Thursday: God’s All-Powerful Word
What do the following texts teach us about the power of God’s word? 2 Cor. 4:6
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
Isa. 55:11
The Bible teaches that God created out of nothing (ex nihilo), by the power of His word and without conflict or resistance in any form. This view of creation is unique to the Hebrews among all the peoples of the ancient world. Most nonbiblical creation stories tell of conflict and violence in creation. For example, the ancient Babylonians had a creation story in which the monster Apsu and his consort Tiamat produce a generation of deities that they then attempt to destroy, but Tiamat is killed in the battle. Her body is divided into two parts, one that formed the heavens and the other that formed the earth.
Modern men have also created a popular story of creation through violence. According to this story, God willfully created a world in which resources would be in short supply, causing competition among individuals, with the result being that weaker individuals would be eliminated by the stronger. Over time, according to this modern story, organisms have become more and more complex, ultimately producing humans and all other living organisms from a common ancestor.
Yet, the “gods” of evolutionary theory (random mutation and natural selection) are not the same as the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the Defender of the weak and the generous Provider for all creatures. Death, suffering, and other evils were not caused by God; on the contrary, they came as a natural result of rebellion against His good rulership. The gods of evolutionary theory use competition and elimination of the weak by the strong in order to create. Even worse, they are responsible for death and suffering; indeed, death and suffering are their very means of creating.
Thus, Genesis 1 and 2 cannot, in any way, be harmonized with modern evolutionary theory, which at its core opposes the biblical account of Creation.
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God's word, a concept that I wonder about as I do so many other things like the concept of "beginning." As Pastor John Carter said many years ago, "I can understand something that has no end but how can I understand something that had no beginning." I wonder if that doesn't apply to Genesis 1:1 as well as it does to God Himself.
There is a lot in the Bible that bogs my feeble little mind down, things that probably will always remain a mystery to me. Ideas like God spoke things into existence seem to me to be a kind of baby talk to fallen humanity that God uses so that we can at least understand something. If God is all powerful as we think He is then does God actually have to speak in order to create? And why did it take such a powerful God six days to make this little speck of a planet and the life it contains? Was it for the sake of the Sabbath that was made for man? Well, I don't know! Perhaps we should just leave things the way scripture states them and be content with that.
In a way, I am glad that I don't have much education. Even though Solomon extolled the virtues of wisdom and knowledge in the end he concluded that, "All is vanity" (Eccl. 12:8 NKJV). I have seen in universities professors with one or more doctorates degrees parading themselves around with a pride that is pitiful because they don't really understand just how little they really know in this vast universe. As one scientist once said years ago, "chances are that all of our knowledge and understanding is exactly wrong."
So, I am driven to my knees and realize that probably the greatest lesson we all have to learn is how little we really are and to do what Micah says, "to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God" (Mic. 6:8 NKJV).
Tyler, I view several Bible descriptions as you do — a baby talk. Even now we sometimes have troubles to express our thoughts, especially when w talk about complex concepts as creation or other miracles of God. We simply have no language suitable for it. God did not have to give orders to someone because He was the one who created. He could have told any observers what He was planning to do, but the Bible does not teach it anywhere. But how was Moses to tell us about what God was planning to do? “God said and it was so” is an equivalent to “God caused it to be,” but the first phrase is more personal and not as dry as the second one. As for me, it is enough to understand that God did it, no matter what language Moses or the Bible uses.
None cane compare and no man on earth can ever know how this Great God created light. That light is in Christ Jesus and that it shines in the darkest parts of a repentant heart who has confessed his/her sins to God in prayer with all his/her heart.
I'm so thankful for God's Word. His creative mind and power is way beyond us no matter what our minds can do or have learned. I am comforted by the thought of how much higher up He is. I accept this story of creation as found in Genesis and look forward to the honor of being there when God re-creates our world. Still, we watch the re-creation of God's Word in people's lives and that gives us a glimpse of how He can order things with His Word.
The only one true God that created this world is the same God that is available to "order" our steps daily as we allow Him, what a privilege to be led by our own Creator, indeed, the path to happiness and fulfillment is found in Him. This is my prayer today: "create in me a new heart and lead me in your ways".
Creation shows that our creator God is not limited. He is not an evil god that will destroy you in order to create something. Due to His awesome power He just need to speak and it will appear. This is a mystery. That's how great my Father is!
There will always be questions about creation. But can anyone produce a leaf from nothing or even a blood cell? What about one drop of rain? Impossible! God needs no validation to prove that He is the creator. His omnipotence shows it all. Have faith in God.
PS 19:1-3 declare how awesome and powerful our God is.
Let us by faith as some have already alluded to,accept Him as our maker and creator. Taxing our minds to things that has no salvation benefit will not helps us at all. Let us take God at His word.Heb 10:38 tell us to live by faith.
Wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. Things not given or revealed to us will remain a mystry untill we are ushered in His Kingdom. There we will have an opportunity to ask questions that are a bother to our minds today. Deut 29:29 reaffirms. Let us believe and accept His word, for through it, all things came into being. as christian we do not hold contrary views to the Bible unless otherwise.
Tyler, your comments touched me deeply this week. How I marvel at the wisdom of our God! His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways. As human beings we try to put God in a box but He just cannot be contained. By faith I believe in the creation story, and I can't wait to get to heaven so that I can bask in God's glory.
I thank God for who HE is. With such magnificent power to create the universe in the way creation explains in details. There should be no doubts in anyone's mind that God cannot be explained in a human wisdom. I look forward to live with God when the appointed time comes..... then I will have the opportunity to ask HIM how HE did it. For now, my request from God is to help me to be faithful, enlighten my path and my family, to make it where HE is in heaven
Charles Dolcey