Creation's Cache #6

   I wonder which two aspects of creation you thought about after reviewing the locations, ecosystems, fauna and flora of Creation's Cache #5. There are doubtless many things we could see by looking at them. I have just picked two however. Creations is big. There is no doubt about it! It would be an impossible task to discover everything about it; if we claimed to be able to then we would be placing ourselves in the Creator's place. You will forgive me, I'm sure, if I have chosen some of the most obvious aspects to our world- Romans 1 tells us that the attributes of God have been "clearly shown", therefore a long theo-scientific thesis should not be necessary!

   After seeing just four of the animals occupying creation, I think we would agree that they are very different! Two can swim, one can fly, and one crawls! One is huge, one is large, one is medium sized and one is tiny. They have different shapes and skins and attributes. And they are just the beginning of the thousands upon thousands of species that live among us. It is no wonder that the Psalmist sung the following words:

O LORD, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

  Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

      The world is made up of various environments- deserts, tundra, oceans and mountains, to name but a few. Throughout the planet plant-life and crops vary dramatically. Weather and climate also changes. Three years ago, I spent four weeks in the sub-continent of India. During the month, I travelled from the Himalayan region of Himachal-Pradesh south for 12 hours via coach, sleeper train and rickshaw until I reached Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. The scenery, climate and smells changed quite a lot, however if you glance at a map of India you will see that I had hardly journeyed 20% of the length of the country. I saw this change even more dramatically during our trek across a small length of the Himalayan mountains. After about 5 or 6 days of rocky, almost desert-like, surroundings- traversing through dusty mountain passes and sometimes over the peaks themselves- we passed through one valley to find ourselves in a region that could be described as  luscious! Vegetation and wildlife flourished, allowing villagers to live amongst the mountains. A traveling coca-cola salesman also managed to find our team!
    To match this amazing diversity in creation, accents and skin colours change amongst mankind. Culture and civilization is shaped by their surroundings; Tokyo, New Delhi, Timbuktu and Royal Lemington Spa are all very different from one another! Language, Architecture, society and fashion are as diverse as the planet they inhabit.
     The point I am trying to convey is the huge diversity across Creation. The Creator has not made a "one-size-fits-all" world (although that is his prerogative as the creator). Rather he has given us a whole planet, nay universe, of new and exciting things. In a very reverent way, God has an imagination that is endless, way beyond our comprehension. The diverseness of the world only reinforces our earlier discoveries as to the vastness of our God. The amazing spectrum of places, creatures and plants sings out to the amazing creator.
     Perhaps you've heard of the song "All things bright and beautiful", well here a a couple of verses from that lovely hymn, they are a neat bridge between the two 'attributes' of creation and the creator that we are looking at:
  
                 Each little flower that opens, 
                 Each little bird that sings, 
                 He made their glowing colours,
                 He made their tiny wings...
                 
                 The purple-headed mountain,
                 The river running by,
                 The sunset, and the morning,
                 That brightens up the sky...


                 The LORD God made them all...


     Have you ever considered taste? Why does chocolate cake taste so good? Why do I love to munch on a warm sausage roll? After a long road trip why do I get that mmmmmm sensation when biting down into a double-decker cheese burger? My body could survive-physically speaking- on slop and water, perhaps with the odd slice of bread. Why did the Creator give us taste? Why did he creator flavours? Salt and Vinegar- why do we have them? And why is their so much variety? How come we can create a whole range of dairy products from one cow?
     Why does bread smell so good? Why do flowers give off such a lovely smell? Candles, what are they all about? Ever caught the smell of rain? That is a hidden treasure!
     How come we are born with our own little choir? Why does the movement of muscles in our throats create such a stunning symphony? Why did the creator decree that the plucking of tense strings would form waves of sound that would land upon our ears? Talking of ears, how come music is so delightful to them? (Whereabouts in the "evolutionary path" of "survival of the fittest" did man decide to ignore home building, food production and defense in favour of listening to music?!)
     Colours? Why?... Imagine how dull a world in black and white might be- but we would never have known what we were missing, surely. So... why do we have colours then? Shades of brown, hints of blue, splashes of red, hughes of green, indigo, violet, maroon, lime, purple....
  
     Why does a sunset bring such joy? Why does a mug of steaming tea cheer me up? Why does the morning song of the birds twinkle on my eardrums? Because God has created a beautiful world. God has created a world crammed full of beautiful and wonderful things. Taste, Smell, Sound.... all working in unison to amaze and astound us! The whole realm of nature glorifying the magnificent Creator!
      How can anyone when confronted with the beauty of this world say anything but 'Praise the LORD!' The Bible says that men have attempted to twist and pervert what we plainly see into their own 'wisdom', however their wisdom is total foolishness. Many philosophers and writers have been known to say, in one way or another, this:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

      One question for you geniuses: Who created the eye?!

     Well, the Creator God did! He has not only filled the world with beauty and wonder, but he has given us the tools and the emotions to begin to appreciate it.
     Whenever we see something, a huge process has already taken place. After light has shined into our pupils it hits the lens. The lens focuses the light onto the retina which is situated at the back of the eyeball. Millions of light-sensitive cells on the retina receive the light and changes it into nerve signals which are sent to the brain, which in turn deciphers the signals and tells us what we are seeing. God has designed and created two eyes for each of us; they are capable of taking in everything around us, including distance, perspective and colour.  He has not only created this beautiful world, but also given us the eyes to see it!
     "All things bright and beautiful" goes on to say:

                He gave us eyes to see them,
                And lips that we might tell
                How great is God Almighty,
                Who has made all things well.


     So what have we learnt about our Creator? Well, firstly, he is so much bigger and more imaginative than us! The wonders of the whole creation, the diverseness of the it all, the smells, tastes, sounds and sights are all the work of our God! Colours, chords, crocodiles, chocolate cake and cashmere: all the creation of God!
     Secondly, he has made a world that is full of beauty, that reflects his own beauty. The whole world glorifies God himself. The purpose of creation is to rejoice in its creator. And he hasn't left us unable to enjoy it either: he formed in us the tools we need to hear, smell, taste and see. He gave us an appreciation of the divine. He gave us the emotions, feelings and desires that allow us to enjoy and marvel at his works.
     Are there things in creation which confuse you? Why are they there? Well maybe God made them so that we can praise him for his knowledge and vastness!
     In Ancient times there was a great sea beast called Leviathan. The Leviathan swam in the deep oceans, fearsome and mighty. It was the stuff of legends: the bible describes the creature as boiling water through its very breath! Why did God create Leviathan? Well, the Psalmist gives us one reason- he is talking about the seas and oceans and all that live in and on them:

  There go the ships,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

     That certainly would not be the purpose I would have given Leviathan! But the mighty sea beast was formed to play in the sea! Its purpose in life is to paddle and splash and have fun! It was formed to enjoy creation and to glorify the maker: God!
      Praise God that He has given us such a wonderful world to live in! I will live you with the words of Psalm 148:

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars!

  Praise him, you highest heavens,

and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD!

For he commanded and they were created.

  And he established them forever and ever;

he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all deeps,

  fire and hail, snow and mist,

stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars!

  Beasts and all livestock,

creeping things and flying birds! 

Creation's Cache #5

 For the LORD is a great God,

     and a great King above all gods.

   In his hand are the depths of the earth;

             the heights of the mountains are his also.

         The sea is his, for he made it,

              and his hands formed the dry land.

    Over the next two posts in the Creation Cache Series, I hope to show two amazing things about the Earth, and from this small selection of case studies I think we can really begin to see something of the Creator amidst the Creation. Have a read and a look at this post, and, I wonder, what two ideas do you see coming through?

     Situated in the Gulf of Arden, south of Yemen, and east of Somalia, is a four-island archipelago- the largest island is Socotra. 

    Socotra has been described as "the most alien place on earth"; its diverse foliage and fauna includes the Dracaena Cinnabari, or the "dragon's blood tree". The deep red resin produced by the tree, from which it was given its name, has been used for medicines and dyes, as well as lipstick and air freshener!

    The Narwhal is a whale that can be found only in the freezing waters of the Arctic. Male Narwhals have two teeth, one of which grows outwards in a spiral manner, it can eventually reach up to 10 meters in length. 

    Some Narwhals grow up to 16ft in length (not including the tusk) and can weigh up to 1.7 tonnes. Their average life span is 50 years, during which they live in "pods" of between 4 and 20 whales, occasionally multiple pods travel together thus forming larger groups. 

      In the Jordan Valley, 400 meters below sea level, is the Dead Sea- the lowest body of water on the earth. Due to its position, the sea contains 4 times the normal content of salt, as well as many other minerals, this means that you can float on its surface without any effort. The rocks  lying around its edges are covered with a white deposit, giving the entire sea a surreal and magical appearance, its waters are also famed with nourishing and therapeutic qualities.  

    Scattered in gardens and parks across Europe, North Africa, China, Iran and Asia you will find Tulips. Beautiful flowers in varying shades and colours. Varieties of tulips can be found in the Hindu Kush mountains and on the steppes of Kazakhstan!

     Corals are tiny marine organisms that, when joined together into colonies, secrete a skeleton  substructure over many generations. These skeletons go towards forming huge coral reefs. Reefs normally exist in shallow tropical waters, such as those in the Pacific Ocean; they have been described as the "rainforests of the sea", and are one of the most diverse ecosystems on the earth, providing shelter for 25% of all marine species. 

    Regarded as the mightiest of all flying animals, the Eagle is an extremely large bird-of-prey. Various species of eagles can be found in Europe, Africa, South America and Australia. As a predator, the bird has a hooked nose, for tearing apart its prey, as well as strong legs and talons. The eagle is also renown for its amazing eyesight- large pupils allow them to spy potential victims from dizzying heights in the sky. One species, the Steller's Sea Eagle, has a wingspan of up to 9ft wide! It is no wonder that the eagle has attracted so much attention in national culture and emblems! 

    In the space of 365 days, the earth transforms through four distinct stages- the seasons. Our streets and fields metamorphise from being white with snow, into the yellows of spring, as new flowers burst forth and lambs leap around. Later this deepens into the warmth of summertime. Summer soon moves on in Autumn, and shades of brown cover the landscape (I love Autumn time the most of all!). The seasons are vital to supplying crops and vegetation with sunlight, water and nutrients. 

  

    Situated in the Philippines is one of the wonders of Asia! I owe thanks to the 2011 Calender that AiG have recently sent me, for sharing the beauty of this with me. The Chocolate Hills is 

a formation of over 1000 perfectly conical shaped hills, spanning over 50 kilometers, each one between 40 and 120 meters high. During the dry season, the grass-covered cones turn brown, giving the illusion of a chocolate covering!

    Living in the islands around the Philippines, nearby the Chocolate Hills, are the earth's smallest primates- the Tarsiers. Each one only 10 to 15 cm long, but with tails reaching up to 25cm! They have strangely large eyeballs for their size, as well  as large hind legs. Not content with being the smallest primates, they are also the only primates to live off of an entirely caniverous diet: feasting on insects and small lizards. 

    The Arctic is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. It is the northern most point of the globe, opposite the Antarctic. Temperatures regularly reach -40 degrees centigrade, and have been known to be as cold as -68 degrees! Rain normally falls as snow, and high winds cause heavy snow storms. Areas of tundra are caused by shrubs and mosses, which form the bulk of the arctic vegetation (but this only in the warmer extremities). The animals living in the freezing conditions are, for the most part, white, so as to be camouflaged in their environment. One such animal.....

    ...is the seal, which, I'm sure you will agree, is adorable! 

    About 20% of the earth's landscape is desert. A desert is an area that receives an extremely low level of rainfall, therefore leaving plant life non-existent. They are normally comprised of rocks and sand, often in the form of sand dunes. The largest hot desert, the Sahara, covers 3,320,000+ miles as well as 12 countries. Occasionally in a desert is an Oasis, a vegetated area, supported with springs or irrigation. An Oasis is the only place where habitation can be supported. 

     Having seen the images and read the brief descriptions of just a fraction of the plants, animals and ecosystems this planet contains what two things can you discover about the maker? 

     Read Creation's Cache #6 to find out more! 

Creation's Cache #4

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
  Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.


  (N.B. Apologies for the rather scientific approach I have taken today! Normal service will be resumed shortly!- Matt) 


   I started out this blog series, only a few short days ago, with a list of various points and ideas I wanted to emphasise. Since then I have added scribbles and scrawls all over the page, and now my writing is barely discernible! I have just found the July/September 2008 edition of "Answers" magazine, which looked at the "Wonders of Creation", it contains some really amazing articles, which mesh in with my general theme. In this post, I wish to look at one main topic but also to throw in a few other smaller "wonderlets" (not wander-lust, as my spell checker thinks!) that the magazine describes.

   Jonathan Edwards was an 18th Century theologian. Edwards began what he called a "Types Notebook", which he planned to use as proof of God's character revealed in nature. He wrote these words:

...the whole universe, heaven and earth, air and seas, and the divine constitution and history of the holy Scriptures, be full of images of divine things, as full as a language is of words.

    Lets take a look at one of those "images". (This is one of those highlighted in the "Answers" magazine.)


Atoms
  Everything on this planet is formed of atoms. Atoms are entirely hidden from the eye, and are rarely considered in day-to-day life, however they form the very building blocks of our existence. The atoms consists of a dense central nucleus, formed of neutrons (neutral) and protons (positively charged), surrounded by orbiting electrons (negatively charged). The electrons are held in place by an electromagnetic field. Groups of atoms are held together by a similar force, these groups are called molecules.
   Atoms contain huge amounts of energy, due to the electromagnetic fields. In 1945 the USA managed to "split" an atom, thus utilizing its power. The US Air Force dropped a bomb, code named "Little boy" over Hiroshima, in Japan. The blast delivered by the bomb was the equivalent of  between 13 and 15 kilotons of TNT (one kiloton would be a cube of TNT, with each surface being over 8 meters across). Modern day Nuclear weapons and Nuclear Reactors release much much more energy.
   By rearranging the three basic particles in an atom (the protons, neutrons and electrons) different substances, or elements, are seen. Each one is distinct, with unique texture, smell and other properties, and each one serves a different role. As the writer of the "Answers" article points out, everything from our morning milk, to the walls of our house, to our fingernails, is all formed from these three basic particles. Amazing or what?!
   This is creation at its minutest (as far as we know!), and here, as elsewhere, we can see the order of a designer. The Creator is not a reckless one, who cobbled a few lumps of rock and earth together to form a rough creation. No, rather all creation is ordered and organised.

   Where else can we see this order and organisation?

The Water Cycle
   Heres one that we all must know! Its a primary school favourite! The Water Cycle. Water begins in the sea, where it is evaporated and turns into water vapour. This then heads up into the sky where it joins with more vapour and forms clouds. The clouds are whisked about by the wind, and eventually they become so heavy that the vapour turns back into water. This water falls as rain over the land. Rivers and streams carry the water back to the sea, where the cycle begins again.
    This occurs every day. The whole system means that water, the earth's most precious resource, is filtered across the land, even where any sea is hundreds of miles away. The water that rains down on crops and vegetation allows them to grow, therefore providing food and other resources.
    God has established systems and cycles such as this one to provide for all of his creation. The earth is self-sustaining- something that mankind has never properly achieved. A few weeks back I visited the Natural History Museum in London. As part of an exhibit on Ecosystems, there was a display regarding a NASA project to create a totally self-sustaining pod in the Texas desert. Although lasting a long while, and providing (apparently) lorry loads of vital data, it was a failure. Man cannot make an ecosystem that can function apart from this earth. Ecospheres Associates Incorporated claim to have made "the world’s first totally enclosed ecosystem - a complete, self-contained and self-sustaining miniature world encased in glass." Curiously however, the prices page contains a column called "replacement period", presumably therefore their ecosystems, although obviously fully self-sustainable, cannot fully self-sustain themselves for over 6 months! As far as I can tell, the only creature capable of living inside an EcoSphere is a small fish- so a long way still to go! Putting that to one side, I think that both the scientists at NASA and the entrepreneurs at E.A.Inc would agree that neither of their ecosystems created themselves, rather it took outside influence to generate any form of sustainability and environment. 




    I have been trying to show how the entire creation is ordered and functions by 'laws of nature'. From the tiniest atom to the great planets themselves, all of creation is working in order to sustain itself and provide for life. Other examples would include: the seasons, bacteria (which convert many useless waste substances into things which we need. This symbiotic relationship which we share with microbes is reflective of how much we depend on others, and ultimately, upon God!), photosynthesis (the work of plant life to produce oxygen for us to breathe), gravity and the rising and setting of the sun. In his book "The Genesis Record" Prof. Henry Morris gives his scientific thoughts on the pre-flood irrigation system that watered all of creation (remember, there was no rain until the flood). His theory may or may not be correct, either way it highlights how the creator provided for a thriving and flourishing world. 
    Creation was created for life. The order, cycles and systems are all parts of a complex ecosystem that clearly was made for habitation. The Genesis account of creation in the Bible tells us about God creating people to occupy his creation:

...then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

    I realise that my first few blogs on creation have all been rather scientific and geographically based, and I apologise! I plan to delve into the much more exciting and personal aspects later on. However for now, what have we learnt about our creator?

• His creation is big! In fact, it is utterly incomprehensibly vast. It is awe-inspiring in its sheer scale. The Creator is so so so much bigger than us! He knows his whole creation! He is an amazing God! 
• He is not a reckless creator; he is not fickle. He has created an ordered universe, full of cycles and systems to maintain and sustain itself. 
• Even the minutest particles of creation contain huge amounts of energy and power- how much greater in power must the creator be to have made them? 
• Creation was made to be inhabited. The Creator made the universe to be populated (we will look further at this at a later point)

Creation's Cache #3.1- A blessing from the Cache

   Yesterday I penned Creation's Cache #3 describing the utter indescribableness of the vastness of Creation- how utterly beyond our comprehension and imagination creation's size actually is.
   I mentioned how NASA's astronomers think that the number of stars is over 10 billion trillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).
   I finished my blogging and headed for bed, where I read over some of my bible passages for the day (part of the UGS:Psalm 27 (2010) Reading Scheme). I turned to Jeremiah 31. The Lord proclaims through the prophet the beginning of a New Covenant for his people. Their sins will be forgiven, their iniquities washed clean, and the Lord God will know them all. Then Jeremiah goes on to say something that quite astounded me. After spending some time considering the huge unimaginable vastness of creation, God was showing me his grace through that very same imagery. Have a read yourself...

Thus says the LORD:

“If the heavens above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

for all that they have done,

declares the LORD.”

    "Why are you so amazed?" I hear you ask. Surely God is talking about "casting off" his people?! Well, yes. But he is saying that the "chance" (for want of a better word) of that happening is the same as the likelihood of all the heavens being measured, or the foundations of the earth being explored. After our brief discussion on the size of the universe yesterday, I think that we can see that the Lord is promising, using a reverse logic to emphasise his promise, that he will never cast away his people, Israel. Do you see my wonder? God uses the lessons we learn in Creation and nature, through the teaching of the Bible, to know him more, to see his grace all the more!
     My feelings are penned much more eloquently through the hymn of Isaac Watts, "Give to Our God Immortal Praise":

He built the earth, He spread the sky, 

   And fixed the starry lights on high:

      Wonders of grace to God belong,

          Repeat His mercies in your song.

Creation's Cache #3

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, Chris Tomlin.


    According to the NASA website, there are over 100 billion Galaxies in our Universe. The average number of stars per Galaxy may be as many as 100 billion. Therefore, there may be as many as 10 billion trillion stars. I have attempted to discover how many naughts this number would actually include- result: no one knows. Generally speaking when we pass the "one trillion" marker everyone becomes confused. Words such as "quadrillion", "quintillion" and "sextillion" are flouted about amongst amateur mathematicians, but they themselves disagree as to the quantities involved. As far as I can tell, a trillion is "1" followed by 12 "0"s:  1,000,000,000,000. Nasa suggests that there could be 10 billion times as many stars as that! Following my logic that makes 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars! If you are anything like me, and I imagine that you are, then you lost any comprehension of the numbers involved after about 6! I tried to imagine 10 stars in my head and I sincerely struggled! 
    Let me tell you about a star. In fact, let me tell you about our nearest star- the sun. The sun is a "dwarf star"- astronomers think that some stars are as much as 1,000 times the size of the sun. Be that as it may, the sun is still an impressive 864,000 miles across. That is 109 times the diameter of the earth. All of the energy throughout the solar system comes from the sun- it is a ball of gas and the reactions taking place within its plasma core supply huge quantities of heat and light. The Sun also emits various types of electromagnetic radiation. 
    I am no scientist, I was a fairly unintelligent student where chemical reactions and astronomy were concerned, but even I can appreciate the amazing properties of the sun. And let me remind you again, there may well be as many as 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars- some bigger, and some smaller, than the sun. Beyond physical comprehension? You bet! No one, no one at all, can even claim to begin to imagine our universe. There is only one word for it- vast! 
     When I first began to jot down some notes about creation, one of the first things I scrawled done was "Sheer awe-inspiring scale and vastness." Is this how the ant feels when poised at the edge of a cliff?! The very first thing I wanted to notice about the Creator's Creation was this:


   ITS SO BIG! 


   Its is so unimaginably big! I cannot even twist my head around how unimaginable the bigness is! Im not going to bore you with the statistics (guesses) at how long it would take someone traveling at the speed of light to reach the far edge of the universe- after all, no one knows! We have wild stabs in the dark, but we have no way of knowing if we are even close! Man has got as far as playing golf on the moon (a small chunk of rock orbiting our own planet). Big whoop, we can't even breath there without apparatus! 
    Our fiction is saturated with stories of space travel, of mystical new planets, of technology allowing mankind to colonize the universe. Billions of pounds and dollars are spent every week on space exploration and discovery. We are obsessed with seeing what is "out there". Space fascinates us, we are baffled and awestruck by the vast expanse of the universe. It truly is vast!
    
     At the beginning of this post I quoted from the song "Indescribable", let me repeat the chorus again:

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

    Is that not the right reaction when we view the vast scale of creation? If this is the creation then who is the creator?! Not only was this universe created, but it is also sustained. The Creator of 10 billion trillion stars controls them and orders their every atomic reaction.
    "You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name." Does an artist not know everything there is to know about his or her painting? Does an author not know everything about the characters in their books? God knows everything about his creation. The scale of it does not daunt him, he is not dwarfed by the magnitude of the works of his hands. Rather, creation proclaims that its creator is vast and mighty.
    When away from home and away from street-lamps and car lights, I like to pause and stare at the night sky: to see the stars in the heavens. Scientists say that we can only ever see 3,000 stars at most. But those 3,000 stars are magnificent! They remind me that my God is not small, he is not contained by human wisdom or standards. No, my God is vast!

    The right response to seeing the magnitude and 'endlessness' of God's creation must be silence, and contemplation. I cannot comprehend even a speck of this universe, but I know who can: the Lord God. I might be tempted to ask, as the Psalmist did:

When I look at your Heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him...?

    But I know that although I am tiny in the grand scheme of creation, God cares for me. How do I know this? Because of what I see when I turn my gaze to the earth in which he placed me. Today we have only considered, and very minutely at that, the scale of creation. We have opened Creation's Cache and been amazed at the size of it, just wait until we see the content!!


       King David, the Shepherd King, looks at the skies and has this to say:

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

  

Creation's Cache #2

   As we explore Creation (metaphorically speaking) there are a couple of issues that we must always keep at the forefront of our minds. This world reflects and displays many of the attributes and wonders of our God, as we shall see, however there is always a danger in seeking the creator in his creation. There are great blessings in Creation's Cache, but in order to find them we need to show great care in opening the Cache.
   Remember, Creation cannot physically tell us everything about the maker, or else it would actually be the creator. If something shows us absolutely everything about its maker, in their entirety, then it must be identical to the fore-mentioned person, or at the very least equal to them. You see the danger? If we take the wonder of creation at its face value, we end up attributing that wonder to creation itself. We have always lived within this world, within the rules of nature and science, therefore we are inclined to view it as an "absolute", as the "final piece". I hope to show that this world is only the creator's initial sketches, the final article will be much much more magnificent.
    Throughout the ages, this world has been worshiped and honoured as god. The Creator has been forgotten, or pushed aside, and the creation has been raised onto a throne. Even in our post-modern culture, where traditional idolatry has been largely rejected by the mainstream, we worship ourselves. Our own ambitions and desires reign as gods. "I" and "me" trump "you" and "them". We treat ourselves as our own gods. Paul puts it like this:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things...... they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

   As we review creation we must seek to see the Creator, we must remember that the amazing discoveries we find were all put in place by God. A Vase brings no glory to itself- it is just mud- but it honours the potter who formed it over many hours and through great care and attention.
   Although Creation does tell us so much about our God, he hasn't left it as that. Rather, he gave us the Bible: his very own words! The speech and commands of our creator! If anything, looking at creation should drive us back to God's word with a eager desire to know him more.

    Take care when opening Creation's Cache- remember who made it!

Creation's Cache #1

    A few days ago I stumbled upon an article from the Guardian newspaper, as published on their website. The article was entitled Morality beyond God. The writer of the piece was making some bold claims in an attempt to show the stupidity of believing in God as Creator of the universe (incidentally, "uni" means one- one God and Creator). The main thrust of the beginning of her argument is as follows:

[suppose you argue] that the universe we live in is such that it constitutes proof of a designer, who is God, what else could you infer about this designer?

   The answer, surely, is: nothing. We cannot move from believing that God lit the blue touch-paper to assuming that he made man in his own image...

...From the need for a creator you can infer nothing but that a creator exists, or did once exist. About the creator's attributes or character you can know nothing.

   Sitting back, I thought about her premise. Does the presence of a creator really tell us nothing more than that they exist? Almost immediately the foolishness of her own position became apparent. When we look at an artist's work we can learn so much about the artist: the choice of medium, use of colour, composition, wether canvas or board, the broad style or the use of detail- all of this goes to show something of the mindset and feelings of the artist. A sculptor similarly reveals themself in their sculpture. And neither of these people could possibly be referred to as "creators" but mearly as "makers". Closer to home, by reading the writer's article I could learn something about her: her prejudices, beliefs (or lack of) and general disregard for Creationists. Doubtless she would not deny that the entire world contains much much more "data" than her article! If I could discover something about her from her "creation" then how much more can I discover about the creator of the whole universe from his! 
   Thinking more deeply, does not the very existence of a creation imply a purpose behind said creation? Let me explain my reasoning. Everything has a purpose. Disagree? Then I challenge  you to find something without a purpose. The Tate Modern, I hear you say. Although tempted to agree, I would suggest that the purpose behind the crazy "artwork" there is found when one looks at the ego or prestige of the artists. Even things we define as "random" generally have come about to ease the pain of boredom or exhaustion. What am I getting at? Well, the universe had a purpose; the creator created this world for a reason (or reasons). 
    The more I think about it, the more ridiculously twisted the Guardian's article becomes. We are surrounded by mini-"creations" and they all tell us something about their "creators": Virgin Media, Harry Potter, the ipod, the Millennium dome, Radio 2, the man-bag; I could go on....
    In the letter to the Church in Rome during the first century AD, Paul the Apostle sheds some light on the situation:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 

   The Bible tells us that God as Creator is clearly visible in his creation. "In what ways?", I ask myself. What can be discover about God through nature? What bible truths can we see acted out in the world around us?
   In this series, I want to explore creation, and in doing so I hope (as the bible says) to get a glimpse of the attributes of our God. I realise that in doing so I am starting with the premise that their is a creator. I am no scientist or theologian, I can hold my own in a simple debate but my brain whirls when surrounded by complex argument. I have heard all the discussions, seen the passion and protests of the various parties, read the scientific blurb and been pummeled by the voices of otherwise calm and serene people. After all of that, I remain steadfastly convinced that, as the bible teaches me, the Lord God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. I will leave the debating to the "heavies", however many of the things we will be seeing, by their very nature, show and reinforce the truth that a creator exists.

What does Creation tell us about the Creator?


   So, will you join me for the next few blogs in a whirlwind tour of creation, diving to the depths of the ocean, soaring to the heights of the skies, to see our wonderful God revealed in.....

 Creation's Cache

Grace in Nature #3

   Okay, so todays blog is pushing the whole "Grace in Nature" idea a bit far, I know. But, in the word's of the Apostle Paul, "bear with me in a little foolishness."!


   Two weeks prior to my writing of this blog, my laptop experienced some major problems. It all started one sunny day with a message flashing on the screen.
   "AVG: Threat Detected, Trojan...........
     Remove to Vault? Or Destroy?"
  Knowing how much anti-virus programs love to scare monger, I sent the "threat", or "infection", to the dingy and damp hole in the C-Drive which is known, rather melodramatically, as "the vault". I thought no more of the whole issue. Until, one day later.....
    "This program has been closed. Risk of memory damage."
   Annoying, but again I didn't panic. Until, the following evening.....
    "Windows Host Services has been forced to close."
   And then....
     "AVG: Multiple threats detected, Trojan......"
   Of course, being male, I attempted to fix a problem that I neither knew or understood. My efforts fell far far short. So, instead of seeking out assistance, I ignored the problem, hoping that it would eventually go away. I was content to push any "threats" or "infections" into the vault, where I would ignore them, not thinking about the source or cause of all the issues.
    Rapidly things got worse, soon firefox was failing even to open, more and more messages from AVG and Microsoft were appearing: memory failure, multiple infected files, trojan..., Host Services failing, safe mode etc etc etc.
    Finally I realised the extent of the issue. So, I let my mate Graeme do his magic with the laptop. Unfortunately his efforts, although brave and much more thorough than my own, were too little, too late. The damage had been done. After inquiring of various experts and "dealers" whom I am aquatinted with, I was informed that my only remaining option was to entirely wipe the disc, leaving nothing behind, but destroying the virus in the process.
     Unfortunately I foolishly thought that I could continue to muddle through- even though I was told that my laptop's emergency restore system would do all the work for me!  But, eventually, there came a point whereby I acknowledged what I needed to do (albeit after the screen had totally snowed out and nothing would work!).
    I turned to the system that had been put in place for this very situation: Vista Backup and Restore. I pressed the highlighted buttons and then Vista took the whole thing over. The whole laptop was wiped and restored to its original factory settings. The viruses were gone, along with all my "baggage" (programs, files, pictures, documents: Megabytes upon megabytes of rubbish that I never use or need, that had clogged up my computer and slowed down the system.). It was as if the laptop had a new lease of "life"! It was brand new again.

     So, maybe you are struggling to see the "Grace in Nature" link here? My apologies, maybe "Grace in Technology" would be more applicable! Allow me to unravel the metaphor here for a moment:

    A virus had somehow gained access to my laptop. My igoogle dictionary defines a virus as

  Something that poisons one's soul or mind

   I think that a virus is to a computer what sin is to a man. Everyone sins, and sin is a virus. The prophet Daniel said:

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

    I ignored the virus, thinking that dealing with it would be such a hassle and annoyance. I allowed it to grow, slowly eating away at Window Vista's functions and programming. Perhaps my metaphor falls short here; in our lives we also ignore sin due to the disruption destroying it would cause, but we also like the sins in our lives- we treasure them (which certainly cannot be said for a computer virus!) Even though they eat away at us, slowly poisoning our minds and souls, we still secretly relish them and hate the thought of "putting them to death". The early Puritans saw the wickedness of sin, here are just a few of the books written by them on the subject:
  The Sinfulness of Sin
  The Mischief of Sin
  The Anatomy of Secret Sins
  The Evil of Evils or The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin
  In his book "Respectable Sins" Jerry Bridges quotes from "The Sinfulness of Sin", and he says that in only a few pages the author managed to describe sin as vile, ugly, odious, malignant, pestilent, pernicious, hideous, spiteful, poisonous, virulent, villainous, abominable and deadly. Thats quite a list! Isn't it time that we saw sin for what it is?
   As I ignored my Vaio's virus, it grew more and more, affecting my internet browsers capabilities, and scuppering "Windows Host Services" (which, incidentally, is quite important!). Likewise, sin is described as "virulent". My igoogle dictionary describes that as:

Capable of causing disease by breaking down protective mechanisms of the host. Intensely irritating, obnoxious, or harsh.

You can see the connection? Sin, like a computer virus, slowly dulls our consciences and tweeks at our ethics. Eventually we are totally compromised.
   However many "good" programs or files we upload to our laptops, the virus cannot be contained or "overshadowed". It continues to grow. I attempted to install a number of anti-virus systems, but the damage had already been done. Likewise, trying to work our way out of sin is bound to fail. Self-help is no help at all.
    The good news is this: a full disc wipe will destroy sin. The catch? We cannot hang on to any "little" or "respectable" sins. Jesus demands it all. Sins is a cancer, none can be left- for our own good! The Lord Jesus Christ died on a cross, to bear the punishment and wrath for his peoples sins, so that they may be wiped clean.

As far as the east is from the west, 

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

    My metaphor certainly fails at this point! Because the Lord does not only (if I can use the word "only" here!) wipe our sins. But he also gives us his own righteousness. We are perfect and complete in the sight of God! When he looks at us, he doesn't see our record of failures and embarrassments and bad thoughts, no: rather he sees Jesus! How marvelous, how wonderful! Hallelujah!
   You know, all the time the virus was on my computer, I had the solution right under my nose, Vista did it all for me, I just clicked the "start" button. The solution to our sin is free. There is no annual subscription charge to this particular software! The Lord has paid the full price, he died and rose from the dead, the payment is made, the debt is gone.
   Does this mean that we are free to sin? Absolutely not! Why would anyone download a virus onto a clean disc? God has saved us from our sin, we love him, praise him, and wish to live a life that brings glory and honour to him.

   

    Let me leave you with a couple of awe-inspiring verses of scripture...

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

  blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.

This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.