Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
As a pastor I get all kinds of interesting and sometimes difficult theological questions. Some time ago a church member stopped me in the lobby of the East Campus and asked, “What about the dinosaurs?”
I said, “What about them?”
The person said, “Well, I’ve been reading Genesis, and if the dinosaurs were so big, and roamed the earth for millions of years, why aren’t they in the Bible?”
Although I can’t remember my exact response, and can’t argue with great linguistic certainty, I think I said something like, “Actually, I think the dinosaurs are in Genesis,” and I mentioned that when Genesis 1 talks about God creating the “wild animals” it was possible that this included dinosaurs.
But then the person asked, “But why would God create such creatures if they were never to exist on the earth at the same time as human beings?”
I had never really considered that question before, but the answer that came to my mind was, “For fun!”
I said, “Maybe God created the dinosaurs for fun, simply as an expression of his creativity!” Then I added, “Plus, maybe he knew that some day human beings would be curious about where we came from and we would start digging things up. And when we came across a giant dinosaur fossil we would go, ‘Holy cow! Look at this! What or who made this!? ’ And so maybe God made dinosaurs just so we would know something about him!”
The more I think about that conversation, and the more I think about what Genesis is telling us, the more I think I was on the right track. Only now I would change the word “fun” for the word “glory”. God made the dinosaurs so that in discovering them we would know something about his glory!
The creation story of Genesis isn’t primarily about science, although the keenest scientific minds among us are challenged by its claims. The creation story is about the glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
The ancient Psalm writer is saying that, if we pay attention, the world around us is trying to tell us something. This is why I think science is the friend of faith and not the enemy. Science could be understood as the practice of paying attention to nature; the discipline of learning how everything in the universe works. And the more we learn and understand about the universe, the more we see the glory of God.
The Apostle Paul says it this way:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20
And it is God’s glory, the Bible says, that has been ignored, forgotten and denied. Paul continues:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21
And failure to recognize and appreciate the glory of God leads to the central problem of the universe:
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:22
Paul then summarizes this way:
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…Romans 3:23
Now we come full circle to the gospel.
Genesis tells us Christ was with God in the beginning.
Genesis tell us Christ was the Word through which
God created all things.
Genesis tells us that through Christ the universe was created as good, and that, therefore the universe bears witness to both the love and glory of God.
Paul tells us that human sin is the rejection of the glory of God.
The gospel is God’s grace in Christ to reconcile fallen humanity to himself.
The gospel is also the redemption of all creation and the ultimate triumph of the glory of God.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making all things new!”
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Revelation 21:1,5,22-23
We began this week by saying that the book of Genesis is the prequel to everything; that is, it holds the keys to understanding everything that follows. As we begin our study we must simply see that Genesis begins by declaring the glory of God and by presenting the gospel of Christ; which is also where the whole story of the Bible ends.
Brian Coffey
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment