Biblical World View-Question 2

What is the nature of the universe - its origin?

Genesis chapter 1 and 2, and 5 verses 1-2 give us a detailed description of the universe's origin. They tell us that God created the universe out of nothing. He formed it in six days and then declared it good. Some people(Christians, not non-Christians), however, don't like to think of this as literal. They claim that, yes God did create the universe, but He used evolution to do it. The six days talked about are figurative. They refer to six passages of time. Well, I believe that if this was the case, the rest of the bible would give us some evidence to back it up.

Gen. 2:7 - the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Gen. 2:19 - Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Ps. 33:6, 9 - By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

Ps. 148:5 - Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

Isa. 45:18 - For this is what the LORD says—
he who created the heavens,
he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,
he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited—
he says:
"I am the LORD,
and there is no other.

Ez. 28:13 - You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.

Heb. 11:3 - By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.


All of these verses definitely support Genesis' literal meaning. Evolution doesn't even make sense in light of these verses. I mean, think about it. If God is all powerful, when He spoke things into existence, why would it have taken billions of years to fully form the way her wanted it. But Genesis 2:19 is the one that makes it the most clear. Evolution is based on the idea that each living creature evolved from another living creature, that evolved from another living creature, that evolved from another living creature, that evol..........Genesis 2:19 states that all the beast of the field and birds of the air were formed from the ground. There was no evolving from one to another. But then it goes on to say that God had the man(Adam) name them all. According to evolution, man wasn't even around during the lives of some of the creatures that have lived in the past and are now extinct. This can't be true if he named each and ever one of them.

So, through studying the entire bible, we can see that the first chapter of Genesis can be taken literally. God created the universe in 6, 24 hour, days. He spoke it into existence with no starting point except for his own ingenuity. He didn't google the recipe for creating man from dirt. He already know how.

Biblical World View-Question 1

Is there a God or gods? If so, what is He like?

What does the bible have to say about this? Let's take a look and see.
"In the beginning God......." Genesis 1:1

The first verse of the bible tells us that there is a God. So, what is he like?

Duet. 6:4 - Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

These verses tell us that there is only one God.

Gen. 1:26 - Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Gen. 11:7 - Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

Isaiah 6:8 - Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

Matt. 3:16-17, John 15:26, 1 Pet. 1:2

In these verses God uses a plural pronoun which seams to indicate that there is more than one.

Mat. 28:19 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

This verse gives us the three separate beings of God.

John 1:18 - No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

John 17:11b - Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.

John 17:21 - that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17:22 - I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one

While God does have separate beings they are part of the same person. Though this is hard to rap our finite minds around, it's what the bible says so we can be sure that it's true.

Gen 1:1, Gen 1:31, Ps. 33:9, Isa. 44:24, Isa. 45:18, John 1:1-3, Col. 1:16-17, Heb. 11:3, Rev. 4:11

God created all things.

Neh. 9:6 - You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Ps. 36:6,7 - Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.

7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Ps. 107:9 - for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.

Ps. 121:8 - the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Heb. 1:3 - The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The father sustains all things. Jesus, being the exact representation of God's being has the same sustaining power.

1Chron. 29:11,12 - Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.

12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

Ps. 66:7 - He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.
Selah

Is. 45:7 - I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.

Dan. 4:35 - All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: "What have you done?"

Ro. 11:36 - For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Eph. 1:11 - In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Rev. 19:6 - Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

God is a powerful ruler. He is over everything. Everything belongs to him.

Mat. 6:26 - Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Mat. 10:29 - Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

1 Pe. 5:6,7 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

God care about us.


Now, this is just scratching the surface of Gods character and attributes, but covering them all and giving each justice would require more than just a single post. It would require an entire blog dedicate to the topic. So for now, I'll just sum up what we do have.

There is one Godhead made up of three individual persons. The father, the son, and the holy spirit. Some kind of way, they are united into one, while still maintaining there uniqueness and identities. As humans we can't really fathom how this is possible but we can accept it as true because the infallible word of God says that it is. God created all things that are in existence. But He didn't create them and then leave them alone. He is here, sustaining all things. Being the creator of all things, He is the ruler over all. Everything belongs to Him. And, on top of this all, He loves and cares about us.

What is a World view anyway?

This is a question that is important. If we don't know what a world view is in the first place, how can we know what ours is. And if we don't know what ours is, we really don't know what we believe. That's a bad situation to be in. So, what is a world view?

A world view is the thing through which you see everything in life. It is like tinted glasses. The color of the glasses effects the colors you see in the world around you. It's your outlook on life. Everyone has a world view, even you. You may not know exactly what it is but you have one non the less. My reason for posting on the subject is to hopefully help you understand the importance of developing a world view, the importance of knowing what your world view looks like, and the importance of being able to recognize what other peoples world views look like.

So, how do you know what your world view is? It's not always easy to analyze yourself and what you believe. After reading Answers for Difficult Days by David Quine, I came to the conclusion that the best way to discover what you believe(what your world view is) is to answer a few questions. 7 to be exact.

• Is there a God or gods? If so, what is He like?
• What is the nature of the universe- It's origin?
• What is the essential nature of man?
• What is the basis of ethics and morality?
• What is the cause of evil and suffering?
• What happens to man at death?
• What is the meaning of history?

By answering these questions, you can get a better idea of what you really believe. You can also use them to understand what others believe.