How well do you glorify God? Robbing God of glory is serious, as illustrated in this brief account in the book of Acts: “So, on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God.”1 Beliefs impact our capacity to give God the glory He deserves. A belief in the Bible’s clear narrative of a recent creation helps Christians better glorify God in at least two ways.
Recent creation glorifies God because it acknowledges His accuracy as a divine Author. By accuracy I mean telling it like it is. What kind of God would inspire His prophet Moses to record “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day”2 if in fact nature made the heavens and the earth over billions of years? And if God failed to fact-check Genesis and Exodus, then what other mistakes might He have made elsewhere in His Word?
Most churchgoers believe that science demands billions of years. But many scientists, including those at ICR, find circular reasoning and cherry-picking—not science—behind the billions-of-years position. We side with biblical creation, which holds that God created all things exactly when and how He said He did in the Bible.3 And good science backs that belief. For example, we calculate the mutation rate over many generations4 or find fast-decaying proteins still present in fossils.5
Biblical creation takes God at His Word, with the benefit of solid scientific support. It’s the perfect position for those ready to glorify God as the all-knowing Author. The psalmist did this when he wrote, “The entirety of Your word is truth.”6 Accepting creation according to Genesis clears the path for believers to celebrate how God’s truthful essence inspired His accuracy as an Author.
Recent creation also glorifies God by more fully recognizing His miraculous creative power. Part of what makes creation known as a miracle is that it happened so fast. How did the wedding guests at Cana recognize Jesus’ miracle of creating wine? They saw it happen instantly, at his command.7 Similarly, Jesus did not rise from the dead after months of doctor care. He just got up. The speed with which many miracles occur helps authenticate the fact that someone from outside this world reached down to cause these instant events.
If belief in billions of years isn’t scientific, what could motivate the promotion of this idea? The father of modern uniformitarian geology, Charles Lyell, wrote in a letter dated June 14, 1830, of his desire to “free the science from Moses.”8 Charles Darwin expressed a similar desire to remove God from the picture, as do many scientists today. That’s not science. Rather, “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts.”9 Biblical creation helps glorify God by admitting that He performed the true miracle of creation in six days only thousands of years ago.
Do you seek to glorify God by honoring Him as a truth-teller? As an accurate Author? A bona fide miracle maker? If you answered yes, then biblical creation is for you.
References
- Acts 12:21-23.
- Exodus 20:11.
- When did He create? “In the beginning” (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1). How did He create? “He spoke, and it was done” (Psalm 33:9).
- Jeanson, N. 2014. New Genetic-Clock Research Challenges Millions of Years. Acts & Facts. 43 (4): 5-8; Tomkins, J. P. 2015. Genetic Clocks Verify Recent Creation. Acts & Facts. 44 (12): 9-11.
- Thomas, B. 2014. Original-Tissue Fossils: Creation’s Silent Advocates. Acts & Facts. 43 (8): 5-9.
- Psalm 119:160.
- John 2:11.
- Bailey, E. 1962. Charles Lyell. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., 77.
- Romans 1:21.
* Dr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in paleobiochemistry from the University of Liverpool.
