Issue 1456 – How Old? – May 24, 2024
One day, over coffee, an acquaintance asked me, “Do you believe in a literal seven-day creation?” My answer was, “No.” Now, dear readers, don’t jump to conclusions. The Bible doesn’t claim that God created in seven days; it says he created it in six days and rested on the seventh. I believe in a six-day creation.
He shared his belief that the world was billions of years old and created with a big bang out of nothing. I told him I didn’t know about the billions of years, but we could agree that the universe had a start and came out of nothing.
The Bible attests to that fact.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2
To create matter out of nothing, there had to be a transcendent power, something non-material. That sounds like a god to me. That power had to be creative enough to conceive the almost infinite complexities of the material universe. Again, that sounds like a god.
He asked me, “You can’t believe it happened in six days, can you?”
I answered, “Why not? You believe it happened in an instant. So, why couldn’t God have done it in six days or less?”
I don’t know if there were literal 24-hour days or if the Bible uses the days as a literary device to help us understand the process. The “days” could have been almost instantaneous or much longer.
Nailing them down to a specific time range seems to miss the point. While I believe in six literal days, I’m not dogmatic about it.
How old is the world? That is a good question. I don’t know, but it is the wrong question to ask—the question of who created it and why are far more important.
It is essential to understand who the Creator is. He has revealed Himself and His plan for the world in detail, giving us meaning to our existence and hope. If we choose that a random, fluke occurrence created everything, then we are mere random occurrences ourselves, and life has no meaning. That’s a dismal, hopeless worldview.
God is in control, no matter the age of the earth (and I tend to hold to a young earth position). He is our sovereign creator and the ruler of the universe and everything in it.
He created us, loves us unconditionally and makes it possible to be in fellowship with Him.
That is far more important than the age of the earth.
What do you think?
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)