanitary conditions can lead to epidemics. But what about the disasters over which we have no control?

Natural disasters have a way of making us feel weak and overwhelmed. We are pretty small, frail creatures and if we get caught in the midst of such huge forces, we’re going. When disaster strikes on a large scale, the victims aren’t even given names. They are just numbers, statistics. When we observe natural disasters, it looks like we don’t matter much.

Jesus tells us, however, that God takes note even when a single sparrow falls and dies. (Matthew 10:29) And God even numbers the hairs on our head. (Matthew 10:30) So how can we believe that God cares for us as individuals when so many people suffer and die because of natural disasters?

First of all, what goes on in the world of nature is connected to human sin in ways that we don’t fully understand. The apostle Paul says that the whole creation needs to be “liberated from its bondage of decay” (Romans 8:18-22) When we humans brought sin into the world, all of creation was marred. Our world was changed. Somehow, when Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was affected. One day, in a new earth, there will be no more natural disasters.

Second by reading about Jesus in the Gospels, we can get an idea of how God feels about those who suffer. Jesus healed the sick, restored the impaired, and comforted those in mourning.

If you are suffering from some disaster, you can pray to God and be certain that He will hear you. He feels your suffering and cares about you. You can also depend on His people, the church. They are God’s hands and feet. They can and will lovingly help you in Jesus’ name.

God desperately cares for those who are suffering. People who have experienced God’s love are motivated to show that love to others. If we want to effectively communicate God’s love to suffering people, our action much more effective that our words.

What are some ways God has helped you when you have experienced pain or suffering? Do you know someone who could use your help this week?

Read II Corinthians 8:1-15

Why is there evil in the world?

When God created the world, evil was not part of the plan. In fact after creating the world and everything in it, including human beings, “God saw all that He had made and it was very good” Genesis 1:31

We can never deny that evil is very prevalent in our world. We can watch the evening news, talk to our neighbors, co-workers, and visit the prisons of our state. We see young children abused and left alone, broken, battered, and scarred for life. Some time ago, my niece was admitted to a mental ward of a large hospital for an eating disorder. When I went to visit, the atmosphere made my skin crawl. The presence of evil was thick in the air. It was very real.

The Bible tells us that our troubles in this life including death are because of sin. And “sin entered the world through one man” Romans 5:12. That man was Adam. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God “death came to all”. One might ask the question, “Why didn’t God keep evil from entering the world and polluting the whole mess for the rest of us in the first place?”

This is a tough question. Certainly God could have created a world in which evil and sin were not possible. God being God understood that this would change many other things including our ability to love unconditionally. Through having free will God allows us to experience love, and pain, and hurt. Many people have abused their ability to choose freedom of choice by hurting others and that’s where most of the world’s suffering has come from.

In other words, God is not the cause of evil or its creator. In creating people that are capable of good and evil, He is not the reason they choose evil rather than good. If we have the ability to love we also have the ability to hate.

If evil is caused by people’s free choice, what is God’s attitude toward suffering people? Does He turn his back on us? Does He say “It’s your own fault now live with it”? Heaven forbid! God loves us. He hurts when we hurt. To give us hope He gave us His Son, Jesus to become a man and experience the full range of human suffering—including death. God not only identifies with our pain, He gives a great promise to His children who are going through difficult and painful circumstances. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.

Why do you think some people blame God when they suffer? Are all problems a result of personal sin?

Read Romans 6:1-14