Sunday: In the Beginning
The Bible begins at the beginning, which is no doubt why it begins with the words (actually one word in the Hebrew), “In the beginning … ” (Gen. 1:1). The particular focus of the chapter, of course, is the transformation of the earth from a state of being “without form, and void” (Gen. 1:2) to the world that God Himself, on the sixth day, declared “very good” (Gen. 1:31). In short, the beginning here is the beginning of our world.
Read Genesis 1:1-31. Though so much is going on, ask yourself the question: Is there any hint of randomness or chance, or is everything done in a very orderly manner with everything in its proper time and place? What does your answer say about the character of God?
Image © Graham Braddock Goodsalt.com
Ellen G. White wrote that “order is Heaven’s first law” (Signs of the Times, June 8, 1908); apparently it is on earth, as well. Though sin has disrupted the natural world, to some degree, order, rhythm, and regularity still exist.
Read Genesis 8:22. How is order seen here, as well?
Even after the Fall, the seasons come and go in an orderly fashion—generally. Hence, along with the lights in the sky, i.e., the sun and moon, which are to “divide the day from the night … for signs and seasons, and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14, NKJV), there are the seasons as well, all part of the natural rhythm of the world that God has created. And indeed, though we get only glimpses now, a verse such as Isaiah 66:23 implies that in the new heavens and new earth the sense of rhythm will, indeed, exist then too.
| Think about how the Sabbath, in a powerfully regular way, impacts your life, especially your family life, whatever it is. What are the distinct advantages, not just of the Sabbath, but in the fact that it does come with such regularity? |
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I sometimes think that we are somewhat dismissive of the notion of randomness. I am reminded of the statistician's maxim that randomness is too important to be left to chance. I mention this because one cannot look at nature and not notice randomness at work. Here are a couple of examples:
Two sisters took one of the DNA ancestry tests and found that their genetic backgrounds were quite dissimilar in places. They both had the same parents but their genetic traits and been distributed randomly. Such randomness has a purpose.
When I was growing up in New Zealand the poplar trees were all dying from Dutch Elm disease. In the investigation into why this disease was hitting these trees so hard it was discovered that nearly all the poplar trees in New Zealand were descendent from cuttings from one European tree. The poplar trees in New Zealand were all clones from the one tree as they had all been propagated by cuttings.
The randomness used by nature is both significant and important and is a design feature to ensure resistance to disease and maintenance of vigor. (as an interesting side issue, our dependence on monocultures for much of food and textile crops these days is a serious issue and is putting us at risk for that very reason. Read about bananas if you want an example)
I am not going to extrapolate backward to say that such randomness is the driving force for the origin of life, but I want to emphasize that randomness is an important design feature right from the beginning of life.
God had this to say to Job:
He then went on to ask Job a whole chapter of questions about nature and the cosmos. Interestingly we can answer some of those questions now because our knowledge has increased, but the fact remains that wonder of God's design, even randomness, remains paramount.
Is it possible that there is design even in apparent randomness?
Is it possible that the randomness we see from our perspective may be part of a larger design beyond our range of vision?
Random or built in possiblity of endless variety?
I've heard all dogs can be traced back to the 🐺 wolf.
Thanks for the thoughts Inge and Maurice. Inge, the same questions came to mind as I read Maurice's post. For example, even beyond random sampling, there is the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) and the bell-shaped curve and other theorems to try to describe "randomness" -- sorry I am being statistical here. Thus, it tells me there is much more than the "randomness" than we can comprehend now.
Another good example is photo on this page. The first time I got on this page, I thought it was such a "random" picture. Until I recognized later (through a "random" activity) that it is the face and a hand and the earth etc - now I saw an intelligible pattern - then it was no more "random" to me. I think many times "randomness" is by virtue of the limited "understanding" (data, information, knowledge, wisdom) until we get the 'aha' moment, then we see a bigger purpose, reason etc. This happens all the time and in our Christian walk. Even in our "randomness," God is working His purposes out!
Prince, I am not sure what random sampling theory, the CLT and the "bell curve" (normal distribution curve) has to do with this discussion. You are introducing terms here that have to do with normal distribution. Of course, there are a number of other distributions as well (eg Gaussian and Binomial) but these have to do with measurement, description, and analysis. The point that I was trying to make is that randomness is a feature of God's creation that gives rise to diversity, individuality, and resilience.
In answer to Inge's question: I think we can see randomness as part of the design within our vision.
Agreed. Diversity is randomness within an orderly design. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, not that Maurice was saying they were in his opening comments.
Amazing the rhythm of nature was put in place by God and is sustained by Him. Studying nature tells us about God's character.
In the beginning, God created…what a majestic statement that makes of God’s love and care, God’s control and power. Not everyone agrees with our faith in God’s creation. Do you remember Carl Sagan, the astronomer? He popularized astronomy and its “billions and billions” of stars. Sagan saw no meaning in the universe, just a random collection of natural forces. Even the term “nature” which is now so much more common than “creation” seems to suggest that there is nothing behind the natural world, that everything around us arose by chance or some inexorable force inherent in life itself—no director, no intelligence, no creator. It takes faith to confess “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” It takes faith to believe there was a beginning and that at the beginning, God created.
Psalm 33 says, “By the Word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth.” John’s Gospel opens, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into beginning through him and without him no one thing came into begin. What came into being in him was life.”
this lesson is contrary to second law of thermodynamics...The LORD is a God of law and order, however Satan is a radical being of sin whom is god of chaos and confusion (babylon). he is prince of this world which is governed by second law of thermodynamics and is increasingly chaotic and confused....we are looking to the return of Christ and the New Earth which restores law, order, stability and destroys sin.
Mark, I am not sure what you mean by the statement that the lesson is contrary to the second law of thermodynamics. Perhaps you would like to expand on your comment to clarify it. It appears to me that you are equating "entropy" which is a fundamental notion of the second law, with confusion, as in a sinful state. I do not see a connection between the two. If sin had not entered the world. I still see a place for entropy as helping to describe energy flows in systems. Just because Physicists use the term chaos as part of the description of entropy it should not be taken to mean confusion.
A word of caution. The notion of the second law of thermodynamics is often used in arguments about the existence of God and his relationship to his creation. popular arguments often fail to grasp the real meaning of this law and its implications.
Mr. Ashton...thanks for the reply to my comment...i think the second law of thermodynamics is in conflict with these statements in the lesson...
Ellen G. White wrote that “order is Heaven’s first law” (Signs of the Times, June 8, 1908); apparently it is on earth, as well. Though sin has disrupted the natural world, to some degree, order, rhythm, and regularity still exist.
Read Genesis 8:22. How is order seen here, as well?
Even after the Fall, the seasons come and go in an orderly fashion—generally. Hence, along with the lights in the sky, i.e., the sun and moon, which are to “divide the day from the night … for signs and seasons, and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14, NKJV), there are the seasons as well, all part of the natural rhythm of the world that God has created. And indeed, though we get only glimpses now, a verse such as Isaiah 66:23 implies that in the new heavens and new earth the sense of rhythm will, indeed, exist then too.
second law of thermodynamics states that entropy (disorder, chaos, etc.) is continuously increasing in any system (universe, earth, etc.)....in the world we live second law of thermodynamics teaches us that our world is continuously increasing in chaos, confusion..i.e.Babylon....this condition will be changed in the New Earth which restores Law, Order, and Peace (Stability) and eliminates sin.
make sense??
Thanks for your explanation, Mark. I don't find these statements in conflict because as a scientist, I see the entropy as described in the Second Law of Thermodynamics as unrelated to the chaos and confusion of sin. To give an example, the entropy of a solution of salt (sodium choride) is greater than that of crystalline salt. but the randomness of the salt solution is not the result of sin, it is a created design of the physical universe.
I make a distinction between the chaos and confusion of sin and the designed randomness that I see in the natural world. Consequently, I see that applying or not applying the second law of thermodynamics to the confusion of sin as a misapplication. I hope you can see what I am driving at.
understood. Shabbat, Shalom, Joy.
Was just looking at how the earth was formed and seems logical to me now that I think about it. We need light first, then land, then vegetation, then animals, bugs, ect. Then we need life (us) and all thru this God worked. Let us reason that if we say 1 day here is a thousand to God then it took over a 1000 yrs to make all the things that god did. That means we did not get here by accident but by plan.
Its true that God had a plan for our existence, but I want to ask something on the creation time.I think it is not correct to say that God created all things for 7000 yrs because a formular of 1day= 1000 yrs is there for only prophetic's calculations not all time numbers in a bible.
So we have to remain with our 7 days not 7000 yrs.
This is not a prophetic time.
"Have you ever seen a toddler who hasn’t taken a nap? They act CRAZY.
Adults need rest too— especially spiritual rest. When all we do is work and war but never take time to breathe, we aren’t our best selves. Rest in God’s presence. You’re not yourself when you’re tired."
The lesson is asking what the distinct advantages of a regular Sabbath are and for me, the above statement just wraps up everything I feel. The Sabbath gives me the much needed "nap" so I can get through another week in my "proper" capacity. The rest that God provides just gives me a platform to escape into His world of order and renewal. That's what I appreciate.