By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
“He who with his whole heart believes in Jesus as the Son of God is thereby committed to much else besides. He is committed to a view of God, a view of man, a view of sin, a view of redemption, a view of creation and history, and a view of human destiny found only in Christianity.” James Orr (1844-1913)
Golf course design is fascinating. Months before the earth-moving machines arrive, these gifted architects, whether walking the land or viewing the topography from a drone, try to get a feel for their medium, a medium they themselves did not create.
Like many, I have walked the grounds of Augusta National, Pinehurst #2, and Winged Foot Golf Club with jaw-dropping awe. No one imagines that Ross, Mackenzie, or Tillinghast created the raw materials they used to design these cathedrals.
How many times, while playing at these famous venues, have we stopped and asked, “How in the world did this architect create this course in these rugged mountains, marsh, desert, or forest?” No one ever asks, “How did these architects create these mountains, marsh, desert, or forest?”
Appropriately, we rave about these magnificent layouts and their designers; tragically, though, so few pause to reflect on the ultimate Designer, his design, and the many implications of his creation.
For millennia, philosophers and theologians have argued that the universe is a cosmic accident, eternally existent, or an illusion.
Historically, Christians have understood the Cosmos differently from these other worldviews. We hold our foundational beliefs because the Creator revealed them through his prophets and apostles and preserved them in Scripture.
If there is one bedrock truth that has been under assault in the West, it is the biblical idea of Creation. Ever since Darwin presupposed a mechanistic universe devoid of a supernatural beginning and emptied it of supernatural intervention, the West has increasingly adopted naturalistic faith.
In opposition to their positions, the Christian worldview presupposes: First, the existence of a Personal, Ethical, Self-Revealing God. Second, the Christian worldview affirms God’s creation of the world, his immanent presence in it, his transcendence over it, and his holy and wise government of it.
As Orr noted in the opening quote, believing in Jesus commits his followers to other indispensable truths. As many able defenders of the faith recognize, we can no longer assume that our playing partners see the world the way earlier generations did—through biblical categories.
Consciously or unconsciously, all humans live within some grand story about ultimate reality— stories they have inherited, imagined, imbibed in college, or absorbed from culture.
Once an individual, society, and its institutions abandon the truth of creation, they will inevitably conclude that it is up to them to define reality.
Christians have engaged carefully with the theories of Evolutionism, and though commendable, we often forget that the creation narrative in Genesis 1-2 goes far beyond the questions posed by cosmology. While the age of the cosmos and the debates over whether the “days” are literal are important, these two chapters focus on much more.
In a close reading of the creation story, we discover the origins of gender (male and female), marriage (man and woman), human dignity (image bearers), human purpose (God’s vice-regents), ultimate meaning (worship), the nature of reality (the Creator-creature distinction), ethics (right and wrong grounded in his commands), family (be fruitful and multiply), vocation (cultivating culture), sexuality (procreation and recreation), conscience (guilt and shame), and much more.
Pausing to consider each creational category will go a long way toward helping us understand the brokenness in our world. Everything from gender denial and attempts to redefine marriage to a profound sense of meaninglessness is rooted in a fundamental denial of the Creation narrative.
Consciously or unconsciously, everyone assumes a story about the Cosmos and their place in it. What a society believes about the creation story shapes how it defines every other dimension of life.
Abandoning the idea of creation destroys the foundation of any society’s hope for meaning and stability.
The Psalmist asks, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). The answer, of course, is “rebuild the foundations.”
Prayer: Father! Pour out your Spirit again and grant us a revival grounded in biblical truths.