Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
- Isaiah 40:12
Imagine I go into work on my birthday next week and there's a cake on my desk. It's beautifully decorated with whipped cream frosting and cut fruit and a candle.
The most logical thought I would have would be, wow, someone either made or bought me a cake and left it here for me on my desk. Probably one of my co-workers.
But what if instead, I thought this:
Wow... there were no ingredients for a cake in my office before today, so they must have appeared out of thin air - maybe in some kind of explosion. Then, they found a way to organize themselves together in just the right order and make-up for cake batter. Then, over the course of the weekend, they evolved into a cooked cake. And, since people don't eat cake without frosting, the frosting, fruit, and candle evolved so it would look beautiful and edible. What an amazing feat of nature.
Most of us would read the second explanation and chuckle. Obviously, it would be ridiculous to believe the cake appeared from nothing and evolved on its own into a cake.
Yet, how is the theory of evolution any different?
The theory of evolution (and it IS just a theory, isn't it, since there's no way to prove it in its entirety) generally is accompanied by the belief that a Big Bang created everything we know in this universe. There was nothing, and then, there was an explosion, and everything was. From the explosion came particulars and matter and elements that over billions of years began to gather themselves into things we now call planets and stars and solar systems. On the planet Earth, something special happened. Something that - as far as we know - hasn't ever happened anywhere else. In the water, the exact right particulars collided into each other at exactly the right time and created a spark of life. We've never, ever, seen this happen, life coming from nothing and nowhere (even when scientists have tried to replicate this process in a lab), but in that moment, it did. And from that initial spark of life, over more billions of years, evolved everything else that lives and breathes, including us.
There are several things evolution cannot explain. Like, how did the initial explosion happen? Where did the energy or matter that exploded come from to begin with? How did life suddenly spark? Even the theory of species evolving over time has many holes in it. We have Species B which looks like a descendent of Species A, but before it could get there, there should have been thousands of small variations over time in between the two. But we don't have evidence of those mini-variations. At all.
It might be worth remembering that the theory of evolution was written by an agnostic scientist in 1858. Before Darwin, much of the world pretty much agreed in a Creator. Different cultures and religions defined the Creator differently with various creation stories, but it was generally accepted that all of this didn't come from nothing and didn't come on its own. The belief of evolution, now taught in schools as though fact, is only 150 years old. Relatively new in the scope of human history, and imperfect and unproven.
There's a book I read some time ago called, "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist". I love the title because I agree. I can't look at the beauty of this world and the compassion of human beings and think this all happened by some cosmic accident and a great deal of good fortune. I look at the stars and see a Creator.
Now, I'm not a full-on, hardcore creationist. I believe God made the world and every animal and person in it according to its own kind. But I think there is sufficient evidence that the Earth is a lot older than hardcore creationists believe. It truly doesn't matter to me if God created the world in six literal 24-hour days or in billions of years. God is eternal. He always has been, always is, and always will be. Time is nothing to Him. We are the ones obsessed with time.
If you look at the stages of evolution, or the order in which scientists believe life happened, and line them up against the stages of creation... there are more parallels than disagreements. I find that fascinating. After all, Genesis was written thousands of years before Darwin. How would Moses (presumed the author of Genesis) have known the order of creation? Unless God, who created everything, had revealed it to him.
What if, there was nothing, and then God caused a massive explosion, sending everything into motion. What if God organized all matter and energy and elements into planets and stars and solar systems. What if God caused life to spark, and over time, created many beautiful and distinctive creatures of the sea, land, and air.
What if... GOD.
Something must come from something because nothing comes from nothing. All of the holes in the theory are explained by God. He is the only one who can create something from nothing. He is the only one who can generate life. He is the only one who could make all the beauty and diversity in our world and make it all make sense.
We have a cake.
There must be a baker.
Perhaps the reason why so many are determined not to see Him is because they worry the baker wants something from them.
Spoiler alert, He does.
My message here, though, is not for Atheists who believe in evolution. It's for Christians.
We need not be afraid of science.
We need not be afraid of evolution.
You can be a Christian and be a scientist. In fact, many scientists are Christian.
You can be a Christian and believe in evolution - or at least, parts of it.
We have no need to stand against science.
Science is a way of understanding the world God made and the people He loves.
Science has brought us cures to diseases that were killing human beings off before the age of 40. Science will - if we follow it - keep us from killing the planet before Jesus returns.
Science and faith need not go against each other. They can go hand in hand.
Let us marvel at the beautiful creation God has made. Let us care for it as we were instructed. And let us care for the most special of His creations - one another - with love.
*Louie Giglio has a video series called, "Indescribable" which I highly recommend. Seeing how big and awesome our universe is will expand your view of God. He also has a kid's book, called, "How Great is Our God", a devotional that mixes science and faith - recommended for families!
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