Good Morning!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that
things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:1-3)
There are only two possible explanations for the origin of the universe. One is speculation, and the other is revelation. There is no scientific explanation. For anything to be scientific, it must be observable, repeatable and predictable. That is the criteria scientists imposed upon themselves long ago. We know of no one observing the origin taking place. No one can repeat the origin of the universe and no one can predict its recurrence. So, regardless of what you believe about the origin of the universe, you cannot claim a scientific explanation. You are shut up to faith. You believe it occurred a certain way and that makes you a person of faith even if you are an atheist.
By faith you believe your own ideas about creation. By faith you accept somebody else's speculation. By faith we accept revelation that claims to have come from God. But faith is not a leap into the dark. We believe the Bible is reliable for several reasons. The classic summary is: the Bible claims to be the Word of God. It seems to be the Word of God. It proves to be the Word of God.
In our court system, the testimony of witnesses is one the strongest kinds of evidence. In the Bible, the strongest evidence to its authenticity is the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies. Over three hundred prophecies concerning the Jewish messiah were fulfilled in Jesus the Christ who was crucified at the time of the evening sacrifice on the exact day prophesied by the prophet Daniel.
Prophecies concerning the nation of Israel are great in number, particularly the prophecies concerning their continuation as a nation in the most challenging situations. Many prophecies are in the Bible that have not yet been fulfilled and we believe they will be fulfilled because so many other prophecies have been fulfilled with great precision.
Another strong type of evidence to the truthfulness of the Bible is its unwavering accuracy in reporting things later confirmed by archaeology. The ruins. The pottery. The cities that lie buried. The crossing of the nation of Israel through the Red Sea is outstanding. We now know from the encrusted chariot wheels in the Red Sea on an underwater reef that Egyptian soldiers were at one time in the bottom of the Red Sea. British satellite pictures of the sand near the Red Sea seem to indicate a mass packing of the sand that is different from the land everywhere else. The impacted sand goes right up to the edge of the water and the chariot wheels are located in the water adjacent to the packed sand. So, the Bible has many proofs to its truthfulness. It is a book like no other.
It is faith based upon this kind of evidence that causes us to believe the Bible is trustworthy. When this trustworthy book speaks of the beginning of the universe, it presents the best model of explanation of any other explanation. In recent years we have been reminded by Michael Behe's classic book: Darwin's Black Box that there is the principle of irreducible complexity. Intelligent design is in everything around us. When you cut yourself, what makes the blood stop flowing?
The many mechanisms observed by scientists in the human body cannot be reduced beyond a certain critical point without it ceasing to function and the patient dies, The simple mouse trap cannot be reduced by even one part and still function as a mouse trap. Without all of its parts present and working at one time, it is a collection of interesting parts but it is not a mouse trap.
So all the intermediate forms of life claimed by evolutionists would have been in such a reduced state that they would not have functioned. As an explanation of beginnings, the unproven theory of evolution is a corpse waiting to be buried. Darwin didn't know he had all this explaining to do.
Peter states it this way: We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2Peter 1:19) Not only do we have a sure word about future things, we have an equally sure word about things of creation and the flow of ancient history.
I can't pass up the following interesting comments by the late J. Vernon McGee."The Word of God has the power to transform lives. And when you and I come to the Word of God, we either accept or reject God's statement concerning the origin of the universe: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen_1:1). That is revelation. Either you believe God, or you go by speculation. Don't tell me that evolution is scientific. It is not. If it were, then all the scientists would be in agreement—and they certainly are not in agreement. Today many outstanding scientists are beginning to let go of their worship of evolution. They see so many fallacies in it that they are moving away from it. You either believe God (that's revelation), or you believe speculation. Faith must be anchored in something.
"I heard this whimsical story about a guide in a museum who was taking a group of people through the museum and they came to a reconstructed dinosaur. You know how they find one bone and make up the rest of it so that they have a great big dinosaur! Well, the guide said, "This dinosaur is two million and six years old!"
"Of course, the crowd looked at him in amazement, and one extrovert said, "What do you mean two million and six years old? Where did you get the six?"
"Well," the guide said, "when I came to work here six years ago, it was two million years old. Now it is two million and six years old!" My friend, that shows how utterly ridiculous all this dating—which goes back millions of years—can really become.
"Faith means that you have a solid basis for the origin of the universe. I won't have to change my theory as scientific knowledge grows; it has been in operation a long time: "God created the heaven and the earth." (McGee)
Thanks to JPL for his cell phone text message about Hebrews 11:1-3. I send out the daily verses of our Good Morning! Letter to seventeen busy people who read the text on the run. Sometimes they respond with a verse of their own or a two-word commentary.
This article can also be viewed at www.bibleliving.blogspot.com
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