a. How did I get here?
Is there a goal in life? What is the purpose of life? We commonly ask ourselves these questions.
The question of origins can be answered in 2 ways.
b. Modern Science vs Outdated Genesis
Firstly, many subscribe to the 'modern scientific' view. Life started off with a Big Bang. It all began from a primordial soup consisting of hydrogen, ammonia and water. The mixing of these elements and compounds resulted in the first cell. Through genetic evolution and the 'survival of the fittest' theory, the universe was born.
The second way to answer the question is to look at the book of Genesis. Many people today think Genesis is in confrontation with modern science. Some of the conflicts include:
a) The age of the universe.
According to cosmology, the universe is 15 billion years old.
According to geology, the universe is about 4 to 6 billion years old.
Genesis seems to be saying that the universe was made in 6 days, and tracing the geneology of the men named in the Bible, the age of the universe according to the Bible would then only be about 6,000 years old!
b) According to Genesis, the sun is made after trees are made. It doesn't make scientific sense, especially since we understand scientifically that trees need sunlight for photosynthesis to produce energy!
2. Reading Genesis Literally
The problem lies in the way Genesis is read. The right way is to read Genesis to see what it says, and not read it to try to answer questions we already have.
a. Literature vs Literalistic
We must read Genesis literally, not literalistically. We must read Genesis not as a science textbook, or as an engineer's textbook. For example, when someone says, "my heart is open to you" he does not mean he needs a coronary bypass graft! We must not impose a wrong way of reading Genesis (such as using science)!
Only after getting this right can we begin our reading of Genesis.
b. "In the beginning"... of what?
We see the title of the book in verse 1. "In the beginning". It is a big title. It is also the beginning of world history. It is the beginning of Genesis 1-11. More than that, it is also the beginning of Genesis 12-51 (How God begins his rescue of mankind). And it is also the beginning of the 5 books of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), how God rescues Israel. And it is also the beginning of the whole Bible (how God rescues mankind).
3. "God Created the Heavens and the Earth"
'The heavens and the earth' really means - everything. It is not a scientific term. Here, we see that God just exists. He is assumed to be in existence.
a. From chaos...
In verse 2, we see how the world was void and without structure. There is darkness, no sound, and no light. But there are waters - to understand this, we must understand the Jewish writers and Jewish audience. To them, waters are closely linked to chaos. They couldn't control the seas. Waters and the idea of chaos go closely together. And in the midst of chaos, the breath (Spirit) of God was there. Where there is breath, there is also word. For that is exactly what happens in the next verse (and the rest of the chapter) - God speaks.
b. ...To order
God speaks to bring order from chaos.
As mentioned earlier, this section cannot be read like a science textbook. What the text seems to be highlighting is the orderly presentation from chaos. It stresses order arising from chaos.
-repetitions
Where is the idea of order? The text from verse 3 to 31 is full of repetitions.
"And God said" appears 10 times.
"And there was evening and morning, the ___ day" appears 6 times
"Let there be..." appears 8 times
"And there was / and it was so" appears 7 times
"And God made" appears 7 times
"God called" appears 5 times
"And God saw that ___ was good" appears 7 times
Not only that, there is order in the creation
-pattern _______ & ________
Day 1: Light (Day) is separated from Darkness (Night)
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Day 4: Greater light created to fill Day and lesser light to fill Night
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Day 2: Expanse (Heaven) separates water from water
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Day 5: Sea creatures created to fill waters and winged birds to fill Heaven
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Day 3: Land (Earth) is separated from water (Seas)
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Day 6: Land creatures and man created to fill Earth
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It is not a scientific account. It is a very structured and orderly account. God created everything, and there is a focus on the land (in contrast to the chaotic seas).
c. Sovereign design
There is an order, there is a plan. He has absolute power over the creation. He said, "let it be", and it happened. By just speaking, God brings things into existence. This is what the writer of Hebrews confirms as well (Heb 11:3).
Genesis 1:31 sums up the whole of creation. 'And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good'.
d. Jesus
Looking forward to the New Testament, we find that this God who made everything is Jesus (John 1:1-3, 14).
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
In Colossians 1:16-17, we again read that it is Jesus who created everything and holds everything together.
"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Hebrews 1 affirms this.
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."
It is very different from deism, which is the idea of a watchmaker God, who winds up the earth at the start, then leaves to let it run on 'auto-pilot', being disinterested in the day-to-day running of the world.
"The very hands that were nailed to the cross were the same ones that flung the stars into space" - Graham Kendrick
4. Evolution confusion
a. Unnatural enemies
Many people are confused because science seems in conflict with the Bible. However, Genesis and science are in fact very good friends. Evolution doesn't necessarily disprove Genesis. They are 2 very different fields of study. Science is trying to explain how things work (mechanistically). Genesis 1 is trying to answer a very different question altogether. Who made everything? Who is it made for? Where are we going? When we try to ask scientific questions of Genesis, we end up in trouble. Similarly, when we try to ask theological questions of science, science has no answers. E.g. how do we come up with an experiment to prove that the universe was created by a primordial soup? We would need to replicate the exact conditions then - an impossible task!
Genesis 1 gave rise to modern science. The first scientists were Christians. They understood that God was a God who created the world with orderliness and patterns, thus allowing for 'theories' and 'laws' to be developed from repeated observation and experimenting.
b. Real conflicts
The real conflict is not one of evolution vs Genesis. It is between accidental evolution and Genesis. Accidental evolution maintains that there is no God - there is no God who created everything. Accidental evolution manifests itself not just in atheism, but also in pantheism and philosophical materialism.
When we say things such as 'Mother Earth is angry' when a tsunami hits, we do not believe that there is a God who created earth, but that earth is god itself.
When we live our lives in pursuit of money or success, or in line with our own laws and standards without caring whether or not God exists or whether God has said anything about how to live, we are being philosophical materialists.
But...
if everything were just an accident, then there is no point asking about the purpose of life.
If everything were just an accident, then billions of people dying should not grieve us at all.
If everything were just an accident, then even our close friends and families dying shouldn't affect us at all. We are just molecules being re-arranged into some other structure (ash / dust).
The real conflict is not between Genesis and evolution. It is that we humans just hate to accept that God is a personal God, who is also our Owner and Judge!
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