God The Creator
Christian Faith
This You Can Believe
Faith Seeking Understanding
Object:
A surgeon, an engineer, and a politician were arguing which profession was the oldest. "Eve was made from Adam's rib," said the surgeon, "and that, of course, was a surgical procedure." "Yes," countered the engineer, "but before that, order was created out of chaos, and that most certainly was an engineering job." "Ah-ha!" exclaimed the politician triumphantly. "And just who do you think created the chaos?" If a spokesman for God were present, he probably said, "You men know nothing. Before anyone or anything, God was there 'in the beginning.' " The creed speaks for the Bible when it has us say: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth" or "I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth."
The only difference between the traditional and ecumenical versions is in the words "maker" and "creator." The latter word has a greater significance than the former. God the Father is the creator of the universe, not only the "maker." Only God can create but almost everyone can make things. Creation requires that something be made out of nothing -- creator ex nihilo. Before the creation, the earth was "without form and void, and darkness ..." (Genesis 1:2). People may be creative but not creators. We can rearrange things in different patterns, but we cannot create something out of nothing. That is why only God can make a Christian, for a Christian is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). A Christian must first die to self and become nothing. Then he rises with Christ into a new creation. New life is created out of death, the death of the Old Adam. We must first become nothing before God can make something out of us.
Who Made The Universe?
Not everyone agrees with the creed that God is the creator. Scientists propose the big bang theory of the birth of the universe. Astronomers have long believed that galaxies, clusters that usually contain billions of stars, were all formed shortly after the big bang which was the cataclysmic explosion some fifteen billion years ago that resulted in the universe. Others claim there was no creation because of the permanence of creation. This is supported by virtue of a continuous creation. This makes the universe eternal. New stars are continually being discovered. This view is known as "the steady state theory."
The creed expresses the faith that creation is the work of God the Father. He created both heaven and earth. This refers to the entire universe with all the planets and stars including the earth and all that is on it. While God the Father is given credit for creation, the other persons of the Trinity were with the Father as participants in the creation. God the Son shared in creation: "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). God the Spirit also had a part in creation: "The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2).
Creation was something only the triune God could do. To create an infinite universe, it took an infinite God. Think of the vastness of the universe. Today astronomers study stars so distant that their light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, has been moving toward the earth for more than ten billion years. Or consider the age of the universe. Some astrophysicists claim that the universe is from fifteen to twenty billion years of age. For this to be created, there had to be a God who is "from everlasting to everlasting." Then think of the size of the universe. There are billions upon billions of stars, like our sun, that continually burn like thermonuclear furnaces.
Above all, there is the creation of humankind, the very crown of creation. The human being is a marvel of creation. The human body has thirty trillion cells performing 10,000 chemical functions. The body has 206 bones, 639 muscles, and a brain that processes 10,000 thoughts per day and communicates 4,000 messages. The heart beats over 100,000 times daily and pumps blood 168,000,000 miles around the body. Consider the human lungs. The average person takes 23,800 breaths per day to bring 438 cubic feet of air to the lungs.
In light of all this, we can see that only God could create the universe. "The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).
Continuing Creation
Creation is not only a thing of the past but it still goes on. The first verse of the Bible begins, "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth." The word "when" gives the impression that creation was a onetime event. But an alternate translation in the same version says, "When God began to create."
God's continuing creation is seen in our ever-expanding universe. Astronomers claim that the galaxies are ever-expanding. Stars are constantly being born and others are dying. It takes billions of years for some stars to die out.
Even the earth is in the process of creation. The planet earth is constantly renewing her surfaces and changing her face in vast movements of the crustal plates. New landforms are coming into existence. Internally the earth moves. This is seen in earthquakes and volcanoes. Scientists are of the opinion that our multi-billion-year-old earth is still evolving.
We can be grateful for continuing creation, because it provides the necessities of life. Through sun, rain, seasons, the power of life in seed, and the basic instinct of self-preservation, God continues his creation. We are ever-dependent on God to provide the necessities of life through nature. We live from hand-to-mouth similar to the Israelites in the wilderness who received manna on a day-to-day basis. We experience the providence of God through his continuous creation. The creation of God and the providence of God are two sides of a coin.
Implications
What does this truth about God's work of creation mean to us? Are there any implications for our lives today?
First, in the face of these facts about the universe, we are impressed with the greatness of God. In the face of an infinite universe, we see how great our God is. We appreciate the power of God which made the universe. A tornado, hurricane, or a thunderstorm helps us realize the almightiness of God. Thus, we come to the conclusion that there is nothing too hard for God to do for us when we ask for his help. He is able to keep his promises. Before his greatness and power, we instinctively bow in awe, reverence, and adoration.
Another implication of God as creator is our stewardship of the earth. This is not our world but God's world by virtue of his having made it. If he made it, he knows how to fix it, for surely our world is in need of fixing. Years ago a Ford car broke down on a highway. The owner did not know what was wrong with it, and if he did, he would not have known how to fix it. A fellow traveler stopped and offered his help. In a short time the stranger had the car running again. The owner asked, "How did you know how to fix it? Who are you?" The stranger explained, "I know how to fix it because I am the man that made it. You see, I am Henry Ford." In the same way, only God can repair our broken, ailing, out-of-commission world, because like none other, he understands and knows what is wrong. And what is wrong? It is the heart of every human being.
Since God is the owner and maker of the world, we humans are only trustees and stewards. God placed the care and dominance of nature into human hands. At the very beginning, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). God made us gardeners and caretakers of his creation. Tragically, many in our day have forgotten humanity's role in creation. We are squandering and wasting natural resources. We have ravished and polluted the good earth. Acid rain is bringing our lakes and forests to ruin. Many animals and birds are on the endangered species list. Through greed we are cutting down rain forests, and paving with asphalt fields that formerly were feeding and breeding grounds for birds and animals. Our insatiable demand for energy is exhausting natural resources. If Americans would go back to hanging out their clothes to dry, enough electricity would be saved to provide electricity for 3.2 million homes. Half of the natural gas used is due to the burning of pilot lights on our stoves. It takes 800 acres of timber to produce the Sunday issue of The New York Times. In one state, seventeen percent of its solid waste materials is disposable diapers. All of these facts point to the need for conservation. One day God may ask us, "What have you done to my earth?"
A third implication is the value of human life. Human beings are the special creation of God, the crown of his entire creation. Our bodies are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). This body of mine is really not mine. It is God's because he made it for my use. If the body belongs to God by virtue of creation, I cannot say that I can do with it as I please. I did not choose to be born. I did not make myself. Therefore, I am only a trustee of my body. I am responsible to God to care for the body, to keep it in good health as far as possible. I dare not waste my life by indulging in harmful foods or activities. Each year 350,000 lives are lost through smoking tobacco. If my life is not my own, I have no right to end it in suicide. Yet each year 50,000 youth commit this irreversible sin.
What is true about the body is also true about the soul. God has made us basically souls which are clothed with bodies. When Adam was created, his body was made first and then God breathed his Spirit into him and he became a "living being" (Genesis 2:7). Consequently, we are responsible for taking care of our souls also. They need spiritual food through private and public worship, Bible reading, and prayer. The danger is that we become so concerned about our physical well-being that we neglect our souls. With this in mind, Jesus asked, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36).
A fourth implication of God's creation is the power of God's Word. He created the universe by his Word. In the Genesis account, we read time after time, "And God said." When he spoke, order came out of chaos, light overcame the darkness, life came to animals and man. The power of God is in the power of his Word. Word and deed are one. The Word has power to heal and to transform life from evil to good. For this reason we need to read, learn, and digest God's Word.
Why Was The World Created?
The Apostles' Creed tells us who created the universe, but it does not tell us why. Nor does the Bible in chapter and verse tell us why. Yet the question is always bothering us. Did God have a reason for creating the world?
One answer is that God created the world for his own sake. The Bible tells us that God is love. If God is love, then he, like us, needs someone to love. Before humanity was created, a lonely God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). God needed a creature like himself whom he could love and who could love him. Birds, animals, and flowers are incapable of loving as humans do. If one loves and has no one to love in return, it is agony and utter frustration. It can be a tragedy of unrequited love. Humans were made out of love in order to love in return. Just as we need love, to love and to receive love, God needed creatures to love and for them to love him.
With this in mind, we can see a reason for our creation. We were made to love and to have fellowship with God. When we accept God's love and love him in return, we find meaning and fulfillment in life. When we are in love with God and not with self, life is abundant with peace and joy. When humanity fell out of love with God by disobeying him, sin, suffering, shame, and death came into human existence. Since Adam and Eve, humanity turned from God, resisted God, and became his enemy. Since that original sin, God has been seeking, yearning, and begging humanity to return to him, as he continues to love his people. It is the long, long story of God's plan of salvation. Through prophets, priests, kings, acts of history, and finally through his own Son, God reaches out to people and says, "Turn to me and live."
A second possible answer to why God created the heavens and the earth is that he created them for humanity's sake. The just-created human race had to have a garden for food, drink, and clothing. Just after the Fall, God makes clothes for Adam and Eve. The universe was made for humanity's welfare, for life and enjoyment. Consequently, everything God made was good. In the creation account, after each stage of creation, it is said that God looked at it and pronounced it good. "God saw that it was very good." The earth was created, moreover, for our good, because the whole creation is good. When mankind cares for the earth, each person enjoys the products of the earth. When humanity neglects, ravishes, exploits, abuses, and wastes the earth, it suffers. Some years ago a horrible famine with wholesale starvation was experienced in Africa. A drought was only a small part of the cause. The main reason for the famine was the cutting down of forests and the exploitation of the land to the point that there was little to no topsoil for growing food.
The biblical view of the physical world is that God's creation is good. Docetism and Gnosticism taught that matter was inherently evil. This was the view of many Puritans. The material world was supposed to be evil and associated with the devil. In contrast, the Bible teaches that the human body with all its functions, organs, and drives is inherently good. Call nothing that God made evil. A good God can only create good things. When the body's drives and desires are exploited, abused, and misused, evil and sin result. Sex is considered by some as dirty and bad. According to God's Word, sex is a gift of God for a couple's ability to have children and to promote a closer relationship between a husband and wife. Sex can be beautiful and honorable. It is when sex is used outside marriage, when it is polluted by fornication, incest, pornography, and harassment, that it becomes a curse to humankind.
The How Of Creation
The Apostles' Creed does not tell us when creation took place, how it was done, or how long it took to bring it to its present state. It does not tell us simply because the Bible is silent in these matters. As a result there is a difference of opinion. A Gallup poll in 1991 indicated that 47 percent of Americans believe God created humankind in his/her present form within the past 10,000 years. Forty percent believe humans developed over millions of years but God guided the process. Nine percent believe God was not involved in the process. Christians are divided on this issue: 49 percent of Protestants accept creationism; 55 percent of Roman Catholics go for evolution.
On the one hand, there is the very conservative explanation of creation known as creationism. Fundamentalist Christians, who take the Bible literally, word for word as dictated by God, hold to the position known as creationism. They maintain that the origin of the universe and life rests with God's actions as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2. Accordingly, they hold that the universe came into existence within the past 10,000 years. It took God only six 24-hour days to create the entire universe and everything on earth. God's method was instantaneous.
This view repudiates the scientific view of evolution which maintains that the diversity of life on earth is the outcome of evolution. Evolution is an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable, and natural process of temporal descent with genetic modification that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies, and changing environments. Creationists claim that the Bible is the God-inspired account of creation and is to be taken as it says.
These ultraconservative Christians insist that this biblical view should be taught in public schools in place of evolution. Thirty-one states have a law directing that if evolution is taught in public schools, creationism should also be taught. In 1987 the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a Louisiana law requiring the teaching of creationism where evolution is taught.
On the other hand, there is the modern scientific explanation of creation that says the earth is about 4.5 billion years old, in contrast to creationism's contention that the earth is no older than 10,000 years. Fossils and rocks are billions of years old. The diamond is the earth's oldest rock -- 3.5 billion years old. Over the billions of years came fish, amphibians, plants, insects, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals. Three-and-a-half million years ago came the walking primates that ended in modern man and woman.
There are two kinds of evolution. There is secular evolution which has no place for God in the process of creation. Everything, they say, came into existence from a "big bang," from various chemicals, and developed according to natural selection and reproduction. Evolution then has no connection with a Creator.
The other kind of evolution can be called theistic evolution. This view has a place for God who is the Cause of the evolutionary process. In this case, evolution does not deny divine creation but only describes it. It acknowledges that God is the maker of the universe and evolution is his way of bringing the universe to its present status. A little girl was watching a television program dealing with evolution. Her mother tried to interrupt and give a religious explanation of creation. The girl responded, "Be quiet, Mother. I want to learn how God did these things." You may ask, does this view not conflict with the Bible? There really is no conflict between science and religion. As someone said, "Science is about knowing. It's not about believing." It does not matter whether God took six days or six billion years to create the universe. The Bible does not pose as an authority in science, history, politics, or sociology. Its authority is in the realm of spiritual truth. When Galileo was on trial for his support of the Copernican view of the universe, he quoted a churchman of his day: "The intention of the Holy Spirit is to teach how to go to heaven and not how go the heavens." An Episcopal bishop said he did not know a single reputable biblical scholar who would say that God created man in the last 10,000 years. In 1985 Pope John Paul spoke to a group of scientists on evolution: "Belief in evolution is not blocked by faith, if discussion of it remains in the context of the naturalistic method and its possibilities. The biblical account of creation and belief in God are not incompatible with the theory of evolution."
A study of Genesis 1 shows how the world evolved. In verse 2 there is total darkness. Light overcomes the darkness in verse 3. Water then comes in verse 6. After the water, land appears as the water recedes -- verse 9. With the land in place, vegetation comes -- verse 12. Later come fish and birds -- verse 20. In verse 24 we have the animals. To top it all, human beings come as the last and crown of the entire creation -- verse 26.
Where Do You Stand?
You can confess the Apostles' Creed without entering into the evolution-creationism controversy, because the creed tells us only who created the universe and not how or how long it took for creation. You can be a true Christian whether you are a creationist or an evolutionist. It is a matter of personal choice between two explanations. You may prefer Moses' pre-scientific explanation or the modern scientific view. The essential for both parties is the acceptance of the creed's truth: God is the creator of the heavens and earth. How God did it or how long it took for him to do it is nonessential.
A Summary Of The First Article Of The Apostles' Creed
This You Can Believe
I believe that God has created me and all that exists; that he has given and still preserves to me my body and soul, with all my limbs and senses, my reason and all the faculties of my mind, together with my raiment, food, home, and family, and all my property; that he daily provides me abundantly with all the necessities of life, protects me from all danger, and preserves me and guards me against all evil; all which he does out of pure, paternal, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I am in duty bound to thank, praise, serve, and obey him. This is most certainly true.
-- Martin Luther, The Small Catechism
Study Guide
God The Creator
The Apostles' Creed answers some of our questions about the creation of the universe, but not all of them. What questions are answered or not answered?
Answered Questions
WHO created the universe?
The creed answers: GOD. Science answers: BIG BANG. Which is correct?
If God did it, was it God the Father only? Where were God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? For the answers read:
Genesis 1:1 _____________________________________
John 1:3 _______________________________________
Genesis 1:2 _____________________________________
WHAT was created?
The creed says God created heaven and earth. What do you understand by "heaven"? Is it the place we faithful Christians go when we die? Does "earth" include insects, rats, mosquitoes, dragons, dinosaurs, snakes, the devil?
Do all God's creatures have a right to live? What about the endangered species? Can we undo what God has done? Is a Christian a natural conservationist?
WHEN was the universe created?
Fundamentalists say creation took place less than 10,000 years ago. Modern scientists claim the universe began ten billion years ago. The Bible says, "In the beginning God created ..." (Genesis 1:1). The key is knowing when was the "beginning." Do rocks and fossils give us a clue to how old the earth is? The Bible is right: the universe had to have a beginning. If it were eternal, then the universe would be God who is eternal.
Unanswered Questions
WHY did God create the heavens and earth?
The creed does not tell us why. We can get a glimpse of the "why" in the Bible. From your knowledge of the Bible, why do you think God made the universe? Check the following that you agree with:
___ To have someone for God to love.
___ To provide a place for humanity to live.
___ To give people the joy of seeing creation.
___ To permit people to experience life.
___ To test the loyalty of his children.
___ To create for the sake of creating.
HOW and HOW LONG?
What method did God use to create the world? How long did it take him to do it? Discuss with those around you the following questions:
1. Does it really matter if God took six days or six billion years to complete his creation?
2. Is the Genesis account a religious or scientific explanation of creation?
3. If one chooses the evolution theory, is one unfaithful to the Bible?
4. Is the biblical account of creation to be taken literally?
5. Can one be a true Christian and accept evolution?
6. Is the Bible an authority in science?
7. Should creationism be taught in our public schools?
The only difference between the traditional and ecumenical versions is in the words "maker" and "creator." The latter word has a greater significance than the former. God the Father is the creator of the universe, not only the "maker." Only God can create but almost everyone can make things. Creation requires that something be made out of nothing -- creator ex nihilo. Before the creation, the earth was "without form and void, and darkness ..." (Genesis 1:2). People may be creative but not creators. We can rearrange things in different patterns, but we cannot create something out of nothing. That is why only God can make a Christian, for a Christian is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). A Christian must first die to self and become nothing. Then he rises with Christ into a new creation. New life is created out of death, the death of the Old Adam. We must first become nothing before God can make something out of us.
Who Made The Universe?
Not everyone agrees with the creed that God is the creator. Scientists propose the big bang theory of the birth of the universe. Astronomers have long believed that galaxies, clusters that usually contain billions of stars, were all formed shortly after the big bang which was the cataclysmic explosion some fifteen billion years ago that resulted in the universe. Others claim there was no creation because of the permanence of creation. This is supported by virtue of a continuous creation. This makes the universe eternal. New stars are continually being discovered. This view is known as "the steady state theory."
The creed expresses the faith that creation is the work of God the Father. He created both heaven and earth. This refers to the entire universe with all the planets and stars including the earth and all that is on it. While God the Father is given credit for creation, the other persons of the Trinity were with the Father as participants in the creation. God the Son shared in creation: "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). God the Spirit also had a part in creation: "The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2).
Creation was something only the triune God could do. To create an infinite universe, it took an infinite God. Think of the vastness of the universe. Today astronomers study stars so distant that their light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, has been moving toward the earth for more than ten billion years. Or consider the age of the universe. Some astrophysicists claim that the universe is from fifteen to twenty billion years of age. For this to be created, there had to be a God who is "from everlasting to everlasting." Then think of the size of the universe. There are billions upon billions of stars, like our sun, that continually burn like thermonuclear furnaces.
Above all, there is the creation of humankind, the very crown of creation. The human being is a marvel of creation. The human body has thirty trillion cells performing 10,000 chemical functions. The body has 206 bones, 639 muscles, and a brain that processes 10,000 thoughts per day and communicates 4,000 messages. The heart beats over 100,000 times daily and pumps blood 168,000,000 miles around the body. Consider the human lungs. The average person takes 23,800 breaths per day to bring 438 cubic feet of air to the lungs.
In light of all this, we can see that only God could create the universe. "The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).
Continuing Creation
Creation is not only a thing of the past but it still goes on. The first verse of the Bible begins, "In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth." The word "when" gives the impression that creation was a onetime event. But an alternate translation in the same version says, "When God began to create."
God's continuing creation is seen in our ever-expanding universe. Astronomers claim that the galaxies are ever-expanding. Stars are constantly being born and others are dying. It takes billions of years for some stars to die out.
Even the earth is in the process of creation. The planet earth is constantly renewing her surfaces and changing her face in vast movements of the crustal plates. New landforms are coming into existence. Internally the earth moves. This is seen in earthquakes and volcanoes. Scientists are of the opinion that our multi-billion-year-old earth is still evolving.
We can be grateful for continuing creation, because it provides the necessities of life. Through sun, rain, seasons, the power of life in seed, and the basic instinct of self-preservation, God continues his creation. We are ever-dependent on God to provide the necessities of life through nature. We live from hand-to-mouth similar to the Israelites in the wilderness who received manna on a day-to-day basis. We experience the providence of God through his continuous creation. The creation of God and the providence of God are two sides of a coin.
Implications
What does this truth about God's work of creation mean to us? Are there any implications for our lives today?
First, in the face of these facts about the universe, we are impressed with the greatness of God. In the face of an infinite universe, we see how great our God is. We appreciate the power of God which made the universe. A tornado, hurricane, or a thunderstorm helps us realize the almightiness of God. Thus, we come to the conclusion that there is nothing too hard for God to do for us when we ask for his help. He is able to keep his promises. Before his greatness and power, we instinctively bow in awe, reverence, and adoration.
Another implication of God as creator is our stewardship of the earth. This is not our world but God's world by virtue of his having made it. If he made it, he knows how to fix it, for surely our world is in need of fixing. Years ago a Ford car broke down on a highway. The owner did not know what was wrong with it, and if he did, he would not have known how to fix it. A fellow traveler stopped and offered his help. In a short time the stranger had the car running again. The owner asked, "How did you know how to fix it? Who are you?" The stranger explained, "I know how to fix it because I am the man that made it. You see, I am Henry Ford." In the same way, only God can repair our broken, ailing, out-of-commission world, because like none other, he understands and knows what is wrong. And what is wrong? It is the heart of every human being.
Since God is the owner and maker of the world, we humans are only trustees and stewards. God placed the care and dominance of nature into human hands. At the very beginning, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). God made us gardeners and caretakers of his creation. Tragically, many in our day have forgotten humanity's role in creation. We are squandering and wasting natural resources. We have ravished and polluted the good earth. Acid rain is bringing our lakes and forests to ruin. Many animals and birds are on the endangered species list. Through greed we are cutting down rain forests, and paving with asphalt fields that formerly were feeding and breeding grounds for birds and animals. Our insatiable demand for energy is exhausting natural resources. If Americans would go back to hanging out their clothes to dry, enough electricity would be saved to provide electricity for 3.2 million homes. Half of the natural gas used is due to the burning of pilot lights on our stoves. It takes 800 acres of timber to produce the Sunday issue of The New York Times. In one state, seventeen percent of its solid waste materials is disposable diapers. All of these facts point to the need for conservation. One day God may ask us, "What have you done to my earth?"
A third implication is the value of human life. Human beings are the special creation of God, the crown of his entire creation. Our bodies are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). This body of mine is really not mine. It is God's because he made it for my use. If the body belongs to God by virtue of creation, I cannot say that I can do with it as I please. I did not choose to be born. I did not make myself. Therefore, I am only a trustee of my body. I am responsible to God to care for the body, to keep it in good health as far as possible. I dare not waste my life by indulging in harmful foods or activities. Each year 350,000 lives are lost through smoking tobacco. If my life is not my own, I have no right to end it in suicide. Yet each year 50,000 youth commit this irreversible sin.
What is true about the body is also true about the soul. God has made us basically souls which are clothed with bodies. When Adam was created, his body was made first and then God breathed his Spirit into him and he became a "living being" (Genesis 2:7). Consequently, we are responsible for taking care of our souls also. They need spiritual food through private and public worship, Bible reading, and prayer. The danger is that we become so concerned about our physical well-being that we neglect our souls. With this in mind, Jesus asked, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36).
A fourth implication of God's creation is the power of God's Word. He created the universe by his Word. In the Genesis account, we read time after time, "And God said." When he spoke, order came out of chaos, light overcame the darkness, life came to animals and man. The power of God is in the power of his Word. Word and deed are one. The Word has power to heal and to transform life from evil to good. For this reason we need to read, learn, and digest God's Word.
Why Was The World Created?
The Apostles' Creed tells us who created the universe, but it does not tell us why. Nor does the Bible in chapter and verse tell us why. Yet the question is always bothering us. Did God have a reason for creating the world?
One answer is that God created the world for his own sake. The Bible tells us that God is love. If God is love, then he, like us, needs someone to love. Before humanity was created, a lonely God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). God needed a creature like himself whom he could love and who could love him. Birds, animals, and flowers are incapable of loving as humans do. If one loves and has no one to love in return, it is agony and utter frustration. It can be a tragedy of unrequited love. Humans were made out of love in order to love in return. Just as we need love, to love and to receive love, God needed creatures to love and for them to love him.
With this in mind, we can see a reason for our creation. We were made to love and to have fellowship with God. When we accept God's love and love him in return, we find meaning and fulfillment in life. When we are in love with God and not with self, life is abundant with peace and joy. When humanity fell out of love with God by disobeying him, sin, suffering, shame, and death came into human existence. Since Adam and Eve, humanity turned from God, resisted God, and became his enemy. Since that original sin, God has been seeking, yearning, and begging humanity to return to him, as he continues to love his people. It is the long, long story of God's plan of salvation. Through prophets, priests, kings, acts of history, and finally through his own Son, God reaches out to people and says, "Turn to me and live."
A second possible answer to why God created the heavens and the earth is that he created them for humanity's sake. The just-created human race had to have a garden for food, drink, and clothing. Just after the Fall, God makes clothes for Adam and Eve. The universe was made for humanity's welfare, for life and enjoyment. Consequently, everything God made was good. In the creation account, after each stage of creation, it is said that God looked at it and pronounced it good. "God saw that it was very good." The earth was created, moreover, for our good, because the whole creation is good. When mankind cares for the earth, each person enjoys the products of the earth. When humanity neglects, ravishes, exploits, abuses, and wastes the earth, it suffers. Some years ago a horrible famine with wholesale starvation was experienced in Africa. A drought was only a small part of the cause. The main reason for the famine was the cutting down of forests and the exploitation of the land to the point that there was little to no topsoil for growing food.
The biblical view of the physical world is that God's creation is good. Docetism and Gnosticism taught that matter was inherently evil. This was the view of many Puritans. The material world was supposed to be evil and associated with the devil. In contrast, the Bible teaches that the human body with all its functions, organs, and drives is inherently good. Call nothing that God made evil. A good God can only create good things. When the body's drives and desires are exploited, abused, and misused, evil and sin result. Sex is considered by some as dirty and bad. According to God's Word, sex is a gift of God for a couple's ability to have children and to promote a closer relationship between a husband and wife. Sex can be beautiful and honorable. It is when sex is used outside marriage, when it is polluted by fornication, incest, pornography, and harassment, that it becomes a curse to humankind.
The How Of Creation
The Apostles' Creed does not tell us when creation took place, how it was done, or how long it took to bring it to its present state. It does not tell us simply because the Bible is silent in these matters. As a result there is a difference of opinion. A Gallup poll in 1991 indicated that 47 percent of Americans believe God created humankind in his/her present form within the past 10,000 years. Forty percent believe humans developed over millions of years but God guided the process. Nine percent believe God was not involved in the process. Christians are divided on this issue: 49 percent of Protestants accept creationism; 55 percent of Roman Catholics go for evolution.
On the one hand, there is the very conservative explanation of creation known as creationism. Fundamentalist Christians, who take the Bible literally, word for word as dictated by God, hold to the position known as creationism. They maintain that the origin of the universe and life rests with God's actions as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2. Accordingly, they hold that the universe came into existence within the past 10,000 years. It took God only six 24-hour days to create the entire universe and everything on earth. God's method was instantaneous.
This view repudiates the scientific view of evolution which maintains that the diversity of life on earth is the outcome of evolution. Evolution is an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable, and natural process of temporal descent with genetic modification that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies, and changing environments. Creationists claim that the Bible is the God-inspired account of creation and is to be taken as it says.
These ultraconservative Christians insist that this biblical view should be taught in public schools in place of evolution. Thirty-one states have a law directing that if evolution is taught in public schools, creationism should also be taught. In 1987 the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a Louisiana law requiring the teaching of creationism where evolution is taught.
On the other hand, there is the modern scientific explanation of creation that says the earth is about 4.5 billion years old, in contrast to creationism's contention that the earth is no older than 10,000 years. Fossils and rocks are billions of years old. The diamond is the earth's oldest rock -- 3.5 billion years old. Over the billions of years came fish, amphibians, plants, insects, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals. Three-and-a-half million years ago came the walking primates that ended in modern man and woman.
There are two kinds of evolution. There is secular evolution which has no place for God in the process of creation. Everything, they say, came into existence from a "big bang," from various chemicals, and developed according to natural selection and reproduction. Evolution then has no connection with a Creator.
The other kind of evolution can be called theistic evolution. This view has a place for God who is the Cause of the evolutionary process. In this case, evolution does not deny divine creation but only describes it. It acknowledges that God is the maker of the universe and evolution is his way of bringing the universe to its present status. A little girl was watching a television program dealing with evolution. Her mother tried to interrupt and give a religious explanation of creation. The girl responded, "Be quiet, Mother. I want to learn how God did these things." You may ask, does this view not conflict with the Bible? There really is no conflict between science and religion. As someone said, "Science is about knowing. It's not about believing." It does not matter whether God took six days or six billion years to create the universe. The Bible does not pose as an authority in science, history, politics, or sociology. Its authority is in the realm of spiritual truth. When Galileo was on trial for his support of the Copernican view of the universe, he quoted a churchman of his day: "The intention of the Holy Spirit is to teach how to go to heaven and not how go the heavens." An Episcopal bishop said he did not know a single reputable biblical scholar who would say that God created man in the last 10,000 years. In 1985 Pope John Paul spoke to a group of scientists on evolution: "Belief in evolution is not blocked by faith, if discussion of it remains in the context of the naturalistic method and its possibilities. The biblical account of creation and belief in God are not incompatible with the theory of evolution."
A study of Genesis 1 shows how the world evolved. In verse 2 there is total darkness. Light overcomes the darkness in verse 3. Water then comes in verse 6. After the water, land appears as the water recedes -- verse 9. With the land in place, vegetation comes -- verse 12. Later come fish and birds -- verse 20. In verse 24 we have the animals. To top it all, human beings come as the last and crown of the entire creation -- verse 26.
Where Do You Stand?
You can confess the Apostles' Creed without entering into the evolution-creationism controversy, because the creed tells us only who created the universe and not how or how long it took for creation. You can be a true Christian whether you are a creationist or an evolutionist. It is a matter of personal choice between two explanations. You may prefer Moses' pre-scientific explanation or the modern scientific view. The essential for both parties is the acceptance of the creed's truth: God is the creator of the heavens and earth. How God did it or how long it took for him to do it is nonessential.
A Summary Of The First Article Of The Apostles' Creed
This You Can Believe
I believe that God has created me and all that exists; that he has given and still preserves to me my body and soul, with all my limbs and senses, my reason and all the faculties of my mind, together with my raiment, food, home, and family, and all my property; that he daily provides me abundantly with all the necessities of life, protects me from all danger, and preserves me and guards me against all evil; all which he does out of pure, paternal, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I am in duty bound to thank, praise, serve, and obey him. This is most certainly true.
-- Martin Luther, The Small Catechism
Study Guide
God The Creator
The Apostles' Creed answers some of our questions about the creation of the universe, but not all of them. What questions are answered or not answered?
Answered Questions
WHO created the universe?
The creed answers: GOD. Science answers: BIG BANG. Which is correct?
If God did it, was it God the Father only? Where were God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? For the answers read:
Genesis 1:1 _____________________________________
John 1:3 _______________________________________
Genesis 1:2 _____________________________________
WHAT was created?
The creed says God created heaven and earth. What do you understand by "heaven"? Is it the place we faithful Christians go when we die? Does "earth" include insects, rats, mosquitoes, dragons, dinosaurs, snakes, the devil?
Do all God's creatures have a right to live? What about the endangered species? Can we undo what God has done? Is a Christian a natural conservationist?
WHEN was the universe created?
Fundamentalists say creation took place less than 10,000 years ago. Modern scientists claim the universe began ten billion years ago. The Bible says, "In the beginning God created ..." (Genesis 1:1). The key is knowing when was the "beginning." Do rocks and fossils give us a clue to how old the earth is? The Bible is right: the universe had to have a beginning. If it were eternal, then the universe would be God who is eternal.
Unanswered Questions
WHY did God create the heavens and earth?
The creed does not tell us why. We can get a glimpse of the "why" in the Bible. From your knowledge of the Bible, why do you think God made the universe? Check the following that you agree with:
___ To have someone for God to love.
___ To provide a place for humanity to live.
___ To give people the joy of seeing creation.
___ To permit people to experience life.
___ To test the loyalty of his children.
___ To create for the sake of creating.
HOW and HOW LONG?
What method did God use to create the world? How long did it take him to do it? Discuss with those around you the following questions:
1. Does it really matter if God took six days or six billion years to complete his creation?
2. Is the Genesis account a religious or scientific explanation of creation?
3. If one chooses the evolution theory, is one unfaithful to the Bible?
4. Is the biblical account of creation to be taken literally?
5. Can one be a true Christian and accept evolution?
6. Is the Bible an authority in science?
7. Should creationism be taught in our public schools?
