Three Angels Messages Part 33

            Thanks once more for joining us, as we continue to study God’s last appeal to humanity, Three Angels’ Messages, found in Revelation 14. We are now studying the final part of the first angel’s message, the powerful words which state, “Worship Him Who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
We’ve seen that the background of the word “worship” is actually “worthship,” indicating that it refers to whatever we consider to be of highest value. Scripture tells us that obedience is the highest form of worship, and that the first angel is calling us back to the true worship of the Creator God, which leads us to obey the commandment which specifies the seventh day of the week as His Sabbath, the memorial of His creative work.
We’ve seen that it is because He is Creator that He deserves our worship. We’ve also noted that the artistry of God’s creatorship is seen in the symmetry and beauty of proportion in nature, quantified as the “golden mean,” or “golden ratio,” expressed as 1.618, seen in the spirals of pinecones and the section of the nautilus shell, a ration copied by architects and artists throughout history.
It’s time now to turn our attention to another interesting concept which supports the origin of life as described by the Holy Bible, and then address a question which is posed by many who believe in evolution as the best explanation of how life began. But first, let’s consider the notion of “irreducible complexity.” Those words may sound cryptic and confusing, but they simply refer to a theory which describes a machine or system from which no component can be removed without destroying its functionality.
A mousetrap, for example has only a few parts; the piece of wood on which the parts are mounted, the clamps to hold things in place, the spring, the bait tray and the release bar. The point is, all of these parts must be in place for the trap to work successfully. There is not one thing that can be removed without destroying its ability to work. What could you eliminate? If you take away the clamps that hold the spring in place, will the trap work? No. If you take away the spring, obviously the trap won’t catch any mice. There’s not one part that can be removed and still have a mousetrap! This is “irreducible complexity.”
            Here’s the application of that principle to our study. Scientists are beginning to see that in life, beginning at the “simple” (a great misnomer!) cell, all component parts must be present and working properly for the system as a whole to function. Let that notion sink deeply into your mind. The logical deductions from this line of reasoning are astounding! The entire of concept of life evolving through eons of time, slowly adding bit by bit, is refuted! It just couldn’t happen that way. A mouse trap couldn’t work and function effectively if the individual parts were slowly added over millennia. The foundation of Darwinism is shaken to its core and the theory of evolution crumbles in the face of the visible evidence. “Irreducible complexity” challenges Darwinian evolution. The systems of life and of nature are irreconcilable with a long-aged explanation of the origins of this earth.
But there is way of thinking which makes much more sense, expressed in the opening words of Scripture: “In the beginning God created.” Because He is the awesome God Who creates instantly out of His divine energy, He deserves the first place in our lives; He deserves our worship. It is a duty and privilege to respond to the first angel’s call to “worship Him Who made.”
Now, let’s give thought to how the Bible explanation of how life began can easily be made comparable with evidence which at first glance may seem to support a long-aged earth. We are talking about the millions of years today’s scientists speak of when they refer to this planet’s history.
Here’s the simple truth, which will easily explain what may seem to be a contradiction. Please give this careful thought! If you accept the Bible as the Word of God, this is something that will make sense to a reasonable and open mind. When God created, He made all things intact and whole. They came forth from His hand complete and mature.
As a hypothetical, suppose that if you had been able to see Adam in the Garden the following Tuesday after God made him, for example, and were asked how “old” he was, you might have guessed him to be about 30 or so. Wrong! He’s only days old! “How can that be?” you ask. The evidence doesn’t suggest an origin that recent. No, it doesn’t. The visible “evidence” is misleading in that it doesn’t take into account the manner of his origin. He does appear to be about 30, no question about it. But he’s not. He was made only a few days ago; but, he was made complete; he was made mature. He came forth from the Creator as an adult, in every aspect; thinking, speaking, walking and living.
            We know that if you plant a seedling of a fruit tree, it’s likely to take a few years before you’ll be eating the plums or apples that it might bear. Not so in the Garden of Eden. Like Adam and Eve, the trees in the Garden of Eden might have appeared to be years old, laden with their bounty of fruit, but your eyes would have fooled you if you attempted to guess their age based on what they looked like. They are only a couple of days older than Adam. But they, like him were made complete and mature.
What would have otherwise taken years to happen, the ripe fruit weighing down the branches, occurred instantly by the fiat creation of God. (The term fiat is from the Latin verb “let it be,” recorded in Genesis 1, describing the instantaneous creation by divine command.) In fact, had you applied a saw to the trunk of one of Eden’s trees, you doubtless would have seen rings! The same can be said regarding the rocks that composed the structural framework of the earth. Though spoken into existence at the beginning of creation week, if modern technology had examined them, they too would have yielded information which might lead the ignorant in the wrong direction as to their age. They too were made complete.
            Do not be misled by the claims of many as to the origin of life. The Bible record is perfectly reliable. Don’t be unsettled by the claims of evolutionists. The supporting data is lacking. Don’t let your faith be shaken by those who claim the earth is much older than the account given by Scripture. Remember that God made everything, from Adam and the animals to the trees and rocks complete and mature. Beside this, there are many questions about the infallibility of modern dating systems such as carbon 14. A much safer and sounder belief system is founded on the Word of God.
            Toward the modern atheistic scientist of today, Jesus, the Creator God sadly shakes His head saying, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” Matthew 22:29. God left much of the Bible to be written by the prophets, but His own hand inscribed the Ten Commandments which contain the truth, “In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth.” Exodus 20:11. That should settle the matter for anyone who takes God at His word.
            Nor is there need to assign large measures of time to the days of creation week as reported in Genesis. The Hebrew grammar allows for no such distortion. The text, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:8) is misapplied when connected with Genesis 1. The expression “evening and morning,” as describing the days of creation week consistently means a literal 24-hour period of time; nothing else.
            Secondly, according to the rules of Hebrew grammar, the attachment of the ordinal to the term “day,” as in “first day,” “second day,” etc, makes it certain that a literal day is meant. It is true that “day” (Hebrew yom) can sometimes refer to an indefinite period of time, as in the phrase “day of the Lord.” This would be analogous to our usage “the day of computers.” But never, when an ordinal is coupled with the word “day,” does it mean anything but a regular 24-hour segment of time.
            The record is clear; it was within seven 24-hour literal days that creation took place. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. For He spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:6, 9. (The word “done” is supplied in verse 9.) Yes, in this age when many have left God out of the picture, the call to “worship Him Who made” is of particular relevance. Why would you not accept the divine invitation to worship the Lord on the only day He commanded, the seventh-day Sabbath, and wrote with His own finger in the very heart of the Ten Commandments? It’s time now to honor Him in all things, as this world comes to its end and we prepare to meet Him when He comes.