The Bible assumes the existence of God. Genesis begins by simply stating "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis does not try and prove the existence of God. It does not give any arguments polemically or apologetically regarding God's existence. It simply assumes that God exists. In fact it starts with Gods' creation.
The Bible also assumes that God existed prior to the creation. It does not explicitly say that God has always existed, but the reader does not have to stretch the imagination to conclude that God existed prior to the point at which he created the heavens and the earth. Genesis assumes that God existed prior to "in the beginning." Basically Genesis says, lets go back to where the universe began or where it started. At that point we see God bringing it into existence.
We can also conclude that God is separate from his creation. He is distinct from what he has created. He exists outside the sphere of creation. The Creator must not be confused with his creation.
Genesis 1 also tells us that God is personally and actively involved in his creation. He is the one that spoke light into existence. He is the one that then seperated the light from the darkness and called the light day and the darkness night. He is directly and intimately involved in all aspects of his creation.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday, June 14, 2010
Literal Six Day Creation Seen in the Command to Work
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God, in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, you male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in siz days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the Seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11).
Fourth in the list of 10 commandments that God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai that the people were to follow as a sign of their redeemed relationship with Him. God had brought them out of the land of Egypt and the bondage of servitude to Pharaoh, to freedom in service to Yahweh, the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. On their way to the Promise Land that Yahweh had promised Abraham so many years before, God calls Moses to the top of the mountain and dictates to him the Law. In the midst of these commands is God’s call to honor the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The Sabbath was the day that the nation of Israel was to rest from their six days of work. God attaches to the command to work six days and rest on the seventh His own practice in creation. God says they are to remember the Sabbath day and rest upon it after working six days because He himself took six days to create the universe and then rested on the Seventh day. In fact we can go back to Genesis 1 and see this very thing taking place.
Now much of today’s culture seeks to add millions of years in the creation account. Part of this exercise is to stretch the days in genesis 1 to mean longer then a literal 24 hour day period. A common idea is that they are ages or geological periods of time. If we put that into the Genesis record of creation then the first “evening and morning” would be the first age or geological period. The second “day” then would be the second geological period of time and so on, each geological period equaling a lot of days. Of course if we ignore the plan and simple reading of Genesis 1 we might be fine with that as it fits with man’s understanding of the age of the earth. But when we take that concept and apply it to Exodus 20 it seems we have a problem. We must be honest with the text. God attaches his creative work of the beginning of the universe to his command to work six days and rest on the seventh. If the Genesis 1 record of each day is stretched to millions or billions of years then what is God saying in Exodus 20.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Six days (i.e millions of years) you shall labor and do all your work but on the seventh day (i.e millions of years) is a Sabbath of the Lord your God. For in six days (millions of years) the Lord made the heavens.”
You get the picture. God is not commanding Moses to work six million years, six geological periods, six ages, or six undefined amount of time. God is commanding the people to take six days to work and then one day, the Sabbath to rest. Six literal days they were to work and the Sabbath literal day they were to rest. The reason for this is because God worked six literal days and rested on the Seventh literal day.
Work is a part of my life. As a Christian man I am called by God to provide for my family. I am called to be the one to “put bread on the table.” This requires me to work so that through my wages I might provide for my family and be faithful to what God calls me to do. I am so glad that God does not call me to work 6 billion years or 6 geological periods. I currently work for a Christian university that has 5 work days and rest for the weekend. I could not handle it if it was 5 long geological periods and at some point I get rest.
Finally as we think about our work week and a time of rest it reminds us of two things. First, that God has set in the midst of work a time we can rest from our labors. God is not a task master cracking the whip demanding we remain in the labor pits but gives us a time of rest. This would have been a breath of fresh air for the nation of Israel that came out of Egypt. There in bondage they probably worked every day in the heat of the sun to the point of exhaustion. Praise God for the Sabbath rest. Secondly, our work week and day of rest serves to guide us on our understanding of God’s method of creation. When you read through Genesis think about how He has allowed you to work a small amount of days and then rest.It is the mercy of God that he has set this up and exampled it for us.
Fourth in the list of 10 commandments that God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai that the people were to follow as a sign of their redeemed relationship with Him. God had brought them out of the land of Egypt and the bondage of servitude to Pharaoh, to freedom in service to Yahweh, the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. On their way to the Promise Land that Yahweh had promised Abraham so many years before, God calls Moses to the top of the mountain and dictates to him the Law. In the midst of these commands is God’s call to honor the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The Sabbath was the day that the nation of Israel was to rest from their six days of work. God attaches to the command to work six days and rest on the seventh His own practice in creation. God says they are to remember the Sabbath day and rest upon it after working six days because He himself took six days to create the universe and then rested on the Seventh day. In fact we can go back to Genesis 1 and see this very thing taking place.
Now much of today’s culture seeks to add millions of years in the creation account. Part of this exercise is to stretch the days in genesis 1 to mean longer then a literal 24 hour day period. A common idea is that they are ages or geological periods of time. If we put that into the Genesis record of creation then the first “evening and morning” would be the first age or geological period. The second “day” then would be the second geological period of time and so on, each geological period equaling a lot of days. Of course if we ignore the plan and simple reading of Genesis 1 we might be fine with that as it fits with man’s understanding of the age of the earth. But when we take that concept and apply it to Exodus 20 it seems we have a problem. We must be honest with the text. God attaches his creative work of the beginning of the universe to his command to work six days and rest on the seventh. If the Genesis 1 record of each day is stretched to millions or billions of years then what is God saying in Exodus 20.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Six days (i.e millions of years) you shall labor and do all your work but on the seventh day (i.e millions of years) is a Sabbath of the Lord your God. For in six days (millions of years) the Lord made the heavens.”
You get the picture. God is not commanding Moses to work six million years, six geological periods, six ages, or six undefined amount of time. God is commanding the people to take six days to work and then one day, the Sabbath to rest. Six literal days they were to work and the Sabbath literal day they were to rest. The reason for this is because God worked six literal days and rested on the Seventh literal day.
Work is a part of my life. As a Christian man I am called by God to provide for my family. I am called to be the one to “put bread on the table.” This requires me to work so that through my wages I might provide for my family and be faithful to what God calls me to do. I am so glad that God does not call me to work 6 billion years or 6 geological periods. I currently work for a Christian university that has 5 work days and rest for the weekend. I could not handle it if it was 5 long geological periods and at some point I get rest.
Finally as we think about our work week and a time of rest it reminds us of two things. First, that God has set in the midst of work a time we can rest from our labors. God is not a task master cracking the whip demanding we remain in the labor pits but gives us a time of rest. This would have been a breath of fresh air for the nation of Israel that came out of Egypt. There in bondage they probably worked every day in the heat of the sun to the point of exhaustion. Praise God for the Sabbath rest. Secondly, our work week and day of rest serves to guide us on our understanding of God’s method of creation. When you read through Genesis think about how He has allowed you to work a small amount of days and then rest.It is the mercy of God that he has set this up and exampled it for us.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Futility of the Self-Help Mentality
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who built it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” – Psalm 127:1
Many of us have been to the book store and have eventually found our way to passing the self-help section. We see books that tell us how to be better parents, and better students. I have seen books on self-betterment all from a secular point of view. There might be books on how to quit smoking or drinking. All of these books focus on one thing, selfish ambition and techniques to help yourself accomplish something. As I think about Psalm 127:1, I have heard many pray the first half of the passage, especially when planning for building projects, “Lord unless you build the house, we labor in vain.”
What about the second half of the verse? “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” We can seek to guard ourselves from sin, are those things that are considered bad for us, such as smoking or drinking. Perhaps even the self-help books have a hint of guarding from the failures of our past. All of these are futile if they are done in selfish ambition. “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” No matter how hard we try and guard our hearts from failure it is futile apart from the watchful hand of the Lord. Verse 2 even goes on to say that the labor gets up early goes to bed late and spends all day laboring, but the psalmist says that is all vain, because the Lord gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Just a few chapters earlier in Psalm 121, the psalmist says, “He who keeps you will not slumber, Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
As I write this, my Wife and I are celebrating 9 years of marriage yesterday. This weekend we have a chance to relax a little from the responsibilities of ministry and work to just be together. We both want to see our marriage grow and be guarded from the things that are destroying marriage today. As I think about this, I pray Lord you build our home.” Because unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Also I pray that the Lord would guard our marriage from all the dangers of sin that seek to destroy what God has designed in the Garden as well as in our lives these past 9 years. “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” We cannot build or guard our marriage effectively if the Lord is not the master builder and the chief guard of it. Psalm 121 encourages me, because there will be times that I will be caught sleeping, or with my eyes looking the other way in the busyness of ministry and work. Yet it is during those times, that the one who is building my home, guarding my marriage neither slumbers nor sleeps. He has a constant watchful eye on my life and my marriage. And though sometimes it seems like we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil for the one who neither slumbers nor sleeps is with me.
So the next time you go to the book store looking for that book on beating bad habits, think about this, and I paraphrase, “Unless the Lord guards the city, you are throwing away [put price of book here].
Many of us have been to the book store and have eventually found our way to passing the self-help section. We see books that tell us how to be better parents, and better students. I have seen books on self-betterment all from a secular point of view. There might be books on how to quit smoking or drinking. All of these books focus on one thing, selfish ambition and techniques to help yourself accomplish something. As I think about Psalm 127:1, I have heard many pray the first half of the passage, especially when planning for building projects, “Lord unless you build the house, we labor in vain.”
What about the second half of the verse? “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” We can seek to guard ourselves from sin, are those things that are considered bad for us, such as smoking or drinking. Perhaps even the self-help books have a hint of guarding from the failures of our past. All of these are futile if they are done in selfish ambition. “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” No matter how hard we try and guard our hearts from failure it is futile apart from the watchful hand of the Lord. Verse 2 even goes on to say that the labor gets up early goes to bed late and spends all day laboring, but the psalmist says that is all vain, because the Lord gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Just a few chapters earlier in Psalm 121, the psalmist says, “He who keeps you will not slumber, Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
As I write this, my Wife and I are celebrating 9 years of marriage yesterday. This weekend we have a chance to relax a little from the responsibilities of ministry and work to just be together. We both want to see our marriage grow and be guarded from the things that are destroying marriage today. As I think about this, I pray Lord you build our home.” Because unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Also I pray that the Lord would guard our marriage from all the dangers of sin that seek to destroy what God has designed in the Garden as well as in our lives these past 9 years. “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” We cannot build or guard our marriage effectively if the Lord is not the master builder and the chief guard of it. Psalm 121 encourages me, because there will be times that I will be caught sleeping, or with my eyes looking the other way in the busyness of ministry and work. Yet it is during those times, that the one who is building my home, guarding my marriage neither slumbers nor sleeps. He has a constant watchful eye on my life and my marriage. And though sometimes it seems like we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil for the one who neither slumbers nor sleeps is with me.
So the next time you go to the book store looking for that book on beating bad habits, think about this, and I paraphrase, “Unless the Lord guards the city, you are throwing away [put price of book here].
Friday, August 8, 2008
Moral Revelation
Moral Revelation
A fourth argument for the existence of God in the area of general revelation is the moral argument. The moral argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the moral compass with in humanity. The very sense of right and wrong points to the foundation of a law giver who has placed that sense within them. Words such as ought and should that are in the minds and lips of humanity find their origin in God who made a standard that one ought and should follow. Even those who would claim a relativistic approach to right and truth and claim that there is no right or wrong and truth does not exist believe that their statement is truth and they are right about their assertions. This standard of right and wrong and existence of truth is not isolated in one given society but expands internationally beyond national borders. Perhaps the applications are different but the idea of right and truth remains the same.
A fourth argument for the existence of God in the area of general revelation is the moral argument. The moral argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the moral compass with in humanity. The very sense of right and wrong points to the foundation of a law giver who has placed that sense within them. Words such as ought and should that are in the minds and lips of humanity find their origin in God who made a standard that one ought and should follow. Even those who would claim a relativistic approach to right and truth and claim that there is no right or wrong and truth does not exist believe that their statement is truth and they are right about their assertions. This standard of right and wrong and existence of truth is not isolated in one given society but expands internationally beyond national borders. Perhaps the applications are different but the idea of right and truth remains the same.
Anthropological Revelation
Anthropological Revelation
A third argument for the existence of God in the area of general Revelation is the anthropological argument. The anthropological argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the nature of man. When we look at the way that man is made, intellect, emotions, the ability to make personal intelligent choices, and his social and spiritual aspects, a blind force could never have brought this combination together. The First Cause of intelligent beings would Himself have to have be intelligent. A unintelligent impersonal thing could not bring something intelligent and personal into existence.
A third argument for the existence of God in the area of general Revelation is the anthropological argument. The anthropological argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the nature of man. When we look at the way that man is made, intellect, emotions, the ability to make personal intelligent choices, and his social and spiritual aspects, a blind force could never have brought this combination together. The First Cause of intelligent beings would Himself have to have be intelligent. A unintelligent impersonal thing could not bring something intelligent and personal into existence.
Teleological Revelation
Teleological Revelation
A second argument for the existence of God in the area of General Revelation is the teleological argument. The teleological argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the fine-tuning of the universe. When we look out at the universe that had a beginning brought about by a personal cause, we discover that Cause is not only personal but purposefully intelligent. There is such precision in the universe to such a degree that any minute change up or down would result in catastrophic disaster. For example the distance that the earth is from the sun, any closer and the earth would melt from the radiation of the sun. In other words it would be too hot. Any further from the sun and we would begin to freeze. This is also seen in the axel orbit that the earth maintains. Or the precise activity of the moon and the control of the tides. The odds of life that is found on planet earth is so huge that chance could not explain it.
One example that is used is the human eye. So complex yet every detail is necessary for proper functionality. If you take one piece away or change it slightly, the eye would not function properly. Now if we were to say compare this with a watch. A watch is so complex yet every detail is necessary for proper functionality. Take away a piece or slightly alter the gears, and you get a broken watch. Now no one argues that the watch just happened to come into existence by random chance, or that a 747 flew over a junk yard and the force of the pass-by caused by chance junk to come together in such a way to produce the mechanical workings of the time piece. If the watch was produced by an intelligent watch maker, then so to the eye, not to mention DNA, the brain, and other amazing realities that point to the existence of an intelligent designer, namely God.
A second argument for the existence of God in the area of General Revelation is the teleological argument. The teleological argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the fine-tuning of the universe. When we look out at the universe that had a beginning brought about by a personal cause, we discover that Cause is not only personal but purposefully intelligent. There is such precision in the universe to such a degree that any minute change up or down would result in catastrophic disaster. For example the distance that the earth is from the sun, any closer and the earth would melt from the radiation of the sun. In other words it would be too hot. Any further from the sun and we would begin to freeze. This is also seen in the axel orbit that the earth maintains. Or the precise activity of the moon and the control of the tides. The odds of life that is found on planet earth is so huge that chance could not explain it.
One example that is used is the human eye. So complex yet every detail is necessary for proper functionality. If you take one piece away or change it slightly, the eye would not function properly. Now if we were to say compare this with a watch. A watch is so complex yet every detail is necessary for proper functionality. Take away a piece or slightly alter the gears, and you get a broken watch. Now no one argues that the watch just happened to come into existence by random chance, or that a 747 flew over a junk yard and the force of the pass-by caused by chance junk to come together in such a way to produce the mechanical workings of the time piece. If the watch was produced by an intelligent watch maker, then so to the eye, not to mention DNA, the brain, and other amazing realities that point to the existence of an intelligent designer, namely God.
Cosmological Revelation
Cosmological Revelation
First I will start with cosmological revelation, or the Cosmological argument for the existence of the God. Cosmological revelation is used by God to show his existence based on the creation of the universe. The main form of the cosmological argument is the Kalam cosmological argument. This argument seeks to show that God exists based on sufficient evidence for the universe having a beginning. God has revealed His existence based on the evidence He has placed in the universe to show that it had a beginning and thus had a creator.
The argument goes something like this: The universe came into existence at some point in the finite past. The existence of the universe was caused by a personal external being. There are three stages or questions that are answered. As each question is answered it movies into the next stage. The three questions are:
I like to use the example of people standing in a classroom. If we were in a classroom of 20 people seated in rows of 5 people per row, and the last row was asked to stand and then each sit one after the other, there would be some time elapsed before the last person sit down. Howbeit that it was a short elapse of time. Now what about the last two rows going through the same process? A little more time would then elapse before the last man standing sat down. Now increase the amount of people standing by the next row, and the next and so on till all 20 people are standing. Now the time has increased a lot. Suppose there was enough people to stand to expand the boards of California and they began the process, it would take a huge amount of time before the last person standing at the other border to finally sit down. Why? Because there is a lot of people that need to set down in front of him before he or she sat down. With this in mind, what if we had an infinite amount of people that were standing and if we could somehow find the first person to set down, how long would it take the last man standing to set down? The answer: He would never sit down, because there would always be another person in the line ahead of him that needed to set down first. In fact you could move up the line to the 5th person till the end and the same thing would occur. He would never sit down. Thus the exhaustion of my point. If the universe had no beginning, there would always be another event/moment that would have to take place before we got to this present event/moment. Since we are here then there must have only been a finite amount of events/moments that took place before us, thus pointing to the beginning of the universe.
Now from this we can establish that since the universe had a beginning or came into existence some finite time ago, and reality states that everything that comes into existence at some point had a cause. Even down to the molecular level such as quantum physics have a cause even if it cannot be determined immediately or it seems to be random.
Finally since the universe had a beginning or came into existence at some finite time ago, and that beginning was caused, the only solution for the final question is that cause was personal. For all that exists within the universe could not have caused by impersonal things.
The other law that God placed within His creation as a revelation of His existence is the 2nd law of thermodynamics. This law states roughly that energy in a closed system will move to equilibrium. In other words the energy in the universe will run down to a equal spread. The idea of this law is that God has placed energy within the universe at its beginning and it is running down to an end. Just like a cup of hot coffee that is placed in a room with the lid removed. Eventually the cup of coffee will no longer have the heat it started out with but the heat will dissipate throughout the room and thus the coffee becomes cold. If the universe always existed and the 2nd law of thermodynamics is correct, then we would have died a infinite time ago and the universe would have lost all of its energy an infinite time ago as well, resulting in a heat death or a black hole somewhere. Since the universe had not lost its energy or experiencing heat death and we are still here, suggests that the universe only existed for a short finite time thus pointing to a beginning once again.
First I will start with cosmological revelation, or the Cosmological argument for the existence of the God. Cosmological revelation is used by God to show his existence based on the creation of the universe. The main form of the cosmological argument is the Kalam cosmological argument. This argument seeks to show that God exists based on sufficient evidence for the universe having a beginning. God has revealed His existence based on the evidence He has placed in the universe to show that it had a beginning and thus had a creator.
The argument goes something like this: The universe came into existence at some point in the finite past. The existence of the universe was caused by a personal external being. There are three stages or questions that are answered. As each question is answered it movies into the next stage. The three questions are:
- Did the universe have a beginning?
- Was that beginning caused?
- Was that cause personal?
I like to use the example of people standing in a classroom. If we were in a classroom of 20 people seated in rows of 5 people per row, and the last row was asked to stand and then each sit one after the other, there would be some time elapsed before the last person sit down. Howbeit that it was a short elapse of time. Now what about the last two rows going through the same process? A little more time would then elapse before the last man standing sat down. Now increase the amount of people standing by the next row, and the next and so on till all 20 people are standing. Now the time has increased a lot. Suppose there was enough people to stand to expand the boards of California and they began the process, it would take a huge amount of time before the last person standing at the other border to finally sit down. Why? Because there is a lot of people that need to set down in front of him before he or she sat down. With this in mind, what if we had an infinite amount of people that were standing and if we could somehow find the first person to set down, how long would it take the last man standing to set down? The answer: He would never sit down, because there would always be another person in the line ahead of him that needed to set down first. In fact you could move up the line to the 5th person till the end and the same thing would occur. He would never sit down. Thus the exhaustion of my point. If the universe had no beginning, there would always be another event/moment that would have to take place before we got to this present event/moment. Since we are here then there must have only been a finite amount of events/moments that took place before us, thus pointing to the beginning of the universe.
Now from this we can establish that since the universe had a beginning or came into existence some finite time ago, and reality states that everything that comes into existence at some point had a cause. Even down to the molecular level such as quantum physics have a cause even if it cannot be determined immediately or it seems to be random.
Finally since the universe had a beginning or came into existence at some finite time ago, and that beginning was caused, the only solution for the final question is that cause was personal. For all that exists within the universe could not have caused by impersonal things.
The other law that God placed within His creation as a revelation of His existence is the 2nd law of thermodynamics. This law states roughly that energy in a closed system will move to equilibrium. In other words the energy in the universe will run down to a equal spread. The idea of this law is that God has placed energy within the universe at its beginning and it is running down to an end. Just like a cup of hot coffee that is placed in a room with the lid removed. Eventually the cup of coffee will no longer have the heat it started out with but the heat will dissipate throughout the room and thus the coffee becomes cold. If the universe always existed and the 2nd law of thermodynamics is correct, then we would have died a infinite time ago and the universe would have lost all of its energy an infinite time ago as well, resulting in a heat death or a black hole somewhere. Since the universe had not lost its energy or experiencing heat death and we are still here, suggests that the universe only existed for a short finite time thus pointing to a beginning once again.
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