introduction:

The following seven essays were written regarding the creation process, a process which was initiated by the loving, personal, triune God of our universe. My aim here is neither to be entirely comprehensive, nor is it to be an expert scientist; however, an aim I do have is to direct attention to the nature of a God who is not only entirely powerful, but also wonderfully personal. Looking at the technicalities contained within creation, it is clear that science does not have to be about placing God into any sort of constrained system; rather, God seems have allowed Himself to be made known through all the empirical formulas and chemical reactions that occur within the universe - after all, He was the one to initiate them.

If you find my understanding of science to be dodgy, it probably is. Please feel free to enlighten me to a more accurate understanding of our world.

light.

(North Kohala, Hawaii, USA)

The night is far spent, the day is at hand…

Romans 13:12 (NKJV)

Light came with words. The spirit of God was hovering over the waters in a world of darkness, and with the voice of God, light was spoken into existence. No longer were things hidden, obscure, but they were made evident, defined. With light, we are graced with the ability to take in and comprehend the beauty of the world around us, specifically through colors; colors, however, are not what they would automatically seem.

In 1665, Isaac Newton, at the time a young student in Britain, conducted an experiment with light. Newton allowed a ray of sunlight to pass through a prism, and found that that when the sunlight was refracted, it refracted a band of many colors, or what is actually the entire spectrum of visible color. Newton came to the conclusion that “white light” is not in itself white, but is actually made up of all other colors (Burnie).

Thanks to these experiments, we can know that certain objects are not colored in and of themselves; rather, we only see color in objects because of the type of light they absorb, and the type of light they reflect. This process is known as “color subtraction.” For example, when the three primary colors of the spectrum (red, green, and blue) are directed towards an object, if the object absorbs the green light and reflects the red and blue light, our eyes will mix the reflected colors of red and blue, causing the object to appear as a magenta tone. If the spectrum of light is shone at an object, and all the colors are absorbed, reflecting no light, the object will appear to our eyes as black (Burnie.)

When light was made to exist, an interesting turn was taken for all that had existed previously (at this time it sounds like there was only a formless sum of water). With reality illuminated, no longer was existence absorbed in “blackness;” instead, the world was made capable of something new: hues, gradients, textures, pigment, and eventually even the knowledge of these. With the addition of such a dimension, no longer would darkness keep all things hidden within itself, but there would now be lightness, made to contain and communicate all colors, existence, and truth.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:4-5 (NKJV)

Source:
(Burnie, David. Light. 18-19, 28-33. Dorling Kindersley. 2000.)

atmosphere.

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!..."

1 Kings 8:27 (NKJV)

The English word atmosphere comes from the Greek word atmos, meaning, “vapor,” and sphaira, meaning, “ball” or, “globe.”

Our atmosphere is comprised of four main layers. The first layer, the layer of the atmosphere in which we will spend most of our lives is known as the troposphere, which extends upwards about 7 miles (11 Kilometers) from the surface of the earth, though these distances often vary by a few miles. The average temperature of the earth is 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius,) but for every mile you go up in elevation, the temperature drops around 17 F per mile (9.4 C/km). So, once you reach the uppermost part of the troposphere, the temperature is somewhere about – 61 F (-52 C). Most all weather takes place in the troposphere, and cycles of wind also circulate throughout the troposphere, keeping systems of air and weather properly balanced in different areas of the world (Vogt.)

The next layer, the stratosphere, goes to around 30 miles (48 Kilometers) above the surface of the earth. The main role of the stratosphere is to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays that radiate from the sun. Because the stratosphere contains the gas known as ozone, it is able to protect us from what would otherwise be very harmful concentrations of sunlight. Because the stratosphere absorbs so much sunlight, the average temperature is slightly warmer. Starting at about -62 F (-52 C) its lower part, it increases to as much as 27 F (33 C) (Vogt.)

Above the stratosphere lies the mesosphere, which extends somewhere around 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the surface of the earth. Like the stratosphere, the mesosphere also absorbs a significant amount of energy from the sunlight, however at its upper reaches, its average temperature is a bit lower, around -130 F (-90 C) (Vogt.)

The outermost layer of our atmosphere is the thermosphere, which stretches to around 370 miles (595 kilometers) from the surface of the earth, and it is most certainly the warmest layer, with temperatures that often climb to more than 3,100 F (1,700 C). Because there are so few molecules in this layer, the molecules that do exist are quickly affected by the sun’s energy that is entering our atmosphere (Vogt.)

Looking at the layers of the atmosphere, it seems as though the layers were designed to act as a sort of filter from the harsh circumstances that attempt to (and sometimes do) enter our planet. Without the layers and molecules and currents running around in the skies above, we would have no chance of withstanding the unforgiving elements that are trying to enter in. Because we would certainly be done for without protection, it seems evident that in creating the atmosphere, and the layers therein, God was implementing a sort of safeguard, to save us, along with all the rest of creation, from harmful radiation, AKA certain destruction.

Source:
(Vogt, Gregory. The atmosphere: Planetary Heat Engine. 22-25. Twenty-First Century Books. 2007.)

plants, etc.

You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothes with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.

Psalm 65:9-13 (NKJV)

God is the good farmer. God created the land, and the plants that fill it, purposing that there would be a yield from that which He created. The creation of vegetation wasn’t just a one-time thing, but it was something that was designed to be sustaining, that would continue to carry itself out over the course of the future. With the creation of plants and all forms of vegetation, God was making provision for the living creatures that He would eventually create. Some of these provisions include the food we harvest from plants, the healing remedies they offer us, as well as the way in which they act as a sort of filter for the air we breathe, to name a few.

Organisms that obtain their energy from sunlight are known as photoautotrophs. During the process known as photosynthesis, with energy provided by the sun, plants, algae, and certain bacteria convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen. In plants, sunlight is absorbed by chloroplasts, which are basically small compartments containing the light-sensitive pigment known as chlorophyll. It is estimated that for every square millimeter of leaf, there are somewhere between 450,000 and 800,000 chloroplasts. The sugar and oxygen created through photosynthesis provide sufficient energy for a couple of things to take place. First of all, the sugars act as the fuel that allows the organism carry out all processes that are necessary for existence. The plant does make use of a small part of the oxygen that is produced through photosynthesis, but a majority of the oxygen is releases through the stomata (microscopic openings through which the plant can breathe) (wikipedia.org.)

Considering the process of photosynthesis, it is easy to see the importance of the sun – not just for plants, algae, and bacteria, but for the entirety of creation. The sun basically powers the energy cycle of the entire earth. Without the sun, we would have no vegetation, and without vegetation, we would either:

a. Die of hunger, as there would be no food. No, their wouldn’t be animals to eat – without plants they also would go hungry.
b. Suffocate and/or become polluted with toxic air.
c. Both of the above.

The cycle of energy God has created is extremely functional, but with this functionality we are also faced with our frailty. Try as we may to configure our economies and alter global politics and live a life characterized by “success”, at the end of the day, without food, without air, without a God who is love to hold us in the balance, we would certainly waste away. Existence is fragile.

Sources:
(Photosynthesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis#Oxygen_and_photosynthesis : accessed on October 8, 2008.)

John Paul Vicory. Phone Interview.

stars.

(Mauna Kea, The Big Island, Hawaii)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

Psalm 8:3-4 (NKJV)

Astronomers estimate that the universe contains about 100 billion galaxies, each containing an average of 100 billion stars (Eyewitness.) With these numbers in mind, it is hard to imagine that any one being could manage all these, not to mention all the other life processes taking place, even down to the molecular scale. Somehow though, the one who holds the outermost of galaxies together is also the one who sustains our hearts when we find ourselves in precarious positions.

Within our solar system, there exist clouds and dust and gas. These are known as nebulae (singular: nebula). Often, nebulae will appear to be bright shining clouds floating in the midst of a field of stars; they appear this way as the dust and gas they contain is often lit up by the light and radiation of the surrounding stars (Kindersley.) (Do recall the earlier essay regarding our ability to see color.) Just as we continue to find various nebulae throughout the universe, we find that our universe is growing, expanding, continually being created (perhaps it is an enjoyable hobby to create new existence from exceedingly large amounts of solar dust and accumulated sums of chemicals, measuring increments in light-years).

Nebulae provide a platform and material for which the formation of a new star can take place. When material within a certain portion of a nebula begins to condense into a concentrated area, what is known as a globule begins to form. Because of the gravity that begins to increase in the globule, other material in the surrounding of the nebula begins to be drawn to it. This accumulated material is what is known as a protostar. Over time, these protostars grow, become full grown stars, and as we see with many stars, they eventually die out, either exploding into supernovas, or slowly fizzling out into black dwarfs (Kindersley.)

Hotter stars will glow in a bluish tone, whereas the cooler stars will emit more of a reddish color. The sun at the center of our solar system is a fairly average star. Its diameter is about 870,000 miles (though many stars are about 450 times smaller, some stars exist that are at least 1000 times bigger than our sun). In the core of the sun, hydrogen is being converted to helium through nuclear fission, a process which gives off a significant amount of energy, i.e. enough to energy and heat to sustain the necessary processes for life on our planet, i.e. photosynthesis (Kindersley.)

Processes like those mentioned above are happening all across the universe, at varying intervals and various moments in time. It’s an intimidating reality. What are we that our interests and needs should stand in front of the billions upon billions of nuclear reactions that must be managed, orchestrated? It is strange to find the shortcomings of our hearts and the practical neediness of our hands are suddenly looked after, as we find our imperfect selves cherished by the being who says, “I love you more than any amount of stars, galaxies, or nebulae.” Perhaps this is the more intimidating reality.

Source:
(Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries. The Visual Dictionary of the Universe. 12-13, 18-23, 28-29. Dorling Kindersley. 1993.)

flying.

(Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA)

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:26-27 (NKJV)

By the time man finally began to partially figure out the technicalities behind aviation, the science of flight had long since been perfected in the animal kingdom, the most obvious instance being birds. We will often think ourselves so clever, as we hop from continent to continent in a matter of hours, but this process was made possible not with innovation that was thought up by Boeing or Airbus. The real “technology” was initiated into reality by the mind of a slightly more sovereign engineer.

Let’s talk about internal framework. Should members of the avian family have been created with a more bulky bone structure, science shows that they would have a hard time flying in any sort of efficient manner, that is if they could even fly at all. In designing birds, it was evident that weight reduction would be necessary, and we can see the effects of this executive decision in the lightweight, hollow bones that mark members of the flying kingdom. Other weight-reducing aspects include the replacement of teeth with a gizzard; less joints; and a lightweight beak instead of a heavier jawbone (Markle.)

Once weight was reduced, it was time to move onto the logistics of actually allowing a living creature to change it’s position in altitude and geography floating on nothing more than air. Bird’s wings were created in the shape of an airfoil, which basically means that the leading edge and top of the wing are curved, while the bottom surface of the wing is relatively flat. Because of this, when a bird’s wing moves through the air, the air going over the top of wing must move faster than the air traveling beneath the wing. This creates lift, which allows the bird to fly in an upward direction from its original location.

There are certainly other factors and variables contributing to the flight efficiency of birds and other members of the animal kingdom that make use of such technology, but these are some of the basic keys to flight - the fruits of which we often see in the technology we use to move from place to place. As aircraft manufacturers continue to battle it out over who can produce the most efficient, appealing, and luxurious aero-liners, it would not be surprising to see that more innovation has yet to be discovered in the deeper technicalities of the structures and processes found in flying creatures. This does not go to say that we need to consider replacing the jawbones of our 767’s with lightweight beaks, but certainly the innovation that is visible in this area of the animal kingdom should provoke our thinking. Does innovation come from the heart of man, or has it already been copy written by the mind of Divinity?

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10: 29-31 (NKJV)

Source:
(Markle, Sandra. Outside and Inside Birds. 8-11, 23. Maxwell Macmillan. 1994.)

sight.

(Pebane, Mozambique)

He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

Psalm 94:9 (NKJV)

It seems strange that our eyes, spheres of tissue and pressurized liquids, can allow for the transfer of reflected rays of light from the world around us into an image that we are able to see, process, and sometimes understand. Without sight, to say the least it would be hard to process much that occurs in our surroundings.

The first place that light enters the eye is through the cornea, which bends surrounding light into the eye (Seymour). The colored part of our eyes is known as the Iris, while the opening at the center of the iris is identified as the pupil. In dark conditions, the Iris will relax, allowing the pupil to increase in size and thus become more sensitive to the little amount of light that is available. When more light is present, the iris will contract, thus decreasing the size of the pupil, therefore limiting the amount of light that is allowed to enter the eye. Once it has passed through the pupil, the remaining light travels through the lens, which is the consistency of a hard jelly. To bring objects into focus, ciliary muscles surrounding the lens contract to make the focal length of the lens thicker, and relax to make it thinner (Burnie).

Once light has passed through the lens of the eye, it travels through the vitreous humor (the liquid material that fills the eye) and is projected onto the retina, which is basically the back surface on the inside of the eyeball, which is full of light-sensitive nerve endings, identified as either cones or rods. Rod cells are sensitive to shades of brightness, and are helpful in seeing in black and white. They are most useful in low light conditions. Cone cells function best in bright circumstances, and enable us to view colors. Most cones are concentrated around the center of the retina, while most of the rods exist on the periphery of the retina. Each rod and cone is connected to the brain through it’s own individual nerve. All the nerves connected to the rods and cones in the retina come together to form what is known as the optical nerve. As light strikes the different rods and cones in the retina, they transmit signals of an image to the brain through minute electronic signals (Seymour). The information sent to the brain by each individual rod and cone is then processed by the brain to compose an image. Originally, this image is upside down, but the brain is able to analyze the signal and reverse it into its proper form, as it exists in reality.

Perhaps God gave us these tools because He had (has, will have) something to communicate to us, that He wanted us to more fully understand. Do we chose to live with our eyes shut, covered, averted, or are we willing to make ourselves vulnerable to the visions of need in the world in which we are placed?

Sources:
(Burnie, David. Light. Dorling Kindersley Limited. 1999.)
(Simon, Seymour. Eyes and Ears. Harper Collins. 2003.)

rest.

(Seinne River, Paris, France)

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)

It is hard to feel at rest in a world that is constantly moving. After bringing into existence all that is, the God of the universe decided it was time to take a pause .

In Deuteronomy 5:14-15, the Hebrew translation of Sabbath is shabbath, meaning, “intermission.” In the same context, these verses make use of the word rest, which in this instance translates to nuach, the Hebrew word which communicates settling down, ceasing, withdrawing, or giving comfort, (among other things) (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries). In this context, in which God gave to Israel the Ten Commandments, God was setting up a sort of social code of conduct for the Israelites (ISBE), as they had just come away from a life of harsh exploitation beneath the Egyptians. By commanding the Israelites to take an “intermission” from their work week, he was giving them a system by which all people involved - Israelites and their workers and their livestock - would be treated fairly, allowing them to live healthy lives in which they could relate to their God, rather than making their work into something more important than the God with whom they were created to relate.

It seems as though Israel went through two different extremes with the Sabbath; at times they completely brushed off the requirements of the Sabbath, working themselves, their workers, their land, and their livestock to exhaustion, while later they began to over-observe the day of rest with an overzealous sense of self-righteousness. “The prophets found fault with the worship on the Sabbath, because it was not spiritual nor prompted by love and gratitude. (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).” By the time Jesus came onto the scene, the Sabbath had become something extremely legalistic, and devoid of the original meaning with which it was created. Humans had allowed a law come to stand in the way of the God it was meant to point them towards. Jesus proclaimed, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also LORD of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28).

Paul professed a Christian liberty that existed in every day, or every season (ISBE). In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul states, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” Paul is not deeming a Sabbath day as unimportant; rather, he seems to say that because of our being made right with God through Jesus Christ, the day in which the Sabbath is observed is not what is important, but rather we must give honor, and place our relations to Him before every other priority that could ever enter into our lives, hearts, or minds, on any day of the week.

What appears to be evident is that we are more important to God that anything we could ever accomplish, construct, complete, observe, or achieve. In rest, we come to encounter a God who is less concerned about doing, and more concerned about our being. Will we love this God who dies to be with us, or will we embrace more warmly a sticky-note of tasks we must accomplish?