Speaking of Faith: Beauty
Psalm 19
Introduction
Science
has come a long way over the past one hundred years. Doctors have access to medications and
life-support to keep people alive longer than ever before. The science of cloning has reached the point
where we are no longer talking about cloned calves and sheep. We are facing the possibility of cloning
spare organs to transplant in case one of our vital organs wears out too
soon. How much longer before we meet the
first cloned human?
One
day a group of scientists were talking about how modern culture has finally
outgrown the concept of God. We just
don’t need God anymore. So, they
summoned God to join them in their meeting and told God what they thought. “We don’t need you anymore. We have explained all the mysteries of the
universe, and we don’t need faith. We
have the science and technology to preserve and even clone human life. We don’t need you anymore and wish you would
simply go away.”
When
the scientists had finished making their case against God, God reached down to
the ground and scooped up a handful of dirt.
God molded that dirt into a human form and stood it up in front of the
scientists. Then, God breathed into the
human form, and it became a living, breathing human being. Then, God said, “Can you do that?”
The
scientists reached down and picked up a handful of dirt… But God interrupted them and said, “No, no, no.
Make your own dirt.”
This
is one of the central beliefs of the Christian faith. We believe that God created everything from
nothing—including the dirt. In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Therefore, everything owes its origin, its
existence and its ultimate purpose to the creative activity of God. Another aspect of this Christian belief is
the fact that nothing in the universe is eternal. Everything that is had a beginning. Even the universe itself is not eternal.
This
was an important shift in the philosophy of science during the Twentieth
Century. At the beginning of the
Twentieth Century, Christian faith and science were in conflict over the origins
of the universe. Christian faith said
that the universe had a beginning.
Science held the opposite point of view—scientists believed the universe
was eternal. The universe (and matter)
is and was and has always been. There
has always been stuff, which has organized itself into the life forms we know
today. Of course this view changed in
the 1960’s.
In
the 1960’s a “new” view of the universe became popular. This new view is commonly called “The Big
Bang Theory.” In simple terms, it is
based on the observation that the universe is expanding and must have a
beginning when everything was condensed into a very small space—approximately
13 billion years ago. That was a long
time ago, but the universe had a beginning and therefore cannot be eternal.
It
is interesting to me that the first people who were opposed to the “Big Bang
Theory” were the atheists, who believed the theory sounded too religious. Everything that has an origin must also have
a cause—something that caused it to come into existence. The same thing is true about our
universe. Science can make observations
about the ways our universe behaves. But
science cannot answer questions about how the universe was originally formed.
The
“Big Bang Theory” demonstrates one of the limitations of science. Science can only do three things. Science can make observations about the way
the world around us behaves. Science can
develop theories that explain why the world behaves the way it behaves. Science can prove these theories by
“recreating” experiments in a controlled environment. When science focuses on the origins of the
universe, it can only perform two of these three functions. Science can observe the expansion of the
universe. Science can develop theories
like the “Big Bang” to explain this expansion.
However, science cannot “recreate” the origin of the universe in a
controlled environment. No one can prove
the origin of the universe through experimentation.
Of
course, this is not the only area in which science has reached its limits. We can say the same thing about the beauty of
creation.
There
are several ways we can talk about the beauty of creation. Obvious examples would be the beauty of a
sunset; the beauty of a mountain view ; the
beauty of the ocean; or the beauty of Spring flowers—like the Texas
Have
you ever stopped to think of all the small factors that came together to
support life on planet earth? Our planet
is the only planet in our solar system with the right combination of chemical,
biological, physical and cosmological forces to support life. If any of the elements carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen were out of balance, there would be no water. If there were no water, there would be no
plant, animal or human life. Planet
earth orbits around the sun at the perfect distance to ensure that it is
neither too hot nor too cold to support life.
Life on earth is defined by an elaborate speciation of plants, animals
and humans which represents a delicate balance we recognize as the “food
chain.” How can we explain this delicate
balance of chemistry, biology and cosmology?
Some
atheists claim that the world we experience is the result of random
chance. There was a big bang. Then, millions of years later the conditions
became right for life to emerge from the swamps. This first life form went through millions of
years of evolution to develop into the speciation we experience today. If the big bang happened again, it may not
actually produce the same results which led to life as we know it. It might not happen again in a million
chances. We just got lucky.
It’s
interesting that this view of random chance cannot stand up to scientific
discovery. After all, nothing happens
randomly in science. The very foundation
of science is that everything behaves in predictable patterns. Hydrogen and oxygen combine to form
water. Animals always breathe in oxygen
and exhale carbon dioxide. Human life
depends on properly functioning organs.
These things are not random. They
are regular and predictable. If the
world was random, there would be no such thing as science. Science depends on regularity and
predictability but cannot explain why things are regular and predictable. A regular and predictable world could not
have been created by random chance.
The
beauty of creation tells us something about the God who created it. The beauty of our “fine-tuned” world points
us toward a God who is concerned about every detail and holding those details
in a delicate balance. The beauty of
creation is like a road sign which directs our attention to the beauty and the
glory of God.
The
beauty of creation touches something deep within us. Beauty is not logical or rational. Beauty is not something we have to have
someone explain to us. We experience
beauty and we know immediately that we are experiencing something
beautiful. But beauty itself is
unfulfilling. We are satisfied for a
moment, and then the beauty fades. So,
we continue our search by looking for the next beautiful thing to experience.
The
only way to find satisfaction in beauty is to realize that the beauty of
creation is intended to point us toward the beauty and the glory of God. Our search for beauty in creation should lead
us to search for the source of beauty—the God of creation.
A
biblical view of creation is that creation is one of three ways God has
revealed himself to us. God reveals
himself through Creation, Scripture and Jesus.
Psalm 19: 1 – 14.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
(NIV)
Creation:
General Revelation (vv. 1 – 6).
Theologically
speaking, we call this General Revelation…It is available to all, generally.
Even
the hardest of hearts marvels at a beautiful sunset…Remember what it was like
as a child to sit in wonder, marveling as you examined a bug on a leaf, clouds
moving overhead in the breeze, or the vast expanse of a starry sky?…
My
family got to experience the beauty of creation last Summer on our
vacation. We drove 2,000 miles from East
Texas to Colorado Durango
and a week in Estes
Park Estes Park Durango
was reading a book and taking a nap in a hammock that sat on the edge of a
bluff, 2,000 feet above Durango and the Animas River
When
I saw the elk grazing in front of snow capped mountains and when I woke up from
my nap to look down on the river 2,000 feet below, I couldn’t help but think of
God the Creator who placed such a beautiful and interesting scenes where only I
could enjoy it. This is a testimony to
God…The glory of Creation…cf. Romans 1: 20… “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.”
God’s
eternal power and divine nature are revealed to all human beings through the
glory and beauty of creation. This is
General Revelation—Creation reveals God generally, to all. But General Revelation is incomplete…General
Revelation cannot save…
Scripture:
The Word of God (vv. 7 – 11).
Law
=> perfect…complete…revives the soul…
Statutes
=> (NASB = “testimony”)…2 characteristics of statute = spoken &
fixed. Laws, commandments, teachings of
Scripture are changeless and are witness (testimony) to the character of God…
Trustworthy,
sure, faithful…They can hold us & support our weight.
Precepts => Right…This is not in the sense
of “correct” (yet, we have no doubt that Scripture is correct)…Rather this
refers to Scripture as Upright / Righteous / Just… Thus we can affirm that Scripture is
“correct,” because it is upright, righteous and just.
Commandments => Radiant…reference to light
as pure…unmixed…not defiled by evil…
Fear => Reference to Scripture inasmuch as
it evokes in us a sense of fear (in the good sense) of God…Better to say a
sense of awe / reverence / worship of God…
This is the evocative nature of Scripture. Reading
Ordinances => (NASB = “judgments”)…That
which is decreed or ordained by God…What God has decreed is trustworthy and
true…Not false / corrupt / comparable to human judgment and decrees…
More than likely this is Hebrew
parallelism…State the same thing over to emphasize its importance…
Basic point of this section of Psalm 19 =
God’s word should bring you joy, not guilt or regret or any other negative
feeling…It is not a chore to read and hear God’s voice in Scripture…
Jesus:
The Personal Word of God (vv. 12 – 14).
Something
must speak individually to our hearts…Theologically, we call this Special
Revelation…Available to only a few…
God has spoken to our hearts through
Jesus…Resurrection assures the eternal presence of Jesus…
It
is significant that these final verses are a prayer…Addressed to a person…They
were not addressed to Nature, and not addressed to Scripture…
We
need personal help to…Discern our errors…Stop sinning willfully…Become blameless
in God’s eyes…
Verse 14 is the ideal toward which Psalm 19
has been moving…It is only possible through the indwelling of the Risen Lord
Jesus in our lives…
Conclusion.
God has not left himself without witness in
our world. God is speaking to us today.
In Creation, the broadest sense of God’s revelation, God
has SHOUTED so loudly that every human being can “hear” him…
In Scripture, a narrower definition of revelation, God has
spoken (in conversational tone) to those who are willing to read and
acknowledge that Scripture is inspired by God (Jews, Christians, some Muslims,
some Mormons).
In Jesus, the narrowest definition of revelation, God has whispered… whispering
directly to my heart…
God’s SHOUT can be heard by all. God’s spoken words can be heard by anyone who
reads the Bible. But God’s whisper can
only be heard by those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior…
All of God’s communication to us (God’s
revelation) has one goal…That we might worship God and find our Joy in Him…
And God expects each of us to speak of our
faith to others. The beauty of creation
is one way to engage others in spiritual conversation. This world is not all there is. This world is not a shadow of a heavenly
reality. This world is the good creation
of a Good God. The beauty of creation
points us toward the beauty of the Good God who created all things.
Creation itself cannot bring salvation…but it
opens the door to talk about Jesus.
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