Hello, this will be my first post here.
Today, many Christian leaders are influencing the laity to acknowledge the scientific consensus that the universe (and the earth) MUST be far older than what the bible quite plainly portrays it to be.
When we look at the scientific evidence, even we believers who object to these claims must admit, some of the arguments are quite convincing and difficult to overcome.
And of course, when we use our intellect and inquire regarding the motivations of science, we might find ourselves wondering, "Surely they can't have it THAT wrong!" And, "Surely God has not made the evidence point to great age, when it is really much younger?"
And yet believers are confronted with the plain and clear wording of scripture, that the earth was created in 6 days, that the genealogies cannot support millions of years, and that the flood was indeed a world wide deluge. The only way these conclusions cannot be reached when simply reading scripture, is to approach the text with some heavily biased preconceived notions about what we ought to find there.
Is there a way that the earth and the universe can look old, without it being a deception? Can God create by a miracle, and yet the results still conform to his natural laws?
I believe so.....
The first miracle of Christ has great symbolism with regard to the creation narrative (which you will immediately notice); i.e. 6 water pots representing 6 days of creation; Jesus is given credit for the creation throughout the new testament, and this is Jesus first recorded miracle. And yet even beyond all that, there is a conclusion here which I believe to be symbolic of mans observations, and how they can be right about their conclusions, and at the same time, in error.
Joh 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
Joh 2:2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Joh 2:3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
Joh 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
Joh 2:5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
Joh 2:6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Joh 2:7 Jesus saith unto them,
Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
Joh 2:8 And he saith unto them,
Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
Joh 2:9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine,
and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew
the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
Joh 2:10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse:
but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
Joh 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Notice the reaction of the ruler of the feast. He made the conclusion that this wine was the best wine they had. That is, he assumed this wine was made from among the best grapes, harvested from the best vineyards, carefully prepared and well aged at the best winery. In other words, he made a perfectly understandable and natural conclusion, and one that any one of us would have made in his place. And had we asked for his analysis, I am sure he would have given a long list of necessary components and processes required in the making of such a "good wine".
Yet he was missing information. He did not know that every natural process necessary in making this good wine was violated. The grapes were not even grown, much less harvested. There was no threshing, and there was no aging process. There was no winery at all. In fact, there wasn’t even a fermentation process. Yet, to this man, this wine seemed to be the best wine, from the best grapes, harvested from the best vineyard and well aged, simply because he had no knowledge of the true source of the wine.
The servants who served the wine knew the truth because they were privy to information which the ruler of the feast did not have. But even had he been told the truth, he probably would never have believed it, and would have certainly insisted that he knew the process for making such wine, and their theory about the source of this wine had to be either error, or pure fantasy.
I believe this is the source of the great divide between science and the church today. I believe the truth about the entire issue of the creation narrative and the age of the earth is contained here, in this first miracle of Christ.
He has revealed the truth to his servants, the elect. But he has allowed the "rulers" to simply make natural conclusions, based upon valid observations of the laws which God himself has put into place.
Are they wrong? No more so than the ruler of the feast was wrong about the process of wine making.
Is this a deception on God’s part?
No, it is actually a form of self deception on the part of men. Because God has given us the truth; and yet, just as the ruler of the feast would have balked at the idea of making wine from water, so the scientific community balks at an earth that is merely 6 – 10,000 years old.
Yet that is precisely what the bible teaches.
Pro 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Pro 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
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