by Dan Jones
One of my favorite things on Kinship Christian Radio is Creation Moments, which airs each weekday morning at 7:40. It gives excellent examples of how God is glorified by the marvelous works and intelligent design of His creation.
Personally, I think the term “intelligent design” is a little weak.
As the Bible says, the earth is filled with His glory. ( Habakuk 2:14 and 3:3, Psalm 72:19, Numbers 14:21, and Isaiah 6:3) The works of his hands are marvelous and amazing not only in their amazing engineering feats and astounding beauty, but in the pure genius of how well it all works together.
This world and all that is in it is no accident.
Make that, “The universe is no accident.”
From the smallest particle of matter to the grandiose, limitless expanse of the galaxies, there is evidence of intention in the design.
It’s not just intelligent design, it’s intentional design.
There was a plan. God’s creation doesn’t just show our omnipotent, omniscient God was smart when He designed the universe, it shows He had a glorious plan and a purpose that goes beyond mere intelligence.
You no doubt remember from Sunday School how God looked at what He created on each day and saw that it was “good.”
We tend to read these verses (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25) as if God looked down upon what He had created and said to Himself, “Eh, Not bad.”
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25 NIV)
Our concept of God often seems like we think of Him as some kind of grand magician who speaks light itself into being and sits on His lofty throne and declares it “good.” Not great, but “good.”
“Ye verily, I have done not so bad with that.”
The Hebrew word used in these texts which we translate as “good” is “towb,” which occurs many times throughout the Old Testament. It often means “good” but it can also mean “beautiful,” “pleasant,” or “excellent.”
I don’t think the translations are wrong, but I think our concept of God’s reaction to His creation may be pale indeed to how God actually reacted to His creation as He surveyed His handiwork.
I mean, the ability to send photons hurtling across empty space at 186,282 miles per second just by speaking it into being is a pretty astounding deal –especially since it had never happened before.
Even the creation of water is amazing. There’s nothing in the universe that chemically behaves just like water. It’s astounding stuff that we take for granted but there’s a reason its the very stuff scientists look for on other planets. Water is essential for life and two-thirds of our Earth is covered with it.
We look up into the night sky and marvel at the beauty of the stars, but there are billions we cannot even see. The Bible says God knows every one of them by name. The scope and mass and breadth of the heavenly bodies is literally beyond our ability to conceive or understand.
We may think of the land as “just dirt” but the complex mixture of minerals and nutrients that give life to the plants is yet another miracle. Soil is actually a living, breathing community designed to support and sustain life.
And the plants… The science and chemistry behind photosynthesis (which converts sunlight to carbohydrates) is incredibly complex and amazing. There are things going on inside the leaf of a dandelion that make an automobile manufacturing plant look like something made with Tinker Toys (r) by a ten year-old.
When we get to the animals, God did truly amazing things. The diversity of everything from amoebas to elephants and how they manage to live and eat and breathe and reproduce and interact socially defies description. Whole libraries overflow with the inner workings of the animals and we still don’t understand all the details.
So, when the Bible says, “And God saw that it was good” I can’t help but think that God smiled when He looked down on what He had made.
And as I enjoy the view of the sun rising over the forests and the meadows and the corn fields, when I truly think about what is actually going on with all that incredible, lush, gorgeous, thriving growing Earth spread out before me, I am amazed and astounded by the glory before me because it seems that He is still smiling upon it and, in that moment, the intent of the design is clear.
He is to be worshiped and praised.
Today’s Praise
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)