Creation

Here are some thoughts about Creation.

Believing the Creation Story

The first step a Christian needs to do is realize they are a sinner and need to repent and follow Romans 10:9. After that, everything else is just gravy. That's enough to be saved. You don't need to believe in the Creation story in Genesis to enter heaven. Of course, then we read that all Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching (2 Timothy 3:16), etc. And we know that He wants us to live an abundant life (John 10:10) and if we need understanding we should ask (James 1:5). So please try to understand the story of Creation in the Bible and accept it even though more than half the world is saying "look at this scientific evidence for Evolution". In fact, the Bible itself says, "By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God" (Hebrews 11:3).

World view

If you step back and look at the arguments (Creation vs. Evolution) and also look at the people giving those arguments and what their world view is, you will see how their understand of the world shapes what conclusions they draw and how they interpret the evidence. I understand this applies to both the Creationist and the Evolutionist, but it's important to known that this facet of human thought is there.

Created in Days

It is important to understand the Creation Story happened in Days, not years. Why? This is how the Bible viewed it, and it was done for a purpose. See Exodus 20:9, "For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God" And why is that? What example was set for us? Verse 11, "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

The Starlight Problem

SN 1987A within the Large Magellanic Cloud

One of the problems with Creation is something called the Starlight Problem: if the Universe is only 6,000 years old, how do you explain this great expanse of light we see? I love looking at SN 1987A which is a star that died 168,000 light-years away from Earth. To explain how this happened, I first want to mention two things:

Last Thursdayism is the idea that everything was created last Thursday and we were all given fake memories. The main argument against this simple: the Bible doesn't say this is how things are. No mention of it.
It is very important that all things created around us are True. Meaning God did not plant fake fossils in the ground. SN 1987A did not fake die and fake light was put up there to land in our eyes and tell us a made up story of this star. God does not lie (Numbers 23:19).

Adam's first boot up

I wonder what it was like for Adam's first few minutes of existence. Were his eyes able to handle sunlight for the first time? (Yes.) Most coma patients, when they wake up, have to undergo years of physical therapy to walk. Was Adam able to bend his legs? Did his knees and elbows even have wrinkles on them? (Yes.) Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden ready to go (Genesis 2:15).

The Earth around Adam

When Adam looked around him, was the Earth a perfect ellipsoid or did it have hills, mountains, and valleys already in it? Had grass started to grow? (Yes.) Were there trees? And if Adam cut a tree open, would he be able to count rings indicating age? Were the animals already walking around or had they all just spawned in on top of each other?

All around Adam I'm sure he observed evidence of time having passed. The Bible says God planted a garden. He caused every tree to "grow" (Genesis 2:8-9). Wouldn't this be considered deceitful? If Adam saw a tree, would he think it was a lie created by God? If Adam looked at himself, did he wonder why he had no baby pictures?

The answer is "no" because Adam was made aware of the situation. He knew what was going on. He knew he and everything around him had just been created. If Adam had started doing some kind of advanced chronometric dating on items around him, would they all register as "Time=0"? No, I think they already had age (decay) associated with them.

God grew light

This is why I think God made SN 1987A, it existed, and then God "grew" it and all other light around the Universe. I think about this when I read how God "stretched out the heavens" (Isaiah 45:12), though I think this is more in reference to the grandeur of it all.

This is how I resolve why the age of most items is so far off, and it's how I resolve all the starlight that is hitting Earth from so far away, and still have a Universe that is only 6,000 years old. God was not deceptive, He told Adam what was going on.